Charlotte got both power play goals from Matt Ford to jump on top of Gwinnett in the opening period. Ford's first came at 13:41 of the first period as he was able to find a loose puck in the slot and slip it past Gwinnett netminder Josh Johnson for the goal. Mike Bayrack and Ethan Graham had the assists on the tally for the Checkers.
Ford's second goal came with 18 seconds left in the first period, again on the power play. Parked all alone in the slot, Ford took a pass out of the corner before ripping a snapshot past Johnson from point blank range for the marker. Marty Guerin had the assist on the goal for the Checkers.
After a scoreless second period, Tom Zanoski got the Gladiators on the board at 4:36 of the third period. Zanoski found a loose puck in a scrum in the slot and flicked it past Charlotte netminder Jeff Jakaitis for the goal for Gwinnett. Andy Brandt and Pat Bateman collected the assists on the marker.
Ryan Murphy got the marker back giving the Checkers a 3-1 lead at 11:00 of the third period. Parked in the slot all alone, Murphy took a centering feed from Peter-James Corsi and beat Johnson from point blank range for the goal.
Charlotte iced the contest at 17:23 of the third period on a goal by Guerin. Working in on a 2-on-1 break, Guerin finished the play beating Johnson off a feed from Chris Murry for the goal to give the Checkers a 4-1 lead.
Johnson finished with 28 saves in the losing effort for Gwinnett. Gwinnett gave up two power play goals in the loss on 3 shorthanded situations while the Gladiators went 0-for-4 on the power play in the loss.
The Gladiators continue the 2008-09 season on Friday, March 13th as they travel to Charleston to take on the South Carolina Stingrays at 7:05 p.m. Catch all the play by play action in Friday's game on WDUN, News Talk 550.
Began in 1988-89 with five teams playing in four states, the Premier â
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