Gwinnett (7-3-2-2) goalie Jeff Jakaitis made 39 saves and turned away all five members of the Express (7-4-0-1) in the shootout for his fifth win of the season, while Paul Dainton stopped 39 shots in a losing cause for Chicago. In the fifth round Tyler Donati missed the net on his chance, which put the game on Bartlett's stick.
The Gwinnett forward skated straight in, stopped between the circles, and rifled a shot between the legs of Dainton to seal a 3-2 Glads win. The Gladiators now take over sole possession of first place in the South Division and the Eastern Conference with 18 points.
Ryley Grantham made his mark on the opening 20 minutes for Gwinnett. The 6'3" 207 forward got the best of 6'2" 215 Express forward Bobby Robins in a long scrap, landing several strong shots late in the bout.
Grantham then scored his first goal as a Gladiator with just 51 seconds left in the first. Pat Galivan found Andy Brandt along the near half-wall, and the veteran forward got the puck across the ice to a wide open Grantham who put it under a sprawling Dainton for a 1-0 Glads lead.
The Express took back the lead with two powerplay goals in the second. Chaz Johnson's fourth of the season at 7:56 and a 5-on-3 Darcy Campbell marker at 14:47 made it a 2-1 game into the third.
Joey Haddad forced the game into overtime, extending his point streak to seven games and his goal scoring streak to four by slicing through the Chicago defense and putting a quick shot by Dainton to draw Gwinnett even 3:28 into the third. Tyler Murovich assisted on Haddad's sixth goal of the season.
Despite getting outshot 8-1 in overtime the Glads survived to overtime and claimed the second point at stake. The Gladiators took six out of a possible eight points on the four-game road trip.
Gwinnett returns home to face the South Carolina Stingrays on Friday, November 18th at 7:35 p.m.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2011/11/243547