CAROLINA CHECKERS vs. GWINNETT GLADIATORS
Gwinnett, GA - The Gwinnett Gladiators
squandered a two-goal lead for the second time in as many nights,
and Andrew Carroll had two goals and two assists to lead the
Charlotte Checkers over the Gladiators 6-4 in front of 5,385 at
the Arena at Gwinnett Center on Monday afternoon. After scoring
two shorthanded goals and one power play marker in the first
period, the Gladiators would add just one more goal early in the
second period before surrendering four unanswered goals to the
Checkers and losing their 11th home game of the year.
The
Gladiators opened the scoring with a shorthanded goal for the
second home game in a row. Matt Caruana gained control of the puck
in his own zone and initiated a 2-on-1 the other direction.
Caruana carried the puck into the Charlotte zone and hit Adam
Berti, who redirected a shot past Charlotte goaltender Ryan
Munce’s glove for the 1-0 lead.
Scott Marchesi and
Michael Forney the manufactured an identical shorthanded goal just
3:17 later. Marchesi carried the puck into the zone on the right
wing boards and hit a streaking Forney, who had snuck behind the
Charlotte defense and deposited a shot through Munce’s legs
for the 2-0 lead.
The Checkers finally kept the Gladiators
off the board and picked up a goal of their own on their third
chance on the power play of the first period. Tyler Doig hit
Julien Brouillette with a pass, whose shot charomed off the pads
of Andrew Carroll in front of the net to cut the Gladiators’
lead to 2-1 at 11:22 of the period.
Jason Lawrence put the
Gladiators back up by two just 1:48 later, slamming home a rebound
from the right hash marks. Munce was able to stop Aaron
Brocklehurst’s shot from the left face off dot, but the
rebound kicked right to Lawrence, who was crashing the net, and he
beat Munce, who couldn’t recover in time to make the
save.
Tyler Doig cut Gwinnett’s lead back down to one
at 18:28 of the period with the first even-strength goal of the
game on assists from Andrew Carroll and Michel Levielle. Carroll’s
shot from the right corner was stopped by Gwinnett goaltender
David Brown, but he couldn’t hold on the rebound, and Doig
dug it out from the crease and fired a shot high from the left
side of the cage and over Brown, who was still down in the
crease.
After 20 minutes of play, Charlotte had 13 shots,
compared to Gwinnett’s eight.
Chris Higgins tied a
season-high of a four-game goal streak for the Gladiators just 50
seconds into the second period, putting the Gladiators up 4-2. Tom
Zanoski forced a turnover in the neutral zone and turned it back
the other way. Crossing into Checkers’ zone, Zanoski
centered a pass to a charging Higgins, and his backhand was
deflected into the back of the gaping net off a Charlotte
stick.
The Checkers again cut the Gladiators lead to one at
16:19 of the middle period. This time, Matt Schepke got the goal
on a well-placed wrist shot from the right faceoff circle. Daniel
Tkaczuk collected the puck in the right corner and sent a pass
across the slot to Schepke, who had made himself open away from
the play.
The Gladiators took the 4-3 advantage into the
locker room after two periods despite trailing in shots
22-18.
Charlotte evened the score at four on the power play
at 11:54 of the third period. David Marshall notched his eighth
goal of the season, and Matt Schepke recorded his second point of
the afternoon with the assist.
The Checkers then took the
lead on their third power play goal of the game at 15:54 of the
period. Andrew Carroll deflected Tyler Doig’s shot from the
point and into the net past Brown for the go-ahead goal.
The
Gladiators pulled Brown with just over a minute left in regulation
in favor of the extra skater, but couldn’t get another one
past Munce, and Daniel Tkaczuk slipped a shot from a bad angle
inside the near post and into an empty net with just eight seconds
remaining to ice the game for the Checkers and deny the Gladiators
a three-game home winning streak.
The Gladiators drop to
18-15-3-2 on the season, while the Checkers improve to
21-13-3-2.
Aaron Brocklehurst extended his point streak to
six games with an assist on Jason Lawrence’s goal, while
Chris Higgins also extended his point streak to six games and
matched a team season high with a goal in his fourth straight
game.
Charlotte’s Andrew Carroll lead all skaters
with two points and two assists, while Tyler Doig had a goal and
two assists. Three others for the Checkers finished with two
points, while no Gladiator had more than one.
The
Gladiators continue their 7th season in the ECHL on Friday,
January 22nd @ Florida at 7:30 p.m. The Gladiators are the AA
affiliate of the Atlanta Thrashers and Columbus Blue Jackets and
play all home games at the 11,355-seat Arena at Gwinnett Center,
located just off I-85 on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth.
Game and team information
Date: January 18, 2010
Division: ECHL / American Conference
Location: Duluth, GA
Arena: Arena at Gwinnett Center
Attendance: 5,385
Starting time: 12:30PM
Charlotte Checkers are the ECHL affiliate of the New York Rangers and Colorado Avalanche
Gwinnett Gladiators are the ECHL affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Atlanta Thrashers
Score
1
2
3
F
Charlotte Checkers
2
1
3
6
Gwinnett Gladiators
3
1
0
4
Player summary
Charlotte Checkers
G
A
+ / -
SH
PIM
Kevin Schaeffer (D)
0
1
+2
1
0
Mike Berube (D)
0
0
-1
0
2
Mike Taylor (C)
0
0
-1
2
2
Michael Leveille (C)
0
1
-1
3
0
Andrew Carroll (LW)
2
2
0
5
2
Jean-Philipp Chabot (C)
0
0
0
0
2
Julien Brouillette (D)
0
2
+1
1
4
Tysen Dowsak (D)
0
0
0
1
0
Daniel Tkaczuk (C)
1
1
+1
2
2
Aaron Slattengren (RW)
0
0
-1
1
0
Tyler Doig (LW)
1
2
0
2
0
David Marshall (RW)
1
0
0
2
0
Matt Schepke (LW)
1
1
0
8
2
Steve Ward (D)
0
0
0
2
0
Gwinnett Gladiators
G
A
+ / -
SH
PIM
Sean Hurley (D)
0
0
0
1
0
Tim Filangieri (D)
0
0
+1
1
2
Drew Paris (D)
0
0
-2
5
2
Sam Roberts (D)
0
0
-1
0
2
Jason Lawrence (F)
1
0
0
2
0
Tom Zanoski (LW)
0
1
0
5
4
Scott Marchesi (D)
0
1
+1
0
0
Matt Francis (F)
0
0
0
3
0
Adam Berti (LW)
1
0
-1
1
0
Matt Caruana (F)
0
1
-1
3
2
Tim Miller (F)
0
1
0
0
0
Aaron Brocklehurst (D)
0
1
+1
2
0
Pat Galivan (LW)
0
0
+1
0
0
Chris Higgins (C)
1
0
0
2
0
Matt Siddall (F)
0
0
-3
3
2
Michael Forney (F)
1
0
+1
2
2
Goaltending
Charlotte Checkers
MIN
SH
SVS
GA
PIM
Ryan Munce
60:00
30
26
4
0
Gwinnett Gladiators
MIN
SH
SVS
GA
PIM
David Brown
58:33
29
24
5
0
empty net
1:27
-
-
1
-
