Gwinnett Gladiators Beat Checkers, 4-2

The Gwinnett Gladiators snapped a three game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the Charlotte Checkers on Saturday night in front of 9,614 fans at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. Pat Bateman and Jordan Fox each finished with a goal and an assist in the win for the Gladiators as Gwinnett improves to 3-4-2 on the season.

Bateman put the Gladiators on the board first at 5:38 of the first period taking a centering pass from Fox as they both skated towards Charlotte's net. The puck just barely found its way in, hitting the inside post on Maxime Daigneault's left side.

Matt Siddall notched his first goal of the season at 17:54 of the first with helpers from Bruce Graham and Josh Engel. Graham was unable to hold onto the puck as he skated through the neutral zone, but it was picked up by Engel who then passed it in front of the net to a waiting Siddall. The even-strength goal put the Gladiators up 2-0 to end the first. Siddall was assigned this week to the Gladiators from the Chicago Wolves of the American Hockey League and tonight's goal also marks the first of his professional career.

It was all Gwinnett during the second stanza as Jordan Fox and Chris Cava both scored for the Gladiators to push Gwinnett's lead to 4-0. At 4:51, Fox took a pass from Dirk Southern and Bateman to give the Gladiators a 3-0 lead and Defenseman Chris Cava tallied his first goal of the season at 10:22 on a power play. Brad Schell and Graham were both on hand to assist on the Cava goal.

David Rutherford finally got the Checkers on the board in the third period, with a pass from Mike Taylor stopping Kevin Nastiuk's shutout at 40 minutes and 11 seconds. Dan Sullivan also tallied nineteen penalty minutes onto his career total in a fight with ten minutes to go in the third. Sullivan and Charlotte's Jared Nightingale both removed their helmets and gloves before beginning their fight, instead of just simply starting with punches. Sullivan currently has 59 penalty minutes on the year.

Later, as Sullivan and Nightingale were still in the box, the Gladiators went on the power play and surrendered another goal to the Checkers. Joe Zappala cut the Gladiators' lead in half when he skated in, unassisted, and flipped the puck backwards into the Gwinnett net at 13:08 of the third.

The fighting continued in the Checkers' zone with five minutes remaining in the contest and Gwinnett's Phil Youngclaus and Dirk Southern and Charlotte's Peter-James Corsi were all sent to their respective locker rooms. Nastiuk and the Gladiators held the Charlotte Checkers for the rest of the game for a final of 4-2.
- www.gwinnettherald.com

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