ATL Sweeps Idaho

Kent Patterson made 31 saves Saturday night to help the Gladiators to a sweep of the Idaho Steelheads and their fifth straight win. Atlanta would score a goal in each period, getting tallies from Max Everson, Brock Higgs, and Eric Neiley, to nab the 3-1 victory. Max Everson kicked off the scoring on a powerplay tally late in the opening period. The rookie defenseman blasted a slap shot from the point that found its way through traffic in front past the Steelheads starting goalie, Phillipe Desrosiers for his second career professional goal. Tyler Shiplo collected the helper on the play and now has an assist in three straight games on the lone score of period one. Atlanta doubled their lead in the second period on Brock Higgs fifth of the season. Nate Condon and Justin Buzzeo worked the back of the Idaho net fouling Desrosiers with some quick passing. Buzzeo found Higgs open on the top of the crease where the Kingston, ON native potted the puck in the net and registered his third goal in his third straight game. Cole Martin brought the Steelheads back to within one on a third-period powerplay goal. Martins slap shot from the point beat Atlantas goaltender Kent Patterson with just over seven minutes left in the game. The comeback rally for Idaho fell short when Eric Neiley earned his first career goal with an empty net tally on a shot from his own zone. Atlanta completed the three-game sweep of the Steelheads and increased their win streak to five games overall. The victory also improved the Gladiators record to 6-2-1 and point total to 13 on the season. With the loss, Idaho remains at 10 points with a record of 4-5-2.