Glads Hook Steelheads 5-4

Battling through a game of extremes, the Gladiators rallied in the 3rd period to regain the lead and eventually defeat the Idaho Steelheads by a final score of 5-4. Finding themselves in a less-than-ideal 6-on-3 position in the final minute of regulation, the Gladiators held firm - riding on the back of goaltender Matt Ginn and a handful of highlight reel saves - to snag the W for the team.Atlanta struck first on Tyler Murovichs second goal of the season just over three minutes into the game. Daniel Bahntge flew into the zone and fired a shot on goal from his knees after being tripped to the ice. It took Murovich three tries from the goalmouth on the rebound to send the puck into the goal and give Atlanta the early 1-0 lead. Just :48 seconds later Garry Nunn gave the Gladiators a 2-0 advantage on his second of the season. Nunn received a long feed from Thomas Frazee and powered his way to the front of the net and slid the puck in under the Steelheads goalie Eric Hartzell. The goal extended Nunns point streak to seven games and earned him his ninth point of the season. Frazee also captured his ninth point of the season and prolonged a point streak of his own to five straight on the road. Brock Higgs put Atlanta up by three on a shorthanded goal with :24 seconds left in the period. Mike Merrifiel in his first game back from Injury started the play by intercepting a pass in his own end. The product of Michigan State University lead the 2-on-1 rush the other way and found Higgs on a cross-crease pass for the third Gladiators tally in the opening period. It took Idaho only :12 seconds to respond with their first goal of the contest. Andre Bouvet-Morrissette circled the back of the net and sent the puck to Taylor Peters in front. Peters wired it home from the slot and picked up his fourth marker of the season on the powerplay goal to cut the Gladiators lead to two. The Steelheads added to a busy last minute of the opening frame on a goal with under a second remaining in the period. Brandon Magee won the offensive zone faceoff back to the point to Tommy Fallen. The rookie defender wristed a shot through traffic in front that found the back of the net right before the horn sounded. The first career professional goal for Fallen sent to the teams to the first intermission with a 3-2 Atlanta lead. Idaho carried the momentum into the second period and tied the game just 1:18 into the middle frame. Magee got his second assist and second point of the game on a Colton Beck goal. Magees centering pass was tipped home by Beck from the goal crease for his fourth of the season and third of the game for the Steelheads to equalize the score. Magee earned his first goal and third point of the night four minutes later and gave Idaho their first lead of the game. Beck dropped off the puck on the 3-on-1 rush to the on-coming Magee who fired his third of the season in past Gladiators netminder Matt Ginn. Brad Navin evened the score at four with the second shorthanded goal of the night for Atlanta three minutes into the third period. The Wisconsin native picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and walked into the Steelheads end uncontested where the rookie forward rifled one in along the ice between the legs of Hartzell. The tally gave Navin his second career goal of his professional career. Former Steelhead, Derek Nesbitt, collected a long pass from Joe Stejskal and entered the Idaho zone down the far side. The member of the 2006-07 Steelheads Kelly Cup Championship winning team blasted a slap shot past Hartzell to get the Gladiators the lead back with a little over 11 minutes left in the game. Defending a shorthanded 6-on-3 advantage with the Idaho net empty, Ginn made several game-saving saves to complete the comeback victory for the Gladiators. Atlanta collected their fourth win on the season, extended their win streak to three games and improved to nine points on the campaign in the winning effort. The loss dropped Idaho to 4-4-1-0 as they remain at nine points.