Glads Defeat Aces 4-3 in OT

Facing Alaska in their final regular season battle, Atlanta looked to send the Aces packing with a loss. Garry Nunn would snag the Gladiators the win and two points with a thrilling overtime game winning goal, backhanded over Alaska's sprawling netminder.The Atlanta Gladiators struck first in the final meeting of a three-game stretch against the Alaska Aces. Tyler Shiplo powered a wrist shot from the Aces' blue line past the Alaska goaltender, Troy Redmann, at the 2:15 mark of the first period. Garry Nunn and Derek Nesbitt were credited with assists on Shiplo's second goal of the season.The Gladiators increased their lead to 2-0 with 7:24 left in the first frame. Cole Martin found Tyler Murovich behind the Alaska net who quickly wrapped the puck around the far-side post and into the goal for his 12th score of the year. The Pittsburgh, PA native notched his 21st point while Martin tallied his fourth assist on the season.Atlanta tallied their third unanswered goal 6:04 into the second period. Max Everson received a pass from Eric Neiley at the left point and fed Brock Higgs with a hard pass at the top of the crease, which he redirected between the pads of Redmann for the 3-0 advantage. Higgs increased his point streak to eight straight games with his 12th goal of the season while Everson and Neiley both were credited with assists on the play.Alaska cut the lead to 3-1 on a shorthanded goal off the stick Justin Breton, his second score in as many games. The product of Bentley University took advantage of a breakaway opportunity, cutting across the face of Gladiators goaltender, Kent Patterson, and sliding it through his legs to cut the lead to two. Breton's 12th goal marked his 20th point of the season and gave Peter Sivak his 14th assist on the year.The Aces capitalized on a man advantage opportunity to start the third frame with a goal less than 30 seconds into the period to cut the lead to 3-2 in favor of the Gladiators. Sivak took a long shot from the left point that bounced off Patterson's side and into the goal. Tim Coffman was awarded the primary helper while William Wren picked up his 22th point with the secondary assist.The Alaska Aces tied the game on their third straight goal since going down 0-3 early in the second period. Sivak tallied his third point of the game with a goal from the point that traveled into the upper left corner of the net to tie the game at 3-3. Coffman picked up his second assist of the game while Collin Valcourt notched his ninth of the season on the secondary helper.The game remained tied at the end of regulation but with 1:10 left in overtime Matt Register sent a long pass up the ice to Garry Nunn with one defender to beat. The forward slid the puck through Aces defender Patrick Weller, cutting across the crease of Redmann and backhanded the puck into the net to seal the 4-3 victory. Nunn's sixth goal was his second point of the day while Register recorded his 15th point in nine games. The Gladiators improved to 22-12-2 and 46 points on the season while the Aces fell to 12-18-2-3 and 29 points after getting one point in the overtime loss.