Glads Deliver 6-2 Win in GRN

After scoring no goals in 60 minutes the day prior against Greenville, Atlanta headed up I-85 looking for redemption. They'd find it in spades Tuesday night, amassing a 6-2 victory in a game that saw Captain Derek Nesbitt turn in a 4-point performance, Garry Nunn contribute three of his own, and goaltender Kent Patterson make 31 saves between the pipes. Atlanta got on the board at the 7:40 mark of period one courtesy of Garry Nunn. Off the rush, Derek Nesbitt sent a cross-ice pass to the streaking Nunn in the right circle. The victoria, BC native made no mistake scooping the puck top shelf past the Greenville goalie, Mackenzie Skapski for his seventh goal of the season. Nesbitt increased his team lead in points to 34 points with the helper on the goal. Rookie forward Eric Neiley doubled the Gladiator lead when he backhanded a rebound past the right shoulder of Skapski into the cage for his fourth tally of the season. Cole Martin started the play with a shot from the right point that hit teammate Mike Merrifield in front and landed right on Neiley's stick who notched the second Atlanta goal of the night. Martin improved to five assists on the year while Merrifield collected helper number 13 on the season. Atlanta enlarged their advantage to three on Nunn's second goal of the evening. Another tic-tac-toe passing play between Thomas Frazee and Nesbitt found Nunn in the high slot. Nunn quickly wristed the disc past the right shoulder of Skapski to put Atlanta up 3-0. Greenville got the board for the first time at the 18:38 mark of the middle period. Michael St. Croix notched his seventh goal of the season on a rebound of the right pad of Gladiators goalie Kent Patterson. Sean Escobedo took the initial shot after a feed from Joe Houk given those two the assists on the play. The Atlanta lead went back to three goals as Nesbitt collected his third point of the night and first goal early in period three. Nunn registered his third point of the game finding Nesbitt who slammed a one-timer into the top shelf of the net. Frazee received the second assist giving himself a multi-point night as well. The Gladiators would go up 5-1 as the tandem of Frazee and Nesbitt struck again. Nesbitt threw a backhand from the low slot that was deflected into the net by Frazee for his sixth of the season. The assist on the Frazee goal gave the captain four points on the night, a season high for any Gladiators skater this season. Greenville would add a second goal on the night from Justin DaSilva at the 7:40 mark of the third. That tally would not be enough to spark a comeback as Max Everson added a empty net goal for Atlanta giving a 6-2 win for the Gladiators. Atlanta advances to 52 points on the season and a record of 25-13-2-0 with the defeat of Greenville. The Swamp Rabbits fall to 19-16-6-0 for 44 points on the season and now trail Atlanta by eight points in the Eastern Conference standings.