The Atlanta Gladiators returned to action on home ice for the second night in a row, as they welcomed in the Norfolk Admirals for another in-division matchup. A strong night on offense, and a 34-save shutout from Sean Bonar gave Atlanta the 4-0 victory in front of a crowd of 9,949 fans at the Infinite Energy Arena.
Just over halfway through the first period, the Gladiators scored the opening goal to send over 5,500 stuffed animals flying to the ice for the annual Teddy Bear Toss. Stephen Pierog tallied the goal by knocking in his own rebound from his knees after he was tripped in front of the net. Both Alex Carrier and Luke Sandler picked up an assist on the goal that gave Atlanta the 1-0 lead with 9:31 left in the opening frame.
Atlanta then doubled their lead to 2-0 with a power play goal at the 6:44 mark of the second period. Ben Danford faked a shot from the point and instead sent a pass to Phil Lane in the far circle. The Gladiators’ all-star forward then lifted a pass to Derek Nesbitt, who blasted a one-timer from the point that beat Jamie Murray through the five-hole. The 5-on-3 goal was the captain’s 10th of the season.
The Gladiators increased their lead to 3-0 with 8:33 remaining in the third period. Brady Vail carried the puck into the offensive zone for Atlanta and left a drop pass for Colin Sullivan. The rookie defender then fired a shot from the point that was redirected into the net by Luke Sandler for his eighth of the year.
With just 1:31 left in the game, Atlanta scored once more to take a 4-0 lead. Alexandre Carrier completed the Gordie Howe hat trick with the goal after he picked up his own rebound and slid the puck past Murray for his third tally of the season. Lindsay Sparks added his name to the scoresheet with an assist on the play, while Pierog notched his second point of the night with the secondary helper.
Able to avenge their defeat from the previous evening, Atlanta improved to 22-21-1-2 with the win and remain in third in the South Division with 47 points. Meanwhile, Norfolk dropped to 16-20-5-1 with the loss and sit in sixth in the division with 38 points.
Up next, Atlanta will wrap up their three-in-three set with a matchup against Orlando tomorrow afternoon. The puck drop is scheduled for 2:05pm at the Infinite Energy Arena between the Gladiators and Solar Bears on Sunday.
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