DULUTH, Ga. The Atlanta Gladiators (33-25-6-1) scored four-unanswered goals - two from Mike Pelech and two from Cody Sylvester - to defeat the Florida Everblades (34-21-4-4) by a score of 4-1 on Wednesday night at Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia.
First Star: Mike Pelech (ATL) - 2 goals, 2 assists
Second Star: Cody Sylvester (ATL) - 2 goals, 1 assist
Third Star: Sang-Hoon Shin (ATL) - 2 assists
The Florida Everblades struck first in the contest, opening the scoring just past the five-minute mark of the first period to lead 1-0 (5:13).
Atlanta drew even just over three minutes later to tie the game at one (8:02). Mike Pelech jumped on a loose puck inside the Everblades zone and sent a shot into the Florida net for his 13th marker of the season.
With time running out in the first period the Gladiators scored to pull ahead 2-1 (19:59). A Sang-Hoon Shin pass took a funny bounce and Mike Pelech jumped on it and sent it into the goal for his second marker of the game with just 0.3 seconds remaining in the period.
The Gladiators extended their lead to 3-1 over the Everblades late in the second frame (15:58). Derek Topatigh sent a shot from the blueline on net and it was tipped in front by Cody Sylvester as he was credited with his 31st goal of the season.
Florida pulled their goalie with just over four-minutes remaining in regulation while on a power play, and Atlanta made them pay. Cody Sylvester wired a shot into an empty Everblades cage from his own end of the ice to make it 4-1, Gladiators (16:08).
Joe Murdaca made 29 saves on 30 shots in the win for Atlanta, while Cam Johnson made 20 saves on 23 shots in the loss for Florida.
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