DULUTH, Ga. - The Atlanta Gladiators (6-8-4-0) earned a 6-3 victory over the Savannah Ghost Pirates (9-8-0-0) on Friday night at Gas South Arena in Duluth, Georgia.
Drew DeRidder started in goal for Atlanta, while former NHL netminder Keith Kinkaid was between the pipes for Savannah.
Savannah struck first just 3:08 into the game, as forward Logan Drevitch (3rd) broke in alone on a breakaway, patiently waiting out DeRidder before tucking the puck past his pad.
The Gladiators answered quickly at 5:51, with defenseman Andrew Jarvis blasting home his third goal of the season following a beautiful feed from Christian Hausinger.
Less than a minute later, at 6:18, Atlanta took the lead. After a turnover, forward P.J. Fletcher (1) broke free and beat Kinkaid for his first goal of the year.
The Ghost Pirates responded shortly after, tying the game on a power play goal from Josh Davies (3rd).
Atlanta regained the lead before the period ended, as Randy Hernandez scored his third goal of the season, rifling a wrist shot past Kinkaid to make it 3-2.
The Gladiators extended their advantage early in the second period. In his debut, forward Tyler Drevitch (1) came to the front of the net, and backhanded a shot past Kinkaid just 21 seconds into the frame.
Atlanta added another power-play goal at 18:41, with Patriks Marcinkevics (1) netting his first professional goal to make it 5-2.
Savannah got one back in the third, as Keltie Jeri-Leon scored his second goal of the season to make it 5-3.
With the game winding down, Gladiators' captain Eric Neiley (5th) sealed the victory with a shorthanded empty-net goal at 19:22, making it 6-3.
Drew DeRidder finished with 27 saves on 30 shots, while Keith Kinkaid stopped 27 of 32 shots in the loss for Savannah.
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