By Shelby Rabideaux

The Adirondack Thunder defeated the Atlanta Gladiators 4-3 on Monday afternoon in the first shoot out game of the season. Adirondack swept Atlanta in the three-game set with wins on Friday and Saturday night. 

After losses on Friday and Saturday, the Gladiators hoped to return to their game and defeat the Thunder in the President’s Day game. TJ Semptimphelter started between the pipes for the Gladiators while Jeremy Brodeur got the nod for the Thunder. 

The Gladiators came out putting the pressure on the Thunder in the first period. The opposite to how the Gladiators started their game in the first two of the series. Captain Cody Slyvester got the scoring started, scoring 12:20 into the first period to take a 1-0 lead. Sean Olson tied the game up shortly afterwards to get the Thunder off and running. Atlanta denied Adirondack a chance to take the lead after a successful penalty kill and the Gladiators ended the period on a power play as Jacob Graves took a double minor for high-sticking. 

The Gladiators had the chance to score early on in the second with two minutes left on the double minor issued to Jacob Graves. Unfortunately, Atlanta was unable to find the back of the net, but it didn’t stop the team’s drive to win this game. Michael Herrera got a puck past Semptimphelter at 5:50 in the second, getting his first goal of the year, placing the momentum on the Thunder’s side. However, Atlanta was not deterred, they continued putting pressure on the Thunder and Brodeur. Atlanta took any chance to get at the net and tie this game up, they were finally successful at 15:27 into the period, when Cody Sylvester got his second goal of the night. Atlanta and Adirondack ended the period, tied once again. However, the Gladiators outshot the Thunder 17-7 in the second period to tie the game.

The third period began tied at 2-2, both teams coming out of intermission fired up to take the lead and win the game. Atlanta was unable to capitalize on the tripping penalty to Tag Bertuzzi at 5:29 and again on Luke Reid at 12:04, but shortly after at 14:19 into the third, Ethan Scardina found Joey Cipollone in front the net for the Gladiators to take the lead 3-2. Puck luck was not on Gladiators side as Chase McLane scored shorthanded to tie the game up once again late into the period. Both teams were unable to score in the final minutes, taking the game to overtime. 

This was the 9^th the Gladiators have competed in overtime this season. Atlanta hoped to bury the puck in the net and get a win on Adirondack, but the Thunder were able to hold on to the puck for the majority of overtime. Atlanta got some good looks late but was unable to get one in the back of the net, which took the team to their first shoot out game of the season. 

It was the battle between the goaltenders as the teams took to the shootout to complete this series. Brandon McManus started things off for the Thunder and was unable to get one past Semptimphelter. Chad Nychuck was first for the Gladiators, scoring first in the shootout. Adirondack sent Tag Bertuzzi out next, passing the puck by Semptimphelter making it 1-1. Ryan Nolan was next for Atlanta and shot high, missing the net. Semptimphelter denied Alex Campbell giving Atlanta the chance to take the game. Rookie Kalan Lind was the guy called for the chance to ice the game but wasn't able to capitalize. The Thunder sent Patrick Grasso next, who scored. Alex Young had the chance for the Gladiators, but his fake out on Brodeur could not get the job done, leading to Adirondack sweeping Atlanta in the three-game series. 

The Gladiators are off to North Charleston to take on the South Carolina Stingrays on Friday night at 7:05 PM to begin a three-game road trip. Catch all the action on the Gladiators Broadcast Network on FloHockey and YouTube with coverage beginning at 6:45 PM.