Duluth, GA – The Jacksonville Icemen defeated the Atlanta Gladiators 2-0 at Gas South Arena on Wednesday night. Cameron Rowe stopped all 38 shots that came his way for his second shutout of the season.
The Gladiators and Icemen met for the first of three times this week on Wednesday night. Atlanta started rookie netminder T.J. Semptimphelter in net, while Jacksonville went with Cameron Rowe, who had led them to an upset win over Florida on Sunday.
Atlanta came out with a purpose in the first period, putting shots on goal and creating scoring chances by maintaining possession and spending the majority of the period in the Jacksonville zone. The Gladiators also did well at the faceoff dot, helping them earn the majority of possession. The first period finished scoreless, but the Gladiators outshot the Icemen 14-5. They also finished the period on the penalty kill and got the job done at the start of the second period.
The Icemen flipped the script in the second period and had possession for the majority of the period. The Gladiators got caught on their heels at times and almost escaped with another scoreless period, but with 1:13 left in the second period T.J Friedmann scored from Lincoln Griffin and David Jankowski to make it 1-0 Icemen.
The Gladiators did rebound with a better effort in the third period but were unable to solve Cameron Rowe, no matter how many shots they threw his way. Atlanta had three chances on the power play in the third period, and a brief moment of 4 on 4 action, but were unable to convert and tie the game up. Opting to pull the netminder for an extra attacker late in regulation in an attempt to bury a goal and tie the game, the Gladiators surrendered an empty net goal to Adam McMaster with 2:14 to play making it a 2-0 final.
Rowe’s 38 save shutout was the first time the Gladiators have been shut out at home this season and the fourth time overall. Semptimphelter played well, stopping 19/20 in the loss. Atlanta went 0/4 on the power play and 2/2 on the penalty kill.
The Gladiators head to Jacksonville on Friday in search of revenge in a rematch with the Icemen at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM, with coverage on the Gladiators Broadcast Network on FloHockey and YouTube beginning at 6:40 PM.
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