DULUTH, GA – The Atlanta Gladiators (29-17-3-1) scored five unanswered goals to close out the South Carolina Stingrays (17-27-5-0) by a final score of 6-2 at Gas South Arena on Thursday night.

The Stingrays drew first blood at the 2:42 mark of the first period as Jade Miller tallied his eighth goal of the season. Carter Cowlthorp led a pass to the blue line and crashed the net to take the eyes away from Joe Murdaca, which allowed Chaz Reddekopp to take a shot that Miller redirected for the 1-0 lead.

Atlanta’s Eric Neiley evened the score just over a minute later as he redirected the puck past Kristian Stead. Neiley set himself up at the top of the crease and waited for the pass from Kameron Kielly, who delivered a perfect feed onto Neiley’s tape for the tip-in tuck.

Ryan Dmowski regained the Stingrays lead with just over eight minutes left in the opening stanza. Jordan Subban fired a stretch pass to Dmowski at the opposing blue line, where he turned on the jets and lifted a puck over the right shoulder of Murdaca.

The Gladiators once again evened the score only 19 seconds later as Sanghoon Shin fed Gabe Guertler for Guertler’s 14th of the year. Shin got behind the Stingrays defense and was off to the races where he dropped a pass back for a late entry from Guertler, knotting the score at two.

Four unanswered goals in the second and third period provided Atlanta’s go-ahead and insurance goals. It began as Keilly fired home a shot through the five-hole of Stead off a tape-to-tape pass from Neiley early into the second frame for their first lead of the contest.

Derek Nesbitt added on before the end of the second period to double the Gladiators’ lead. With just under five minutes left, a pile of players fought for the loose puck in front of the net, where Nesbitt broke free and shoveled a shot from the far post into the open net.

Another odd-man rush for Atlanta gave Neilly his second mark of the game just over a minute into the third period. Cody Sylvester moved down the left side towards the net and fed a pass back to Neilly, where the Gladiators forward lifted the puck past Stead for the 5-2 lead.

Shin put the final dagger in the coffin with 3:09 remaining in regulation as he found a loose puck at the top of the crease and slid it through the five-hole of the Stingrays netminder. Shin extended his point streak to eight straight games and has scored goal in four consecutive contests.

The Stingrays return home for the first of a seven-game homestand this Saturday, February 26th, at 6:05 p.m. against the Florida Everblades at the North Charleston Coliseum. It’s Star Wars Night presented by Jeff Cook Real Estate this Saturday! Dress up as your favorite character and be one of the first 1,500 fans to get a free light up boom stick giveaway.

Single game tickets for all your Stingrays home games for the upcoming 2021-22 home season are on sale now via Ticketmaster.

Save money with group tickets! For more information or to purchase, contact the Stingrays by phone at 843-744-2248.

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--StingraysHockey.com--