DULUTH, Ga. — The Savannah Ghost Pirates, proud ECHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, pushed their winning streak to four games with a 5–2 victory over the Atlanta Gladiators at Gas South Arena on Friday night.
Savannah struck quickly, as Will Riedell wristed a shot from the left point just 25 seconds into the game to give the Ghost Pirates a 1–0 lead. Cristophe Tellier and Riley Hughes recorded the assists on the opening goal.
The Ghost Pirates doubled their advantage a few minutes later when Tellier found Nicholas Zabaneh at the top of the crease to make it 2–0, with Hughes picking up the secondary assist.
Savannah continued its strong first period following an Atlanta icing, as Colton Huard snapped a shot from the right circle to extend the lead to 3–0. Nick Granowicz and Matt Koopman were credited with the assists.
Atlanta responded at the 12:15 mark of the second period when Cody Sylvester scored on the power play from the right circle to cut the deficit to 3–1. Ryan Nolan and Chad Nychuk assisted on the goal.
The Gladiators pulled within one late in the period as Sylvester scored his second of the game on a backdoor play with 4.5 seconds remaining, making it 3–2. The period ended with Logan Drevitch and Andrew Jarvis exchanging punches.
Savannah regained momentum in the third period, adding an insurance goal at 13:54 when a shot by Josh Davies found its way in following a faceoff win by Josh Lopina to make it 4–2.
The Ghost Pirates capped the scoring when Ryan Sullivan buried a shot from the slot to extend the lead to 5–2. Keaton Pehrson and Koopman recorded the assists.
Evan Cormier earned the win in net for Savannah, stopping 22 of 24 shots. Ethan Haider made 25 saves on 30 shots for Atlanta.
The Ghost Pirates return home Saturday night to face the Gladiators for Ghost Riders Night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed live on FloHockey and broadcast on Mixlr. Tickets and additional information on upcoming games are available at ghostpirateshockey.com.
— GHOST PIRATES —