SAVANNAH, Ga. — The Savannah Ghost Pirates, proud ECHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, came from behind to defeat the Atlanta Gladiators 3–1 on Saturday night at Enmarket Arena.
Atlanta opened the scoring with 4:42 remaining in the first period when Austin Roest forced a turnover in Savannah’s defensive zone and went forehand to backhand to give the Gladiators a 1–0 lead after one.
The Ghost Pirates evened the contest with 8:52 left in the second period. Atlanta goaltender Ethan Haider mishandled the puck behind the net, leading to Matt Koopman finding Tristan Amonte in front for the tying goal to make it 1–1.
Savannah took its first lead of the night with 6:55 remaining in the third period when Reece Vitelli dropped a pass to Nicholas Zabaneh, who fired home a shorthanded goal to give the Ghost Pirates a 2–1 advantage.
Zabaneh added an empty-net goal with 48 seconds remaining, assisted by Will Riedell, to seal the victory.
Noah Giesbrecht earned the win for Savannah, stopping 23 of 24 shots. Haider turned aside 44 of 46 shots for Atlanta.
The Ghost Pirates travel to South Carolina on Sunday to face the South Carolina Stingrays for a 3:05 p.m. ET puck drop. The game will be streamed live on FloHockey and broadcast on Mixlr. Tickets and additional information about upcoming home games are available at ghostpirateshockey.com.
— GHOST PIRATES —
Adirondack Thunder
Allen Americans
Atlanta Gladiators
Bloomington Bison
Cincinnati Cyclones
Florida Everblades
Fort Wayne Komets
Greensboro Gargoyles
Greenville Swamp Rabbits
Idaho Steelheads
Indy Fuel
Iowa Heartlanders
Jacksonville Icemen
Kalamazoo Wings
Kansas City Mavericks
Maine Mariners
Norfolk Admirals
Orlando Solar Bears
Rapid City Rush
Reading Royals
Savannah Ghost Pirates
South Carolina Stingrays
Tahoe Knight Monsters
Toledo Walleye
Trois-Rivières Lions
Tulsa Oilers
Utah Grizzlies
Wheeling Nailers
Wichita Thunder
Worcester Railers