DULUTH, Ga. — The Savannah Ghost Pirates, proud ECHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers, fell 7–4 to the Atlanta Gladiators on Tuesday evening at Gas South Arena.
Savannah opened the scoring just 3:14 into the contest when Evan Nause buried the rebound of a Cristophe Tellier shot from the left side to make it 1–0. Ryan Sullivan earned the secondary assist.
The Ghost Pirates extended their lead in the final minute of the first period. With 59.9 seconds remaining, Keaton Pehrson chipped the puck ahead to Nicholas Zabaneh, who skated into the right circle and ripped home a shorthanded goal to give Savannah a 2–0 advantage after one.
Atlanta responded 5:31 into the second period as Cody Sylvester blasted a shot from the left side to cut the deficit to 2–1.
Savannah regained its two-goal cushion with 7:59 left in the second when Reece Vitelli set up Phip Waugh in the left circle for a strike that made it 3–1.
The Gladiators seized momentum late in the period following a fight between Ryan Nolan and Bryce Brodzinski. Atlanta scored twice in a 2:13 span — first from Carson Denomie and then from Alex Young — to even the game at 3–3 heading into the third.
The Ghost Pirates briefly reclaimed the lead 2:24 into the third period when Liam Walsh wristed home a shot off a feed from Tristan Amonte to make it 4–3.
Atlanta answered again at the 4:43 mark on a power-play goal from Isak Walther, tying the contest at 4–4. The Gladiators then took their first lead of the night just 2:17 later when Young tipped in a Chad Nychuk shot to make it 5–4.
Young completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal, and Ryan Conroy added another empty-netter to seal the 7–4 final.
Ethan Haider earned the win for Atlanta, stopping 36 of 40 shots. Vinnie Purpura made 25 saves on 30 shots for Savannah.
The Ghost Pirates return home Friday night to face the South Carolina Stingrays. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET. 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 —
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