5/5/2006
DESBIENS HAS HAT TRICK IN WIN
Guillaume Desbiens recorded the third hat trick of the post season for
the Gladiators helping Gwinnett past the Toledo Storm, 5-3, in Game 1 of
the American Conference Champion****p series at the Arena at Gwinnett
Center on Friday night. Gwinnett leads the best-of-seven series 1 game
to none and hosts Game 2 of the Series on Monday night at the Arena at
Gwinnett Center at 7:05 p.m.
Gwinnett jumped out to a 1-0 lead on the Storm with a power play goal at
the 2:04 mark of the first period. Desbiens found a loose puck in the
slot and ripped it past Toledo netminder Logan Koopmans for the marker.
Derek Nesbitt and Troy Milam moved the puck around helping get Koopmans
out of position to set up the tally.
Toledo stormed back tying the contest up at a goal apiece just 35
seconds later on a marker off the stick of Chris Blight. No one picked
up Blight parked in the slot as he took a centering pass from Mike James
from behind the net and ripped a snapshot past Gladiators goaltender
Adam Berkhoel for the marker. Braken Kearns also had an assist on the
goal.
Scooter Smith capitalized on a Toledo power play at the 15:07 mark of
the first period to give the Storm a 2-1 lead. Parked along the near
post, Smith jammed a loose puck past Berkhoel for the marker. Matt
Zultek and Todd Jackson collected the assists on the man advantage goal.
Zultek pushed the Toledo lead to 3-1 with the Storm=3Fs second power play
goal of the period. Ryan Reid and Jackson picked up the assists on the
goal moving the puck along to Zultek to set up the tally.
With time winding down in the second period, Desbiens added his second
goal of the game on the power play. Berkhoel chipped the puck off the
right wing glass to a waiting Brad Schell who worked the puck along to
Jeff Campbell walking in over the Toledo blue line. Campbell dished to
Desbiens streaking down the left wing side as the Alma, Quebec native
slipped past the Toledo defense and flipped the puck past an
outstretched Koopmans for the marker. Desbiens 5th post-season goal came
on the power play with just six seconds left in the middle period.
Steve Slaton tied the game at three with his first goal of the post
season. The rebound off of Derek Nesbitt=3Fs slapshot from the left wing
side deflected right to Slaton, where he fired the puck into what was an
empty net as Koopmans was caught out of position for the marker. Troy
Milam also had an assist on the goal at 4:43 of the third period.
Jeff Campbell, the ECHL=3Fs regular season MVP gave the Gladiators a 4-3
lead with 3:35 left in the third period. Campbell found the puck in a
pile up in front of the Toledo net and ripped the puck past Koopmans for
the marker. Dwyer and Schell hooked up to collect the assists on
Campbell=3Fs go-ahead goal.
Desbiens added an empty net goal for the 5-3 lead with just 3.9 left in
the third period. Schell tipped the puck out into the neutral zone to
Desbiens who finished the hat trick by backhanding the puck into the
empty net for the game=3Fs final score.
Adam Berkhoel won his fifth game of the post season making a handful of
game-saving saves in the third period while fini****ng with 26 saves in
the game for Gwinnett in the win.
PLAYOFFS
ECHL FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
TOLEDO 3 0 0 3
GWINNETT 1 1 3 5 FINAL
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: GWN - (PP) GUILLAUME DESBIENS 4 (DEREK NESBITT, TROY
MILAM)
2:04
TOL - CHRIS BLIGHT 4 (MIKE JAMES, BRAKEN KEARNS) 2:39
TOL - (PP) SCOOTER SMITH 3 (MATT ZULTEK, TODD JACKSON)
15:07
TOL - MATT ZULTEK 4 (RYAN REID, TODD JACKSON) 17:44
2ND PRD: GWN - (PP) GUILLAUME DESBIENS 5 (JEFF CAMPBELL, BRAD
SCHELL)
19:54
3RD PRD: GWN - (PP) STEVE SLATON 2 (DEREK NESBITT, TROY MILAM)
4:43
GWN - JEFF CAMPBELL 3 (JEFF DWYER, BRAD SCHELL) 16:25
GWN - (EN) GUILLAUME DESBIENS 6 (BRAD SCHELL) 19:57
POWER-PLAY CONVERSIONS: TOL - 2 OF 6, GWN - 3 OF 6.
SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
TOL 17 4 7 28
GWN 6 13 18 37
GOALIES: TOL - LOGAN KOOPMANS
GWN - ADAM BERKHOEL
OFFICIALS: REF - JAMIE KOHARSKI
LIN - DAVID JONES, TODD OWEN
ATT: 3,941
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Gwinnett-Desbiens 4 (power play) (Nesbitt;
Milam) 2:04. 2, Toledo-Blight 4 (James; Kearns) 2:39. 3, Toledo-Smith 3
(power play) (Zultek; Jackson) 15:07. 4, Toledo-Zultek 5
(power play) (Reid; Jackson) 17:44. Penalties: Adams, TOL (Hooking),
1:48. Brown, GWT (Interference), 4:47. Smyth, GWT (Board check),
13:47. Slaton, GWT (Hooking), 17:30. Brown, GWT (Tripping), 17:44.
Jackson, TOL (Tripping), 18:05.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 5, Gwinnett-Desbiens 5 (power play)
(Campbell; Schell) 19:54. Penalties: Stepp, GWT (Hooking), 1:22.
Kearns, TOL (Uns****tsmanlike Cond), 1:22. Milam, GWT (Tripping),
1:31. Attard, TOL (Tripping), 4:31. Mifsud, GWT (Elbowing), 9:12.
Keefe, TOL (High sticking), 18:27.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 6, Gwinnett-Slaton 1 (power play) (Nesbitt;
Milam) 4:43. 7, Gwinnett-Campbell 3 (game winner) (Dwyer; Schell)
16:25. 8, Gwinnett-Desbiens 6 (empty net) (Schell) 19:57. Penalties:
Attard, TOL (High sticking, Double minor), 3:17.
Goalies: Toledo-Koopmans (36 shots, 32 saves; record: 1-3-0).
Gwinnett-Berkhoel (29 shots, 26 saves; record: 5-0-0).
The Gwinnett Gladiators continue the 2006 ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs at the
Arena at Gwinnett Center on Monday, May 8th as they host the Toledo
Storm in Game 2 of the American Conference Finals at 7:05 p.m.
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