DULUTH — The Atlanta Gladiators defeated the Greenville Swamp Rabbits by a score of 3-1 at Gas South Arena on a Saturday night when Gladiators forward Mike Pelech made history.
Pelech reached 600 ECHL points with a goal and an assist in the victory. He became the eighth player in league history to reach the 600-point plateau and also passed Phil Berger (599 points) for eighth in all-time ECHL points.
After a scoreless first period, Atlanta (15-13-2-1) broke the deadlock early in the second period when Derek Nesbitt found Gabe Guertler in front of the net. Guertler slotted it past Greenville goaltender John Lethemon to make it 1-0 and record his seventh goal of the season (5:01).
Shortly after notching a goal, Guertler dropped the gloves with Bryce Reddick. The scuffle ended with Guertler wrestling Reddick down to the ice and both players receiving fighting majors.
The Gladiators took a 2-0 advantage midway through the second period after Tim Davison faked a slap shot and sent the puck through the low slot to Pelech, who fired it past Lethemon (10:57). Pelech’s tally marked his 600th ECHL point.
Greenville (9-13-3-3) cut the lead to 2-1 late in the third period after Anthony Rinaldi scored from the low slot (14:06).
Atlanta made it 3-1 late in the third period after Davison scored a shorthanded empty-netter from the opposite blue line to seal the 3-1 victory (19:38).
Goaltender Tyler Parks finished his night stopping all but one shot in his direction with 37 saves on 38 shots for Atlanta.