The Greenville Road Warriors square of against the Gwinnett Gladiators today in a battle for sole possession of first place in the South Division. Faceoff is set for 4:05 p.m. at the BI-LO Center in downtown Greenville.
RECAPPING THE ACTION:
11/19/10 – GRW 6 – WHL 2
The Road Warriors matched their highest offensive output of the season as they downed North Division foe Wheeling for the second straight night. Ten different Road Warriors registered at least one point and every skater had at least an even plus/minus rating for the game. Marc-Olivier Vallerand (2G), Jimmy Kilpatrick (1G, 2A), Justin Bowers (1G, 2A), Mark Voakes (2A), and Brandon Wong (2A) all had multi-point efforts in the win. Dov Grumet-Morris made his third consecutive start for the Road Warriors and picked up the win with a 30-save performance. Greenville went 1-for-8 on the power play and 7-for-8 on the penalty kill.
11/20/10 – GWT 2 – S.C.3
The Gladiators’ Mike Forney and Danick Paquette provided the goals on Saturday but it wasn’t enough to overcome Pierre-Luc O’Brien’s big night. The Stingrays’ forward had a hand in each of his team’s goals as he scored two and assisted on the other. Billy Sauer started the game in goal for the Gladiators and was peppered with 32 shots. The former Michigan Wolverine turned aside 29 but it wasn’t enough to earn his fourth win of the season. The loss was Gwinnett‘s third in a row (all on the road) and each of the losses have been by just one goal.
WHAT’S ON TAP FOR TONIGHT:
The winner of tonight’s game will grab sole possession of first place in the South Division. Besides trying to grab the division lead the Road Warriors are also vying to be the first team in the ECHL to reach 10 wins on the season. Gwinnett leads the seas series against the Road Warriors two games to one. The Gladiators are the only team that Greenville does not have a winning record against this season. Keep an eye on which team scores the first goal of the game. It has not spelled success when these teams meet as the team to score first has lost each time.
After joining the Road Warriors just before Friday night’s game Brian Stewart will be pushed into a prominent role today. The rookie goalie out of Northern Michigan is expected to make his Road Warriors debut in goal today against Gwinnett due to Dov Grumet-Morris being loaned to the Portland Pirates yesterday. Stewart won 18 games for Northern Michigan last season and was signed by Adirondack this past summer. He appeared in four games with the Phantoms this season before coming to Greenville.
The Road Warriors’ penalty kill has been dialed in as of late, especially on home ice. It will need to be good again tonight and bounce back after a couple of rocky performances the last two games against Gwinnett in which six power play goals were scored by the Gladiators. Greenville is 15-for-16 on the penalty kill in its last three home games and has scored a shorthanded goal in each of those games, as well. However, in three games against Gwinnett the Road Warriors have allowed six power play goals in 19 chances.
Please click here for Game Notes page one.
Please click here for Game Notes page two.
Please click here for Road Warriors player info.
Please click here for Gladiators player info.
The Road Warriors will finish up their Thanks for Giving Weekend today with a canned food drive to benefit Loaves and Fishes. Fans are asked to bring canned goods with them to be donated to the drive. Those who bring at least three items will receive a buy-one-get-one-free ticket coupon redeemable for the home game on December 27 against South Carolina. For more information call the Road Warriors at 864-674-PUCK.
