A playoff push as we approach St Patrick's Day: a solid 2nd period, resiliency, and a little extra lead the Atlanta Gladiators to a 4-3 shootout win over the South Carolina Stingrays
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Preview: South Carolina Stingrays (38-18-1-1/78 points/2nd place in the ECHL South) vs Atlanta Gladiators (36-17-2-1/75 points/3rd place in the ECHL South)
Coming into today's St Patrick's Day themed game (March 15, 2026 at 3:10pm at the Gas South District), two ECHL South rivals take it to the ice as both make their push for the playoffs. Not only is playoff positioning at stake, but potential home ice advantage during the playoffs (as the top 4 teams in each division make the postseason, and the top 2 in each division earn home ice at least through the 1st round of the playoffs).
The Stingrays come in with a 3 point lead over the Gladiators for 2nd place in the division. Combined with their head-to-head advantage over Atlanta, South Carolina looks to add to their current advantage and create more separation between the teams. Offensively, they average 3.10 goals per game and are led by Simon Pinard (22 goals/35 assists/57 points/+9 rating) and Josh Wilkins (20 goals/23 assists/43 points/+7 rating). Defensively, the team is allowing a solid 2.67 goals per game as goaltender Ty Taylor (6-3-0-0/2.83 goals allowed average/.895 save percentage) is in the net for the Stingrays.
As for the Gladiators, a win today puts them just 1 point behind the Stingrays. Their team defense is still among the top on the league, as they allow 2.46 goals per game as Ethan Haider draws the start today in goal (19-9-1-0/1 shutout/2.39 goals allowed average/.925 save percentage). The team offense is scoring nearly 3 goals per game (2.96) and look to Alex Young (23 goals/27 assists/50 points/+8 rating) and Chad Nychuk (7 goals/40 assists/47 points/+19 rating) to lead the way to favorable outcome (that would be a win).
Recap: The Glads' 2nd period effort braces them for the Stingrays' efforts and leads to a shootout win.
After a scoreless 1st period where both defenses and goalies are able to keep each other at bay, South Carolina strikes first as they score at the 0:56 mark of the 2nd period. Romain Rodzinski scores his 7th goal of the season (assisted by Patrick Thomas and Simon Pinard) to give the Stringrays the early lead (1-0).
Atlanta ties the game at 1 (5:25 in the 2nd period). In his 3rd game with the team, Max Grondin scores his 1st goal with the Glads (assisted by Alex Young) to get them even with the Stingrays.
The Glads would proceed to take the lead (13:26 of the 2nd period) on Chad Nychuk's 8th goal of the season (assisted by Alex Young and Ethan Scardina), making it a 2-1 game.
In the 3rd period, the Glads' Alex Young scores his 24th goal of the season at the 6:38 mark of the period (assisted by Max Grondin and Mike McNamee) to extend their lead to 3-1.
However, the Stingrays would gradually climb back into the game.
At the 8;21 mark of the 3rd period, Romain Rodzinski scores his 8th goal of the season (assisted by Patrick Thomas and Kyler Kupka) to make it a 3-2 game. Rodzinski would add his 3rd goal of the game (and 9th of the season) at the 14:14 mark of the 3rd period (assisted by Patrick Guzzo and Lynden Breen) to tie the game at 3.
The game would go to overtime.
With both teams playing 3-on-3 (sudden death/the first team who scores in the 7 minute overtime window wins), the Stingrays have their rushes to the goal thwarted by Ethan Haider's solid play. The Glads respond with a few opportunities to rush the net inside the 5:30 mark of overtime, but Ty Taylor is up to the task as well.
After a scoreless overtime, the game moves to the shootout phase (3 players from each team are selected for one-on-one opportunities against the other team's goaltenders).
Atlanta has the first attempt and they are successful as Chad Nychuk beats the goaltender, while South Carolina is stopped on their first attempt. After Atlanta is stopped on their second attempt, Ethan Haider stops the attempt.
Jack O'Brien seals the deal on the Glads' 3rd attempt as they earn the win in thrilling fashion.
Post-game: Today's win gets the Glads closer to potential home-ice for the 1st round of the playoffs.
This is a game that has a playoff-level feel; then again, if the season ended today, Atlanta would face South Carolina in the 1st round of the playoffs.
Despite the Stingrays' edge in shots on goal (37 to 33) and the hat trick by Roman Rodzinski, the Gladiators prevail. A key component of their win is their ability to keep the Stingrays' empty-handed on the power play (they are 0 for 2 while Atlanta is 0 for 3) along with the ability of Ethan Haider to ward off 34 or the 37 shots faces (along with both shot attempts in the shootout).
During post-game, Atlanta's Jack O'Brien (who scores the game winning goal in the shootout) and Head Coach Matt Ginn speak with the media. Both speak to the team focus, resiliency, along with continued identification of areas of improvement, as these are essential to the team's drive for the playoffs, including a chance to win 3 of the 4 games on their current homestand (you may watch a snapshot of their responses to our questions below):
Clearly, this helps the Glads get the win, and maybe a little luck of the Irish as we approach St Patrick's Day didn't hurt either.
Notes: You may watch our season playlist for interviews and game-snapshots for the 2025-26 season (click HERE). The Glads conclude their current homestand on March 18th (7:10pm EST at the Gas South District) as they host the Jacksonville Icemen (another ECHL South Division rival) for the next edition of .
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