Tough going: the Atlanta Gladiators lose in a shootout (4-3) to the Adirondack Thunder and drop all 3 games in the series, but look to bounce back quickly
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
Preview: Adirondack Thunder (26-13-4-1/57 points/T-2nd place in the ECHL North) vs Atlanta Gladiators (31-12-1-0/63 points/2nd place in the ECHL South)
Coming into today's matinee day for President's Day (February 16, 2026 starting at 1:10pm EST at the Gas South District), the Adirondack Thunder come into today's game with a chance to pull off the sweep of the 3-game series with the Atlanta Gladiators. In the previous 2 games, the Thunder have outscored the Glads 9-3, including Saturday's 5-2 in where they scored 2 empty net goals to close out the game (click HERE for our article/recap).
Offensively, the Thunder are led by Brannon McManus (20 goals/25 assists/45 points/+18 rating), as he's been a thorn in the Atlanta's side during the series. Overall, the team is scoring close to 3 goals per game (a 2.98 goals per game average) and looks to apply additional pressure on the Atlanta defense. And speaking of, their team defense is allowing 2.61 goals per game, clearly augmented by their performance this series. Goaltender Jeremy Brodeur (yes, NJ Devils fans, he's the son of legendary goaltender Martin Brodeur) draws the start for today's game. He enters today's game with a 16-6 record (with 2 overtime losses/2.30 goals allowed average/.922 save percentage) and looks to repeat his performance in the opening game of the series (a 4-1 win this past Friday).
Atlanta looks to snap their current 2 game losing streak along with avoiding getting swept at home. The offense looks to get off to a faster start as they hope All-Star and leading scorer Jack O'Brien (19 goals/17 assists/36 points/+9 rating) is available for today's game. Otherwise, they'll lean on Chad Nychuck (6 goals/33 assists/39 points/+28 rating) and Alex Young (15 goals/20 assists/35 points/+11 rating) to get things going as the team has scored 3 goals in the previous 2 games (they are averaging 3.02 goals per game). Defensively, All-Star goaltender TJ Semptimphelter (a 15-6 with 1 overtime loss/1.96 goals allowed average/.930 save percentage) along with the team defense look to "reset"; while they still are allowing a league-leading 2.20 goals per game.
Beyond the series, both teams are playing for something meaningful as we approach the last third of the regular season (there are 72 regular season games in ECHL play). A win for the Thunder could lead to them having sole possession of 2nd place in their division and inching closer to home-ice during the 1st round of the playoffs (the top 4 teams in each division make the post-season and the top 2 teams have home-ice in the 1st round). As for the Gladiators, they are only 1 point out of 1st place, but the South Carolina Stingrays (who are in 3rd place in the division) sit 2 points behind them, giving today's game added importance.
Game recap: The Glads' have a better start, but the Thunder have a slightly better finish to secure the win and sweep the series.
The Atlanta Gladiators clearly focus on getting off to a faster start than they did in the previous games of the series, as they score the first goal of the game.
Team Captain Cody Sylvester's 12th goal of the season (12:20 mark of the 1st period/assisted by Chad Nychuk and Alex Young) gives the Glads a 1-0 lead. However, the Thunder would strike back about 2 minutes later (14:33 in the 1st period) as Sean Olson's 2nd goal of the season (assisted by Tanner Edwards) ties the game at 1.
At the 5:50 mark of the 2nd period, the Thunder's Michael Herrera scores his 1st goal of the season (assisted by Connor Hutchison and Ryan Helliwell). His goal gives them a 2-1 lead, building on their momentum from their earlier goal.
The Thunder would have a short-lived lead as the Gladiators respond with a goal of their own. After the referees confirm the goal (15:27 mark of the 2nd period), Cody Sylvester's 2nd goal of the game (and 13th of the season/assisted by Brendan Less and Ryan Francis) gets Atlanta even with Adirondack (tied at 2).
The Gladiators retake the lead at the 14:19 mark of the 3rd period on an outstanding rush by Joey Ciplollone, as his 12th goal of the season gives them a 3-2 lead (assisted by Ethan Scardina).
Adirondack refuses to "go away" as they respond with a shorthanded goal to tie the game at 3 (17:47 in the 3rd period). Chase McLane scores his 3rd goal of the season (assisted by Tag Bertuzzi) as they rally to tie the game and send it to overtime.
Both teams have some reasonable scoring opportunities during overtime (the teams are basically reset to 3-on-3 instead of 5-on-5 for the 10 minute period), but to their credit, both goaltenders are up to the task and make some tremendous saves, adding to the growing edginess of the series.
After a scoreless overtime, the game moves to the shootout phase (each team selects 5 players to shoot against the other's team's goalie; the team with the most successful shots win or the game concludes in a tie).
The Glads' Chad Nychuk makes a smooth move against Brodeur to give them an early advantage, only to be matched by Tag Bertuzzi (the son of NHL veteran Todd Bertuzzi) on the very next attempt by the Thunder. In the end, the Thunder would add another shootout goal thanks to Patrick Grasso on their last (5th shot) attempt to have a 2-1 edge in the shootout; Alex Young makes the last attempt by the Glads, but Brodeur turns it away to secure the overtime win and and 3-game sweep of the Glads.
Post-game: The Glads look to build on positive aspects of today's game along with fine-tuning some items as they prepare for 3 ECHL South Division games on the road (February 20-22, 2026).
Comparatively speaking, the Glads' play and effort improves with each game of the series. However, they are swept at home and look to get back to the basics and the play which overall has them playing at a high level.
Atlanta bombards Adirondack when it comes to shots on goal (42 to 31) and clearly have their chances to cash in. One telling stat is their performance on the power play; while they successfully hold the Thunder at bay on their only power play opportunity, the Glads do not convert on any of their 6 chances. Likewise, allowing the shorthanded goal inside the last 3 minutes of the 3rd period lands them in the challenging position of navigating through overtime and shootout play.
Atlanta goaltender TJ Semptimphelter has a solid performance (27 saves on 30 shots), including stellar plays in overtime. His counterpart, Jeremy Brodeur, has an equally sound performance in the net (39 saves on 42 shots), as their individual performances are key in keeping both teams close and pushing the game into overtime.
The Glads' Matt Ginn (Head Coach) and Cody Sylvester (Team Captain) speak with us as they look to snapping their current losing streak and maintaining their focus given their upcoming stretch of games (you may watch their responses to our questions below):
Notes: You may watch the full interviews and game snapshots on our playlist (click HERE to view). For our continued hockey coverage, you may visit our site (click HERE).
The Glad hit the road for games against the South Carolina Stingrays (February 20th and 21st) and the Savannah Ghost Pirates (February 22nd) before returning home for a 2-game homestand against the Savannah Ghost Pirates (February 24th) and Jacksonville Ice Men (February 27th) for Heroes Night (a celebration of our armed forces and related support staff).
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