TOLEDO, Ohio -- Joey Haddad scored the game-winning goal in the third and added two assists, extending his point streak to five games as the Gwinnett Gladiators topped the Toledo Walleye 5-3 Friday night at the Huntington Center.
Haddad snapped a one-timer from the near circle under the right pad of Carter Hutton to make it 4-3 Gwinnett (6-3-2-1) at the 8:47 mark of the final period. Haddad’s fourth goal of the season was aided by Mike Bartlett and Andy Brandt, who set Haddad up from behind the goal line. Tyler Murovich tacked on an empty-netter with less than a minute left for his first goal with the Glads to ice the 5-3 win.
Jeff Jakaitis made 27 saves to earn his fourth win, while Carter Hutton made 19 stops for Toledo (2-7-0-0) in a losing cause. Gwinnett stays in second place in the South Division with 15 points, just one back of first place South Carolina.
It didn’t take long for the Walleye to open the scoring, as forward Rob Flick put a loose puck off a blocked shot in the slot past Jakaitis for a 1-0 Toledo lead just 33 seconds into the game.
That lead carried over into the second, when Bryan Brutlag drew Gwinnett even at 1:59. The rookie forward caught Toledo in the midst of a post-penalty kill line change, and beat Hutton with a shot off the far post and off the goalie’s arm. Brad Miller had the lone assist on Brutlag’s second of the season.
Toledo regained the lead at 8:07, as Joey Martin potted his second goal of the 2011-12 campaign but the Glads once again had an answer. 12:59 into the stanza Pat Galivan took a feed from Haddad and wristed a laser high glove-side past Hutton for his team-leading fifth goal of the season with Miller adding his second helper of the night.
The Gladiators took their first lead with only 1.7 seconds left in the second. Bartlett put a loose puck at the top of the crease between the pads of Hutton for his second tally of the season with Chris Clackson assisting, making it a 3-2 game after 40 minutes.
Adam Estoclet tied the game at three early in the third at 3:48, but the Gladiators took the lead for good nearly five minutes later on Haddad’s game-winner. Haddad and Will Colbert also assisted on Murovich’s empty-netter.
The Gladiators are back in action Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Toledo.
