ESTERO, Fla. – Sacha Guimond found the back of the net late in the third, but the Gladiators fell one goal short of a comeback Saturday night in Florida, dropping a 3-2 decision to the Everblades at Germain Arena.
Gwinnett (35-24-2-1) remains in first place in the South Division, three points up on the Greenville Road Warriors.
The Gladiators mounted a late comeback bid, as a Guimond point shot beat Florida goalie Pat Nagle on the power play with 45 seconds left. Casey Pierro-Zabotel and Justin Bowers assisted, but that was as close as Gwinnett would get.
Nagle made a left pad save on Andy Brandt in the closing seconds on a point blank deflection, and the Gladiators wrapped up their regular season series with the Everblades (27-20-4-6) with a 3-5 record.
Florida captain Mathieu Roy scored the only goal of the first period at 10:27, but the Gladiators would bounce back to tie in the second.
Guimond ripped a shot from the near point that Nick Walsh deflected over Nagle 2:05 into the middle period to tie the game at one. Justin Bowers had the second assist.
The Everblades would cash in with their 12th shorthanded goal of the season however late in the period, as Aaron Bogosian scored on a shorthanded 2-on-1 break off a nice feed from Mike Merrifield.
Corey Trivino scored what would prove to be the game-winner just 2:16 into the third after a flurry of Florida chances.
The Gladiators are next in action on Wednesday in Utah, as they face the Grizzlies at 9:05 p.m.
