Feeling a little Bluey: the Atlanta Gladiators drop a 3-1 decision to the visiting Bloomington Bison and lose 2 in the 3-game home series

Preview: Bloomington Bison (19-1-1-2/41 points/4th place in the ECHL Central Division (Western Conference) vs the Atlanta Gladiators (19-20-3-2/43 points/5th place in the ECHL South Division (Eastern Conference)

The Sunday afternoon tilt (February 2, 2025 at 3pm EST at the Gas South District) between the visiting Bloomington Bison and Atlanta Gladiators concludes a 3-day/3-game series. Coming into today's Bluey theme day, the series is split at 1 apiece, as both teams look at this pivotal "rubber match" game to not only get a series win and make positive moves for their playoff aspirations.

The Bison currently are in 4th place in their division (as the top 4 teams in each division make the postseason). Leading scorers Eddie Matsushima (17 goals/17 assists/34 points) and Brett Budgell (11 goals/18 assists/29 points) carry an offense averaging a mere 2.5 goals per game. On defense, goaltender Yaniv Perels (7-4-1 with 2 shoutouts/1.85 goals allowed average/.938 save percentage) helps anchor a defense allowing a stingy 2.6 goals per game.

Even with the modest offense, the Gladiators' defense looks to make a solid stand (as they are allowing 3.3 goals per game). Drew DeRidder (6-10-3 with 2 shutouts/3.01 goals allowed average/.906 save percentage) is set to work between the pipes (goaltender) and anchor the defense as they look to gain ground in the division. Team leading scorers Cody Sylvester (16 goals/17 assists/33 points) and team captain Eric Neiley (11 goals/19 assists/30 points) look to provide an offensive push (as they team is scoring 2.6 goals per game).

Game recap: Despite outshooting the Bison by nearly a 2:1 ratio, the Gladiators lose the game and series.

After an early fracas between the Bloomington Bisons' Max Neill and the Atlanta Gladiators' Dylan Carabia (3:03 in the 1st period), the visitors would take an early 1-0 lead in the 3rd and final game of the series. In his 8th game with the team, Sam Coatta nets his 2nd goal of the season on the power play (assisted by Ryan Siede and Eddie Matsushima at the 5:10 mark of the 1st period). He would add another goal (his second of the game and 3rd of the season) at the 12:50 mark of the 2nd period (assisted by Matsushima and Jake Murray) to give the Bison a 2-0 advantage.

The Gladiators would get back in the game later in the 2nd period as Randy Hernandez notches his 8th goal of the season (assisted by Connor Galloway and Derek Topatigh at the 16:00 mark) to get within a goal (2-1).

Early in the 3rd period (3:51), the Bison would take advantage of their second power play opportunity and extend the lead to 3-1. Linus Hemstrom's 1st goal of the season (assisted by Sam Coatta and Connor Lockhart). Despite multiple efforts and pushes by the Glads, including pulling goaltender Drew DeRidder (who saves 17 out of 20 shots on goal), Bloomington goaltender Yaniv Perets contains the Atlanta offense secures the win (he has 36 saves on 37 shots).

During post-game, Connor Galloway shares his insight on the team effort and related takeaways which the team can look to as they prepare for a critical 3-game road trip to make a playoff push (February 5th, 7th, and 8th) against the Worcester Railers (who coming into today's action are 1 point out of a playoff spot in their division, the North Division [Eastern Conference]).

The Glads return to the Gas South District on February 13th as they'll host one of their bitter division rivals, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits.

Notes: All video and the first two photo grids are captured by CCS (click HERE for the 2024-25 season playlist of video snapshots and interviews). The second video grid is captured by Michael Palmateer Photography.