BILOXI, Miss. � The Louisiana IceGators erased a 2-0 deficit by scoring six unanswered goals to drop the Mississippi Sea Wolves 6-2 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
With the loss, the Sea Wolves season-high five-game win streak comes to an end.
Mississippi (19-10-2) opened the score, while on the penalty kill in the first period. Veteran Dave Paradise blasted a right circle shot over the right glove of Frederic Cloutier at 6:51 for a shorthand marker. The goal for Paradise was his team-leading 19th tally of the season.
The Sea Wolves continued to make the special teams work in the opening stanza. Cody Bowtell found himself alone in front on the power play. The veteran notched his 13th of the campaign at 9:04, making it 2-0 for Mississippi.
Louisiana (17-7-7) bounced back at 16:51 of the first. Rookie Rod Sarich fired a slap shot from the slot, beating goaltender Sean Matile. It was the first professional goal for Sarich, cutting the Sea Wolves lead to 2-1.
In the second, the IceGators clicked on the power play. Dennis Shiryaev played the puck off the end boards and snapped it past Matile, tying the score 2-2. Louisiana grabbed its first lead of the game at 3:06 on a controversial goal. The Sea Wolves let up on the puck, believing it was automatic icing. Daniel Goneau hustled and fed Bruce Richardson in the slot, who buried it. Mississippi players argued to no avail, giving the IceGators a 3-2 lead.
Still in the second, Louisiana kept up its pressure. Branislav Kvetan unleashed a shot from the point at 11:31, giving the IceGators a 4-2 lead.
Then 23 seconds later, Goneau stole the puck from Jim Baxter at the Louisiana blueline, raced in all alone and cashed his 12th of the year, making it 5-2 IceGators through 40 minutes.
In the third, Louisiana rookie Chris Taliercio pounced on a loose puck and deposited his 6th of the campaign, rounding out the scoring.
Matile turned away 30-of-36 shots, dropping to 5-3-0. Cloutier stopped 26-of-28, improving his record to 13-5-4.
Mississippi converted on 1-of-7 power play opportunities. Louisiana went 1-for-4 with the man advantage.
The Sea Wolves host intrastate rival Jackson tomorrow at 7:35 p.m at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
On Sunday, Mississippi entertains Arkansas at 5:05 p.m. at the Wolves Den.
�Buffy�s Christmas� is this weekend at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Sea Wolves defenseman Derrick Byfuglien (BUHF-len) along with the organization would greatly appreciate if fans would bring an unwrapped gift to any of the remaining two home games this weekend. Byfuglien will distribute the gifts to children at area hospitals on Christmas day.
Just in time for the holidays, purchase Sea Wolves Pick Six Plan. Choose your favorite six games and receive a FREE Sea Wolves gift package consisting of an official game puck autographed by Coach Bob Woods plus a Sea Wolves Souvenir Media Guide. The Pick Six Plan ranges from $48 to $96.
Individual Sea Wolves game tickets are available at all TicketMaster locations, the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office and by calling 228-594-3707.
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