PENSACOLA, Fla. � For the second straight game, the first place Mississippi Sea Wolves came from behind to win in overtime by knocking off the Pensacola Ice Pilots 6-5 at the Pensacola Civic Center.
The Sea Wolves won their fifth straight game and tied a team record by notching win number 41 on the season.
Mississippi remains in first place in the Southwest Division with 86 points, nine more than second place Louisiana.
Pensacola (33-24-7) opened the score with the man advantage at 4:19. Mike Jones point shot was re-directed by Marquis Mathieu and past goaltender Greg Gardner. The goal was Mathieu�s 15th of the season.
The Ice Pilots added to their lead with another power-play goal. Greg Pankewicz played the puck off the end boards and banked it in off Gardner for his league-leading 40th goal of the year.
Mississippi (41-21-4) got its offense in gear with a man advantage. Jim Baxter sent a right circle shot towards the net re-directed by Cody Bowtell and past Maxime Gingras. Bowtell�s 24th of the campaign, cut the Pensacola lead in half at 2-1. The assist for Baxter was his 57th of the year, setting a team record for one season.
In the second, Pensacola regained its two-goal lead at 1:21. Mathieu and Pankewicz moved in on a 2-on-1 break, Pankewicz buried on his own rebound. The second of the game for Pankewicz, his 41st of the season made it 3-1.
The Ice Pilots made it 4-1 at the 15:02 mark of the middle stanza. Brad Dexter�s centering went off of Sea Wolves� defenseman Austin Miller and through Gardner. The goal was Dexter�s eighth of the year.
Mississippi cut the margin in half just 47 seconds later. Steffon Walby tallied his 39th of the campaign, closing the Pensacola lead to 4-2.
But with 18 seconds left in the second, Pensacola continued to press after a Mississippi penalty and Gregor Baumgartner deposited his 28th of the year, making it 5-2 for the Ice Pilots through 40 minutes of action.
In the third, the Sea Wolves started their rally at 5:12. Mike Scott netted his 23rd of the season.
Then at 6:44, Dave Paradise connected on the power-play from the high slot, for his 37th of the year.
Mississippi tied the score at the 13:18 mark, as Travis Lisabeth sidestepped two Pensacola checkers and fed Baxter in front, knotting the score 5-5. It was Baxter's career high 16th marker of the season.
In overtime, Walby ended it just 19 seconds in, wiring a right circle shot over the right shoulder of Gingras. Walby�s 40th goal of the year and second of the game completed Mississippi�s comeback. It was the 10th game-winning goal of the campaign for Walby, setting a Sea Wolves team record.
Gardner won his ninth consecutive game turning away 39-of-44 shots, improving to 29-14-4. Gingras stopped 22-of-28 shots, dropping to 23-20-7.
Mississippi converted on 3-of-5 opportunities on the power play. Pensacola went 2-for-8 with the man advantage.
Mississippi visits Arkansas in a rare Monday night game beginning at 7:05 p.m. at ALLTEL Arena in North Little Rock.
The start time for the Sea Wolves next home game has been changed to 7:05 p.m. on Sunday, March 23 against Arkansas at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Individual game tickets are available at all TicketMaster locations, the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office and by calling 228-594-3707.
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