BILOXI, Miss. � The Mississippi Sea Wolves remain in first place in the Southwest Division by rallying past the Arkansas RiverBlades, 3-2.
The Sea Wolves have 76 points, three more than second place Louisiana, after the IceGators dropped a decision at Toledo.
Mississippi won its fourth straight game overall and sixth consecutive at the Wolves Den. The Sea Wolves have not lost in regulation at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in the last 12 games, going 10-0-2 over that span. Mississippi's last regulation loss at the Wolves Den was against Louisiana on December 20.
Arkansas (29-20-9) opened the score at the 6:00 mark of the first period. Buddy Smith chipped a shot through traffic and past Greg Gardner. The goal for Smith was his 24th of the season.
The RiverBlades extended their lead on the power play at 10:56. Arkansas captain Eric Long rifled a right point blast into the back of the net. Long�s 13th of the campaign, made it 2-0 for Arkansas.
Mississippi (36-20-4) got its offense in gear on the man advantage. Defenseman Chris Allen unleashed a right point shot in his Sea Wolves debut, goaltender Scott Fankhouser made the save, but Dave Paradise deposited the rebound. The goal was the 31st of the year for Paradise, cutting the Arkansas lead to 2-1.
Late in the middle stanza, Sea Wolves defenseman Austin Miller blasted a right point shot by Fankhouser to tie the game 2-2. The goal at 19:30, was Miller�s fifth of the season.
In the third, Paradise tallied his second of the night, which would be the eventual game-winner at the 11:00 mark.
Gardner turned away 34-of-36 shots, winning his sixth straight game and improving to 26-14-4. Fankhouser stopped 35-of-38, falling to 14-14-2.
Mississippi converted on 1-of-6 opportunities with the man advantage. Arkansas went 1-for-11 on the power play.
Mississippi gets back into action on Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. at the Riverside Centroplex in Baton Rouge.
The Sea Wolves next home game is Friday at 7:35 p.m. against South Carolina at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. All military receive two tickets for the price of one, including NASA and Stennis employees.
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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