ESTERO, Fla. � Florida forward Joe Blaznek scored the game-winning goal with 47 seconds remaining in regulation, to give the Everblades a 6-5 win over the Mississippi Sea Wolves.
The Sea Wolves remain in second place in the Southwest Division with 68 points, two points behind first place Louisiana.
Florida (29-15-10) opened the score at 9:05 while on the penalty kill. Sea Wolves goaltender Sean Matile raced to the top of the left circle to forward the puck on the Mississippi power play, but Laurent Meunier blocked it. Meunier then deposited a shorthand tally into the gaping net for his 16th of the season.
Mississippi (32-20-4) responded 58 seconds later at even-strength. Sergei Kuznetsov deposited his fifth of the year, getting it past Cam McCormick from in close, tying the score 1-1.
In the second, Florida received power-play goals from George Awada and Tom Nelson and an even-strength marker from Keith Anderson in the opening five minutes of the middle stanza, to take a commanding 4-1 lead.
The Sea Wolves started chipping away at 7:06. Kuznetsov buried his second of the game, to cut the Everblades lead to 4-2.
Mississippi continued to bring it on. Darryl Campbell rifled a right circle shot into the back of the net at 11:48.
Florida regained its two-goal lead at 14:32 as Everblades captain Tom Buckley backhanded home his eight of the year, making 5-3.
But the Sea Wolves wouldn�t quit. Mike Scott tallied his 16th of the campaign at 14:49.
Then in the third, rookie Jeff Hutchins netted a power-play marker at 7:23, to knot the score 5-5. It was Hutchins eighth goal of the year.
With overtime looming, Blaznek got behind the Mississippi defense and potted the game-winner at 19:13 to seal the victory for Florida.
Matile turned away 27-of-32 shots, falling to 9-6-0. McCormick stopped 24-of-29, raising his record to 9-2-2 on the season.
Mississippi went 1-for-5 on the power play, while Florida converted on 2-of-6 chances with the man advantage.
Additional Notes: Mississippi did not have captain Steffon Walby in the line-up, due to an undisclosed injury. Earlier in the day, Walby was named the InGlasCo East Coast Hockey League Player of the Week for February 10-16. Walby scored eight points (4g-4a) and was +1 while helping Mississippi go 3-1 in four road games last week. Walby has scored a goal in each of his last five games and leads the ECHL with 34 goals in 45 games.
Mississippi completes its six-game road swing on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at Baton Rouge. Listen to live hockey action on 92.5 KISS-FM.
The Sea Wolves return home on Sunday to Face-Off Against Kids' Cancer game and also host the Pensacola Ice Pilots at 5:05 p.m. at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Purchase your commemorative T-shirt for $15. The T-shirt gets you into the game, plus the postgame party and jersey auction at Grand Casino, Biloxi.
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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