BILOXI, Miss. � In front of a season-high 4,313 fans at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum, the Mississippi Sea Wolves pulled back into a tie for first place in the Southwest Division, by beating the Baton Rouge Kingfish, 3-2.
Mississippi and Louisiana both have 54 points, tied for top spot in the Southwest Division. The Sea Wolves also lead the battle for the Coca-Cola Cup against the Kingfish, 12 points to 2.
Mississippi (25-13-4) opened the score at the 8:00 mark. Dave Paradise snapped in his 23rd goal of the season, from the left circle, past past Niklas Sundberg.
Just 30 seconds into the middle stanza, Baton Rouge (13-21-8) veteran defenseman Trevor Demmans knotted the score 1-1. Demmans let go with a left circle shot to count his sixth goal of the campaign, beating Greg Gardner.
The Sea Wolves would regain the lead on the penalty kill at 13:59 of the second. Rookie defenseman Austin Miller followed on his own rebound and buried a shorthand tally. It was Miller�s fourth goal of the year, making it 2-1 for Mississippi. Sergei Kuznetsov picked up his first of two assists, in his first game back with the Sea Wolves.
Sea Wolves all-star defenseman Jim Baxter extended his point streak to 11 games (3g-12a) by feeding Bowtell in the slot at 17:29. Bowtell notched his 17th of the season.
In the third, Baton Rouge narrowed the gap at 8:40. Jason Norrie slapped in his 15th marker of the year from the slot, making it 3-2 for the Sea Wolves.
The Kingfish outshot Mississippi 14-1 in the third, but Gardner preserved the win. Gardner stopped 34-of-36 shots, improving his record to 20-10-4. Sundberg surrendered three goals on 23 shots, falling to 11-7-1.
Mississippi went 0-for-4 on the power play. Baton Rouge also failed to score with six man advantage opportunities.
The Sea Wolves next game is at home on Sunday at 7:35 p.m. against Jackson at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Adults purchasing an individual game ticket, receive one free ticket for a child 12 and under.
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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