BILOXI, Miss. � The Sea Wolves scored three goals in the second period, to propel past the Louisiana IceGators 4-3 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
The Sea Wolves (8-3-0) remain in first place in the Southwest Division, now three points ahead of second place Louisiana.
The IceGators (6-3-1) are winless in four on the road, including all three weekend games by identical 4-3 scores.
Mississippi opened the score just 43 seconds into the game. Defenseman Jim Baxter led an attack and finished it off by beating Frederic Cloutier. Baxter extended his goal scoring streak to four games by tallying his sixth overall.
Louisiana bounced back on the power play. Shawn McNeil tallied his fifth goal in three games against Mississippi. It was McNeil�s 10th goal of the year and extended his point streak to 10 as well. The goal tied the score 1-1.
In the second on another IceGators man advantage, Kevin Mitchell ripped a pointshot past Greg Gardner�s left shoulder, giving Louisiana a 2-1 lead.
Mississippi battled back at the 8:22 mark of the middle stanza. Mike Scott re-directed in a pointshot from Chris Cava. Scott�s first of the season, knotted the score 2-2.
Just 31 seconds later, Dave Paradise found himself alone infront. Paradise went shelf for a historic goal in Sea Wolves history. It was the 74th goal for Paradise in a Sea Wolves uniform, surpassing Mark Rupnow, Paradise is now the all-time team leader in goals.
Still in the second, Steffon Walby waltzed in on a breakaway while on the penalty kill. The Sea Wolves captain deked Cloutier for his seventh goal of the campaign. The goal was also Walby�s third shorthand tally of the year.
Bryan Richardson scored his fourth of the season with 29 seconds left in regulation on another Louisiana power-play.
But the IceGators would run out of time. Gardner turned away 36-of-39 shots, improving his record to 8-3-0. Cloutier stopped 25-of-29, but lost for the first time this season in regulation, dropping to 5-1-1.
Mississippi went 0-for-4 on the power play, while Louisiana converted on 3-of-11 opportunities with the man advantage.
Additional note: East Coast Hockey League Vice President of Hockey Operations Bryan Graham took in the game.
The Sea Wolves get back into action at 7:35 p.m. on Friday against the Greenville Grrrowl at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The game marks the first meeting between the teams since Greenville knocked off Mississippi three games to one, in last season�s Southern Conference Finals.
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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