PENSACOLA, Fla. � Pensacola Ice Pilots goaltender Brian Eklund made 44 saves to hold off the Mississippi Sea Wolves, 3-2, before 2,447 at the Pensacola Civic Center.
�Anytime you put yourself in a three-goal deficit, it�s tough for a team to comeback,� said Sea Wolves coach Bob Woods. �We had our chances, but didn�t make it count. Give Eklund credit, he played well and was the difference in the game.�
Pensacola (10-7-1) capitalized on the power play to strike first at the 8:09 mark. Andreas Holmqvist fired a point shot, Greg Gardner stopped the initial shot, but Brett Gibson deposited the rebound to score his first of the season.
Ice Pilots added to their lead in the second period. Tyler Beechey tallied from the left circle to give Pensacola a 2-0 lead at 4:23, cashing in his third of the campaign.
Pensacola continued to pour it on in the middle stanza, going up 3-0. Brian Collins moved up the left wing boards and unleashed a shot that dribbled through Gardner. The Sea Wolves goalie knocked into the net, as he reached around behind.
Mississippi (8-8-4) got its offense in gear while shorthanded. Sergei Kuznetsov sent a turnaround shot towards the net from the top of the left circle at 16:21, handcuffing Brian Eklund, to make it 3-1 for Pensacola through 40 minutes.
The Sea Wolves narrowed the gap to one at 5:53 of the third. Sea Wolves sniper Louis Dumont extended his point streak to eight games (6g-4a) by notching his 11th of the season at the side of the net.
Mississippi pulled Gardner in the final minute, but couldn't get the equalizer as the Sea Wolves dropped their third straight.
Pensacola has won all four games in the season series.
Additional Notes: The Sea Wolves bus went into the ditch en route to Pensacola, after avoiding an accident on Interstate 10. No one was injured and the bus was fine other than needing a tow out of the ditch. Another bus had to pick the team up and the game started one hour later than scheduled ... Mississippi defenseman Jim Baxter had his nine-game point streak (6g-10a) come to an end.
Mississippi went 1-for-5 on the power play, while Pensacola converted on 1-of-6 chances. Sea Wolves had a season-high 46 shots, compared to the Ice Pilots, 39.
Mississippi hosts Pensacola at 7:35 p.m. on Friday at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The game promotion consists of 2-for-1 military night, sponsored by Keesler Federal Credit Union. Listen live on ESPN Radio WXBD-AM 1490 and online at www.msseawolves.com beginning with the Nextel Pregame Show at 7:20 p.m.
Individual game tickets are available at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office, all TicketMaster locations and by calling 228-594-3707.
Season seat packages, flex plans and discounted group tickets are still on sale by calling 228-275-WOLF.
--- Box Score ---
DATE - 11/30/03 Mississippi (2) at Pensacola (3)
SCORE BY PERIODS
Mississippi 0 1 1--2
Pensacola 1 2 0--3
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Pensacola-Gibson 1 (power play) (Collins; Holmqvist) 8:09. Penalties: BENCH, PEN served by Kindle (Too many men), 3:03. Kean, MIS (Cross checking), 7:20. Soucy, PEN (Roughing), 9:42. Phillips, PEN (Cross checking), 10:43. Jones, PEN (High sticking), 12:14. Cava, MIS (Roughing), 17:50. Beechey, PEN (Roughing), 17:50. Evangelista, MIS (Roughing, Double minor), 17:50.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Pensacola-Beechey 3 (Chambers; Neilson) 4:23. 3, Pensacola-Collins 8 (game winner) (Jones) 8:44. 4, Mississippi-Kuznetsov 6 (short handed) (O'Rourke) 16:21. Penalties: Soucy, PEN (Roughing), 2:22. Miller, MIS (Slashing), 2:22. Cava, MIS (Roughing), 2:22. Abbott, PEN (Roughing), 6:54. Ellis-Toddington, MIS (Slashing), 7:53. Hutchins, MIS (Charging), 15:40. Soucy, PEN (Cross checking), 18:01. Sauer, PEN (Interference), 18:43.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 5, Mississippi-Dumont 11 (power play) (Ellis-Toddington) 5:53. Penalties: Gionet, PEN (Tripping), 4:53.
SHOTS ON GOAL
Mississippi 19 14 13--46
Pensacola 13 16 10--39
Power Play Conversions: Mississippi - 1-of-5, Pensacola - 1-of-6.
Goalies: Mississippi-Gardner (39 shots, 36 saves; record: 7-6-3). Pensacola-Eklund (46 shots, 44 saves; record: 10-4-0).
A: 2447. Referee: Brown. Linesmen: Jones; Wright.
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