Mississippi Sea Wolves Official Hockey Web Site

BILOXI, Miss. � Mississippi�s Greg Gardner made 34 saves to post his second shutout of the season as the Sea Wolves blanked the Columbus Cottonmouths, 4-0.

Mississippi wins its third straight game and remains in second place in the Central Division with 37 points.

�Gardner played extremely well tonight,� said Sea Wolves coach Bob Woods. �It was a good win for us. Special teams were solid and ECHL All-Stars Brent Gauvreau and Steffon Walby continue to dominate.�

Mississippi (16-8-5) continued its power play prowess. In the final minute of the first period, Steffon Walby got the puck to ECHL points leader Brent Gauvreau, who sent a pass across to Travis Lisabeth at the net, and he buried his third goal with the man advantage in the last two games at 19:02. Walby's assist was his 300th of his professional career in his 664th pro game.

In the final minute of the second, the Sea Wolves tallied another goal on the power play. With just 16 seconds to go in the stanza, Walby�s centering pass ricocheted off Cottonmouths� Matt Shasby and past Matus Kostur. The goal for Walby was his 100th in the regular season with Mississippi in just his 143rd game. The goal was also the Sea Wolves 10th on the power play over the last three games.

Columbus (9-17-2) had three great chances in the third. Colin Pepperall had two opportunities and Christian Larrivee were denied in close by Greg Gardner, who made his first start since December 6.

The Sea Wolves put the game out of reach in the third, as Gauvreau netted his 14th of the campaign on a re-direction off a Patrick Rochon shot from the blueline. The point was Gauvreau�s third of the night.

Walby notched his second of the night and 17th of the season at 12:39. The Sea Wolves captain deposited the puck on a 2-on-1 break with Sergei Kuznetsov to seal the deal.

Mississippi went 2-for-4 on the power play, while Columbus failed to convert on seven opportunities. Cottonmouths outshot Sea Wolves, 34-28.

Additional Note: Jason Kean suited up but did not play for Mississippi.

The Sea Wolves complete their three games in three days beginning at 5:05 p.m. tomorrow at the Pensacola Civic Center to take on the Ice Pilots. Listen live on WTNI-AM 1640 and online at www.msseawolves.com starting with the Nextel Pregame Show at 4:50 p.m.

The Sea Wolves next home game is at 7:35 p.m. on Saturday against the Pensacola Ice Pilots at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. It�s Teacher Appreciation Night. The promotions also consist of $5 tickets for students. The game also features $2 drafts and $2 hotdogs from 6:30-8:30 p.m. The broadcast can be heard beginning at 7:20 p.m. with the Nextel Pregame Show on WTNI-AM 1640 and online at www.msseawolves.com.

Individual game tickets can be purchased at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office, all TicketMaster locations and by calling 228-594-3707.

Flex plans, fundraiser opportunities and discounted group tickets are available by calling 228-275-WOLF.

--- Box Score ---

DATE - 12/20/03 Columbus (0) at Mississippi (4)

SCORE BY PERIODS
Columbus 0 0 0--0
Mississippi 1 1 2--4

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Mississippi-Lisabeth 6 (game winner) (power play) (Gauvreau; Walby) 19:02. Penalties: Lisabeth, MIS (Elbowing), 10:11. Larrivee, CBS (Tripping), 18:08.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Mississippi-Walby 16 (power play) (Gauvreau; Baxter) 19:44. Penalties: Rochon, MIS (Roughing), 8:17. Pepperall, CBS (Roughing), 8:17. Dumont, MIS (Interference), 9:56. Rochon, MIS (Roughing), 10:31. Thinel, CBS (Roughing), 10:31. Larrivee, CBS (Interference), 18:42.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Mississippi-Gauvreau 14 (Rochon) 8:43. 4, Mississippi-Walby 17 (Kuznetsov) 12:39. Penalties: Rochon, MIS (Unsportsmanlike Cond), 9:22. Blais, MIS (Roughing), 11:05. Thinel, CBS (Roughing), 11:48. Cava, MIS (Roughing), 14:11. Gardner, MIS (Roughing), 20:00. Thinel, CBS (Cross checking), 20:00.

SHOTS ON GOAL
Columbus 9 14 11--34
Mississippi 6 13 9--28

Power Play Conversions: Columbus - 0-of-7, Mississippi - 2-of-4.

Goalies: Columbus-Kostur (28 shots, 24 saves; record: 2-2-1). Mississippi-Gardner (34 shots, 34 saves; record: 9-6-3).

A: 3310. Referee: Krauss. Linesmen: Ross; Stanton.