BILOXI, Miss. � The Mississippi Sea Wolves captured three wins in three days, extending their unbeaten streak to 10, by going 9-0-1, and jumped into a tie for first place in the ECHL with 39 points, along with the Florida Everblades and Gwinnett Gladiators.
On Friday, the Sea Wolves trounced Texas 9-2 at Ford Arena in Beaumont. Mississippi blanked Columbus 4-0 on Saturday at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Then on Sunday, the Sea Wolves completed their three-in-three stretch by rallying past Pensacola with five goals in the third period and winning 6-3 at the Pensacola Civic Center.
Through 30 games, the Sea Wolves have an overall record of 17-8-5 and sits in a tie for first place in the Central Division with Gwinnett. Mississippi is 7-1-4 at home, and has a record of 10-7-1 on the road.
Mississippi visits Columbus on Friday, hosts Pensacola on Saturday and travels to Texas on Sunday.
GAMES, BROADCASTS AND PROMOTIONS AT A GLANCE �
Friday, Dec. 26 at Columbus Cottonmouths � 6:30 p.m. CT � Columbus Civic Center, Columbus, Ga.
* Broadcast begins at 6:15 p.m. on ESPN Radio WXBD-AM 1490 and online at www.msseawolves.com
Saturday, Dec. 27 vs. Pensacola Ice Pilots � 7:35 p.m. CT � Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Biloxi
* Broadcast gets underway at 7:20 p.m. on WTNI-AM 1640 and online at www.msseawolves.com
* $5 student tickets
* Teacher Appreciation Night, courtesy of Cellular South and WXXV Fox 25
* $2 drafts and $2 hotdogs from 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Sunday, Dec. 28 at Texas Wildcatters � 5:05 p.m. CT � Ford Arena, Beaumont, Texas
* Broadcast starts at 4:50 p.m. on WTNI-AM 1640 and online at www.msseawolves.com
GAME PREVIEWS �
Friday, Dec. 26 at Columbus Cottonmouths � 6:30 p.m. CT � Columbus Civic Center, Columbus, Ga.
Mississippi leads the season series 2-1-0, with the opening three games played at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. It�s the fourth of nine games in the head-to-head battles.
Mississippi shutout Columbus on December 20, 4-0 at the Wolves Den. Greg Gardner turned aside all 34 shots to register his second shutout of the season. Mississippi All-Stars Steffon Walby (2g-1a) and Brent Gauvreau (1g-2a) each notched three points a piece in the win.
Gauvreau is tops for the Sea Wolves with five assists and seven points against the Cottonmouths this season. Walby has netted three goals to give him the team-lead versus Columbus.
Columbus All-Star Jean-Francois Plourde (1g-1a) and Ray DiLauro (2a) lead the Cottonmouths with two points against Mississippi.
It�s the Sea Wolves first visit to Columbus since January 29, 2002. Mississippi won that game, 4-3, with Sea Wolves� Kelly Harper scoring the game-winning goal. Luc Belanger backstopped the Sea Wolves to victory making 38 saves, outdueling Alex Fomitchev, who made 25 stops in the Columbus net.
Mississippi is 8-2-0 all-time against Columbus during the regular season and 2-1-0 all-time at the Columbus Civic Center.
Saturday, Dec. 27 vs. Pensacola Ice Pilots � 7:35 p.m. CT � Mississippi Coast Coliseum, Biloxi
Mississippi is 3-3-1 against Pensacola this season and 1-0-1 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The contest marks the eighth of 14 games in the season series.
The Ice Pilots took the opening four games in the season series, but the Sea Wolves have rebounded to win the last three. Mississippi rallied past Pensacola on Sunday, 6-3, by scoring five times in the third period. Six Sea Wolves netted goals in the victory.
Sea Wolves� Louis Dumont (4g-4a) and Brent Gauvreau (2g-6a) lead Mississippi with eight points each in the head-to-head battles with Pensacola. Dumont�s four goals is tops for the Sea Wolves, while Gauvreau�s six assists leads that department.
Ice Pilots� Corey Neilson is the top scorer with nine assists and 11 points against Mississippi. Jim Abbott is first for Pensacola with five goals in the games versus the Sea Wolves.
Mississippi is 41-18-4 all-time in the regular season against Pensacola and 22-6-3 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Sunday, Dec. 28 at Texas Wildcatters � 5:05 p.m. CT � Ford Arena, Beaumont, Texas
Mississippi leads the season series and all-time 4-0-0 and 1-0-0 at Texas. It�s the fifth game of 15 in the battle for the Nextel Cup.
The Sea Wolves took the last meeting 9-2 on December 19 at Ford Arena. Seven Mississippi players had a multiple point game, led by Jim Baxter with five points (2g-3a). Other Sea Wolves with more than one point included Brent Gauvreau (1g-3a), Steffon Walby (1g-3a), Travis Lisabeth (2g), Sergei Kuznetsov (2g) Louis Dumont (2a) and Kerry Ellis-Toddington (2a). Goaltender Sean Matile made 23 saves for the victory.
Kuznetsov leads Mississippi with six goals and nine points in the head-to-head battles. Steffon Walby tops Mississippi with six assists against Texas. Goaltenders Greg Gardner and Matile have each won two games versus the Wildcatters.
Wildcatters� Bob Cunningham has four points (1g-3a) in the season series versus the Sea Wolves. There have been five different goal scorers for Texas against Mississippi, consisting of Cunningham, Lukas Smital, Brian Stacey, Steve Lowe and Mike McKay. Cunningham�s three assists along with teammate Tony Lawrence is the most for Texas in that category. Netminders� Jason Cugnet and Davis Parley have both dropped two games in the season series.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK � Defenseman Jim Baxter collected six assists and eight points, had a +7 rating and scored a game-winning goal in three games last week. The 6-foot-3 and 215-pound native of Brantford, Ontario had five points (2g-3a) and a +3 rating at Texas in the Sea Wolves 9-2 victory on Friday. He chipped in with an assist and +1 rating against Columbus on Saturday in Mississippi�s 4-0 win. On Sunday, Baxter completed the week by picking up two assists and a +3 rating in the Sea Wolves come-from-behind win at Pensacola. The 24-year-old leads ECHL defensemen in four categories. Baxter is tops in the league from the blueline with 10 goals, 29 assists, 39 points and a +21 rating.
GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK � Greg Gardner went 2-0-0 last week making a total of 55 saves on 58 shots for a .948 save percentage and posting a 1.50 goals against average. The 6-foot and 190-pound Gardner registered his second shutout of the season on Saturday, stopping 34 shots against Columbus in the Sea Wolves 4-0 win. He followed it up by turning aside 21-of-24 Pensacola shots in Mississippi 6-3 victory on Sunday. Gardner was assigned by Rochester of the American Hockey League on Thursday and has an overall record of 10-6-3, with a 2.56 goals against average and .920 save percentage.
TRANSACTIONS FROM LAST WEEK �
12/15 Delete Jeff Hutchins, LW, loaned to Houston (AHL)
12/18 Add Greg Gardner, G, assigned by Rochester (AHL)
12/18 Delete Jody Green, G, emergency backup goaltender
12/19 Add John Evangelista, C, activated off 7-day injured reserve
12/21 Add Jeff Hutchins, LW, assigned by Houston (AHL)
12/21 Delete Jason Kean, D, placed on 7-day injured reserve
STREAKING SEA WOLVES �
* Over the last four games, Mississippi has outscored its opponents 26-7.
* Sea Wolves have won four consecutive games and season-high six in a row on the road.
* Jim Baxter has 13 points (4g-9a) over his last five games.
* Steffon Walby has 10 points (5g-5a) over his last five contests.
* Patrick Rochon has assists in four straight games (4a).
* Brent Gauvreau has eight points (3g-5a) over this last three games.
* Sergei Kuznetsov has four points (2g-2a) over his last three games.
* Travis Lisabeth has four goals in his last three games and five points (4g-1a) in his last four.
* Jeff Hutchins has four points (2g-2a) over his last three ames.
* Greg Gardner has won three straight games.
* Sean Matile has posted five consecutive road wins.
SEA WOLVES APPROACHING MILESTONES �
* Steve O�Rourke is one game from 150 in pro career (149 gp, 13g, 42a, 55 pts)
* Brent Gauvreau is one point from 150 with Mississippi (162 gp, 55g, 94a, 149 pts) and
two points from 200 in his pro career (235 gp, 73g, 125a, 198 pts)
* John Evangelista is one point from 150 in pro career (296 gp, 60g, 89a, 149 pts) and four games from 300 in his pro career.
* Sergei Kuznetsov is five goals from 50 in his pro career (228 gp, 45g).
* Jeff Hutchins is two games from 100 in pro career (98 gp) and five games from 100 in his Sea Wolves career (96 gp, 23g, 32a, 55 pts).
* Bob Woods is seven wins (174 gms, 102-58-14, .626 WPCT since 2001) from tying all-time Sea Wolves coaching wins mark set by Bruce Boudreau (210 gms, 109-75-26, .581 WPCT from 1996-99)
TEAM LEADERS �
Goals � Steffon Walby, 18
Assists � Brent Gauvreau, 30
Points � Brent Gauvreau, 45
Plus/Minus � Steffon Walby, +25
Penalty Minutes � Roger Maxwell, 151
Power-Play Goals � Jeff Hutchins, 7
Shorthand Goals � Brent Gauvreau, Sergei Kuznetsov and Steve O�Rourke, 1
Game-Winning Goals � Brent Gauvreau, 5
Goaltender Wins � Greg Gardner, 10
Goals Against Average � Greg Gardner, 2.56
Save Percentage � Greg Gardner, .920
SPECIAL TEAMS (ECHL Rank) �
Power Play � 42-180, 23.3% (2)
Penalty Killing � 152-191, 79.6% (27)
Shorthanded Goal For � 3 (T17)
Shorthanded Goals Against � 2 (T6)
INJURED RESERVE � Defensemen Jason Kean and Andrei Lupandin are on the 7-day IR.
PRACTICES THIS WEEK �
Monday � Day off.
Tuesday � Day off.
Wednesday � Day off.
Thursday � Day off.
Friday � Travel to Columbus, Ga.
Saturday � TBD
Sunday � TBD
* All practices open to the public; Dates and times are subject to change
Groups, organizations and companies that are interested in having members of the Sea Wolves appear at an event, are invited to call 228-275-WOLF.
Individual game tickets start at $9 for children and $11 for adults. Tickets are on sale at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office, all TicketMaster locations and by calling 228-594-3707.
Flex packs, discounted group tickets and fundraiser opportunities are available by calling 228-275-WOLF.
