Mississippi Sea Wolves Official Hockey Web Site

BILOXI, Miss. � Mississippi�s Jim Baxter scored a power-play goal in overtime to complete the Sea Wolves rally in dramatic fashion, winning 4-3 over the Pensacola Ice Pilots.

�It was a great comeback,� said Sea Wolves coach Bob Woods. �We seem to have the Ice Pilots number in the third period. We had a good number of shots and once we got rolling, we made the most of our chances.�

After a scoreless first period, Pensacola (15-8-5) started off the scoring at 5:52 of the second. The Ice Pilots capitalized on a Sea Wolves turnover in the Mississippi zone. Greg Chambers sent a centering pass from behind the Sea Wolves net to Jim Abbott in front, who beat Sean Matile and deposited his 18th goal of the season to lead all ECHL rookies. Abbott also extended his goal scoring streak to eight games, with 10 goals over that span.

At 17:13, the Ice Pilots went up by a pair. Andreas Holmqvist netted his third goal in the last two games by unleashing a point shot. Dwayne Hay and Tyler Kindle picked up assists, giving Pensacola a 2-0 lead through 40 minutes.

Mississippi (18-9-5) started its rally in the third. Jeff Hutchins, who was playing in his 100th pro game, beat Ice Pilots goaltender Brian Eklund on the Sea Wolves' 27th shot of the game at 7:21.

Just 31 seconds later, Louis Dumont bulged the twine from the left circle to tie the score 2-2.

The Sea Wolves took the lead for the first time in the game at the 9:10 mark. Hutchins deposited a John Evangelista centering feed, for his second of the game and third over the last two contests.

Pensacola got back on even terms, as Tyler Kindle fired a right circle shot, to notch his seventh of the year at 12:30, sending the game to extra time.

In overtime, Kindle was assessed a penalty for holding at 1:56. Mississippi took full advantage. Jim Baxter snapped a shot from the slot, scoring his 11th of the campaign and ending the game in thrilling fashion.

Matile earned the win and improves to 7-0-1 in December.

Mississippi converted on 2-of-7 power play opportunities, while Pensacola, ranked first in the ECHL with the man advantage, failed to score on six chances. Sea Wolves outshot the Ice Pilots, 43-19.

Mississippi hits the ice for its third game in three days beginning at 5:05 p.m. tomorrow against the Texas Wildcatters from Ford Arena in Beaumont, Texas. The game can be heard commencing at 7:20 p.m. with the Nextel Pregame Show on WTNI-AM 1640 and online at www.msseawolves.com.

The Sea Wolves next home game is at 6:05 p.m. on Tuesday against Texas at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The promotion features a holiday break special, which consists of four tickets for $44. Listen live at 5:50 p.m. starting with the Nextel Pregame Show on ESPN Radio WXBD-AM 1490 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 packs, discounted group tickets and fundraiser opportunities are available by calling 228-275-WOLF.

--- Box Score ---

DATE - 12/27/03 Pensacola (3) at Mississippi (4) OT

SCORE BY PERIODS
Pensacola 0 2 1 0--3
Mississippi 0 0 3 1--4

FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Evangelista, MIS (High sticking), 5:45. Battaglia, MIS (High sticking), 10:16. Cruikshank, PEN (High sticking), 12:41. Soucy, PEN (Hooking), 17:54. Lisabeth, MIS (Charging), 17:54.

SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Pensacola-Abbott 18 (Chambers) 5:52. 2, Pensacola-Holmqvist 3 (Hay; Collins) 17:13. Penalties: Cruikshank, PEN (Slashing), 12:43. Lisabeth, MIS (Charging), 15:08. Gauvreau, MIS (Tripping), 18:02.

THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Mississippi-Hutchins 15 (power play) (Baxter; O'Rourke) 7:21. 4, Mississippi-Dumont 16 (Kuznetsov) 7:52. 5, Mississippi-Hutchins 16 (Evangelista; Blais) 9:10. 6, Pensacola- Kindle 7 (Cruikshank; Holmqvist) 12:30. Penalties: Chambers, PEN (High sticking), 0:44. Neilson, PEN (Cross checking), 3:56. Kindle, PEN (Roughing), 5:55. Gauvreau, MIS (Roughing), 5:55. Chambers, PEN (Hooking), 6:16. Kuznetsov, MIS (Slashing), 13:01. Gionet, PEN (Holding), 13:01. Baxter, MIS (Slashing), 13:11. BENCH, PEN served by Cruikshank (Too many men), 18:07.

OVERTIME -- Scoring: 7, Mississippi-Baxter 11 (game winner) (power play) (Walby; Dumont) 2:44. Penalties: Kindle, PEN (Holding), 1:56.

SHOTS ON GOAL
Pensacola 5 10 4 0--19
Mississippi 10 9 21 2--42

Power Play Conversions: Pensacola - 0-of-6, Mississippi - 2-of-7.

Goalies: Pensacola-Eklund (42 shots, 38 saves; record: 15-5-4). Mississippi-Matile (19 shots, 16 saves; record: 8-1-2).

A: 3847. Referee: Banfield. Linesmen: Lundbohm; Phillips.