PENSACOLA, Fla. � Mississippi�s Dwayne Blais scored two goals and added an assist to lead the Sea Wolves to a 5-1 victory over the Pensacola Ice Pilots.
The Sea Wolves win was the fifth straight against the Ice Pilots and moves the team into a tie with idle Louisiana for second place in the Central Division, just one point behind Gwinnett for first place.
�Everyone was on board tonight,� said Sea Wolves coach Bob Woods. �Mississippi fans can be real proud of the effort by every player in the lineup. It was a real character road win to begin a tough stretch (four games in five nights) against Central Division opponents.�
Mississippi (20-11-6) got on the board first at the 4:28 mark. Dwayne Blais re-directed a Jason Kean point shot through Brian Eklund, for his fifth tally of the season.
Pensacola (18-10-5) got back on even terms in the second period. With the teams playing 4-on-4, Dwayne Hay buried a wrist shot past Sean Matile from the left circle at 1:09. The goal was Hay�s 13th of the campaign, assisted by Jeremy Van Hoof and Andreas Holmqvist.
Blais went back to work, giving the Sea Wolves their lead back again at 3:04. Travis Lisabeth sent a pass from behind the Pensacola net to the side, where Blais tucked in his second of the night. John Evangelista also picked up a helper.
Then at 7:26 of the middle stanza, Blais fed the puck back to the left point, where Austin Miller slapped home his third goal of the season to give Mississippi a 3-1 lead. Steve O�Rourke also had an assist on the goal, which was his third straight game (3a) with a helper.
Pensacola�s number one ranked ECHL power play backfired at 11:22. Sea Wolves� Anthony Battaglia potted a huge shorthand marker, taking a centering pass from Sergei Kuznetsov, to net his eighth of the year and second goal of the season on the penalty kill. The helper for Kuznetsov was his 100th pro assist.
In the third, Jeff Hutchins went to the backhand and tied the team-lead by scoring his 19th of the season at 18:17. Steffon Walby and Brent Gauvreau picked up helpers. The point for Gauvreau was his 200th career professional point (73g-127a).
Mississippi was unable to score on three power play chances, while Pensacola failed to convert on four opportunities with the man advantage. Sea Wolves outshot the Ice Pilots, 45-39.
Additional Notes: Jody Green, who is a native of Gulfport, Mississippi, was the Sea Wolves emergency back-up goaltender � Goaltender Greg Gardner remains on recall to Rochester of the American Hockey League � Mississippi defenseman Chris Cava served his one-game ECHL suspension � Sea Wolves right wing Roger Maxwell served the first of a three-game ECHL suspension.
Mississippi continues its road swing at 7:05 p.m. tomorrow against the Louisiana IceGators at the Cajundome in Lafayette. Listen live at 6:50 p.m. with the Nextel Pregame Show on WTNI-AM 1640 and online at msseawolves.com.
The Sea Wolves begin a four-game homestand at 6:05 p.m. on Tuesday against the Gwinnett Gladiators at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. It�s the first and only visit to Biloxi for the former Mobile Mysticks, now based in Duluth, Georgia. The broadcast will start at 5:50 p.m. with the Nextel Pregame Show on ESPN Radio WXBD-AM 1490 and online at msseawolves.com.
Flex packs, discounted group tickets and fundraiser opportunities are available by telephone at (228) 275-WOLF.
Individual game tickets can be purchased at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office, all TicketMaster locations and by calling (228) 594-3707.
--- Box Score ---
DATE - 01/09/04 Mississippi (5) at Pensacola (1)
SCORE BY PERIODS
Mississippi 1 3 1--5
Pensacola 0 1 0--1
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Mississippi-Blais 5 (Kean) 4:28. Penalties: Blais, MIS (Hooking), 4:52. Hutchins, MIS (Tripping), 19:47.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Pensacola-Hay 13 (Van Hoof; Holmqvist) 1:11. 3, Mississippi-Blais 6 (game winner) (Lisabeth; Evangelista) 3:04. 4, Mississippi-Miller 3 (O'Rourke; Blais) 7:26. 5, Mississippi- Battaglia 8 (short handed) (Kuznetsov) 11:22. Penalties: Abbott, PEN (Holding stick), 0:40. Ellis-Toddington, MIS (Roughing), 9:52. Gionet, PEN (Fighting, Major), 13:16. Hutchins, MIS (Fighting, Major), 13:16. Cruikshank, PEN (Roughing), 16:47.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 6, Mississippi-Hutchins 19 (Gauvreau; Walby) 18:17. Penalties: Gionet, PEN (Holding), 2:40. Gauvreau, MIS (Tripping), 6:50. Ellis-Toddington, MIS (Roughing), 9:08. Cruikshank, PEN (Roughing), 9:08.
SHOTS ON GOAL
Mississippi 13 21 11--45
Pensacola 14 12 13--39
Power Play Conversions: Mississippi - 0-of-3, Pensacola - 0-of-4.
Goalies: Mississippi-Matile (39 shots, 38 saves; record: 10-2-3). Pensacola-Eklund (45 shots, 40 saves; record: 17-7-4).
A: 3472. Referee: Ernst. Linesmen: Jones; Stanton.
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