BILOXI, Miss. � Mississippi�s Travis Lisabeth scored two goals, extended his point streak to eight games and led the Sea Wolves to their fifth straight victory by knocking off the Pensacola Ice Pilots, 4-3.
Mississippi remains in first place in the Central Division with 54 points and won its sixth in a row against Pensacola, which falls into a tie for fourth place with 43 points.
�It�s great to head into the All-Star break on a roll,� said Bob Woods, who tied Bruce Boudreau for the all-time Mississippi coaching wins record, improving his all-time coaching record to 109-61-15 for a .630 winning percentage. �Lisabeth has been playing gritty and that�s his style of hockey. He�s a gifted player and it�s good to see him have success.�
Mississippi (24-11-6) got on the board first at the 3:46 mark. Lisabeth took a give-and-go pass from Kerry Ellis-Toddington and beat Brian Eklund to pot his 14th goal of the season. The point for Lisabeth was the 100th career professional point (175 gp, 51g, 49a) and gave him an eight-game point streak (8g-3a). The assist for Ellis-Toddington was his 50th pro point (116gp, 11g, 39a).
Just 18 seconds later, Pensacola (19-13-5) knotted the score on the power play. Dwayne Hay notched his team-leading 15th tally of the campaign getting the puck by Greg Gardner, who was appearing in his 150th pro game. ECHL All-Star defenseman Corey Neilson and Jamie Herrington collected assists at 4:04.
The Ice Pilots went up 2-1 at 12:49 of the first. Hay darted in on a breakaway and netted his second of the game and 16th of the year. Brandon Fleenor, making his Pensacola debut after being acquired in a trade with Toledo earlier in the week, was credited with the lone assist.
In the second, Mississippi got back on even terms. Jeff Hutchins motored up the right wing boards, cut towards the net, Eklund committed and Hutchins lifted the puck into the back of the cage at 1:08 for his 20th of the season, tying the team-lead. Assists went to ECHL All-Stars Brent Gauvreau and Steffon Walby. The helper for Walby moved him past Dave Paradise and into second place on the Sea Wolves career assists list with 131, trailing only Patrick Rochon at 190.
The Sea Wolves continued to use their momentum at 8:43. Anthony Battaglia re-directed a centering pass from Sergei Kuznetsov, and notched his fourth goal in the last five games and 11th tally of the year. Louis Dumont also picked up an assist.
Just 24 seconds later, Mississippi grabbed a two-goal lead. Lisabeth waltzed in on a breakaway and buried his second of the night, 15th of the campaign and eventual game-winner. John Evangelista and Dwayne Blais registered assists.
Pensacola closed the gap to within one at 13:19. Tyler Beechey fired a 40-foot slap shot in the slot that handcuffed Gardner. The goal for Beechey was his 10th of the year. Helpers went to Andreas Holmqvist and the goaltender Eklund.
Gardner made 10 third period saves and 31 overall to hold off the Ice Pilots and earn the victory, improving to 13-8-3.
Mississippi failed to score on three power play chances, while Pensacola converted on 1-of-5 opportunities. Sea Wolves outshot the Ice Pilots, 38-34.
Additional Notes: Sea Wolves defenseman Patrick Rochon missed his first game of the season by serving a one-game suspension for his actions at Columbus on Sunday � Kaleb Christenson was the Sea Wolves emergency back-up goaltender for the second consecutive game.
The ECHL All-Star Game is the next contest featuring Sea Wolves players. Mississippi�s Steffon Walby and Brent Gauvreau are starters for the Western Conference at the Par-A-Dice ECHL All-Star Game at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Peoria, Illinois.
The radio broadcast of the ECHL All-Star Game will begin locally at 7:15 p.m. on ESPN Radio WXBD-AM 1490.
Television coverage is available live to subscribers of NHL Center Ice, the �Official Sports Package of the ECHL,� on DIRECTV, DISH Network and iN DEMAND.
The Sea Wolves get back into action at home beginning at 7:35 p.m. on Friday against the Augusta Lynx at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The promotion for the game consists of 2-for-1 military night. The game broadcast starts at 7:20 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 - 01/16/04 Pensacola (3) at Mississippi (4)
SCORE BY PERIODS
Pensacola 2 1 0--3
Mississippi 1 3 0--4
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Mississippi-Lisabeth 14 (Ellis-Toddington) 3:46. 2, Pensacola-Hay 15 (power play) (Neilson; Herrington) 4:04. 3, Pensacola-Hay 16 (Fleenor) 12:49. Penalties: Baxter, MIS (Holding stick, Double minor), 0:57. Collins, PEN (Slashing), 1:49. Cava, MIS (Roughing, Fighting, Major), 14:45. Collins, PEN (Fighting, Major), 14:45.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Mississippi-Hutchins 20 (Gauvreau; Walby) 1:08. 5, Mississippi-Battaglia 11 (Kuznetsov; Dumont) 8:43. 6, Mississippi-Lisabeth 15 (game winner) (Evangelista; Blais) 9:07. 7, Pensacola-Beechey 10 (Holmqvist; Eklund) 13:19. Penalties: Cruikshank, PEN (Roughing), 3:16. Neilson, PEN (Cross checking), 14:48. Kuznetsov, MIS (Slashing), 16:00.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Beechey, PEN (Hooking), 5:14. Walby, MIS (Slashing), 10:32.
SHOTS ON GOAL Pensacola 14 10 10--34 Mississippi 13 13 12--38 Power
Play Conversions: Pensacola - 1-of-5, Mississippi - 0-of-3.
Goalies: Pensacola-Eklund (38 shots, 34 saves; record: 18-9-4). Mississippi-Gardner (34 shots, 31 saves; record: 13-8-3).
A: 4337. Referee: Brown. Linesmen: Ross; Stanton.
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