BILOXI, Miss. � Mississippi�s Jeff Hutchins scored two goals and Steffon Walby picked up three assists, taking over the top spot in the ECHL scoring race, to lead the Sea Wolves to a 3-2 victory past the Florence Pride.
Mississippi remains in a tie for first place in the Central Division along with Louisiana. The IceGators, who have three games in hand, defeated Texas 5-3.
�It wasn�t the best game we�ve played,� said Sea Wolves coach Bob Woods. �We looked good in spurts and did just enough to win. Hutchins and Walby connected when we needed it most. I�ll take the two points.�
Mississippi (29-12-6) opened the score on its first shot, 2:05 into action. Sea Wolves� Hutchins skated from behind the net and beat goaltender Matt Underhill on a wraparound for his team-leading 23rd goal of the year. Walby and Louis Dumont collected assists.
At the 7:48 mark of the first, Florence (16-21-6) evened the score 1-1. Kyle Kidney split the Mississippi defense and snapped a shot past the stick side of goalie Greg Gardner. Kidney�s ninth of the season, was assisted by Wes Goldie.
In the second, the Pride grabbed their first lead of the game with the man advantage. Kidney netted his second of the game at 9:32. Assists were credited to Eric Naud and Shaun Sutter.
Mississippi knotted the score 2-2 at 17:53. Walby fed a centering pass to Sergei Kuznetsov, who converted in front to extend his point streak to seven games and notch his career high 13th goal of the campaign. The point for Walby was his 60th of the season.
Sea Wolves� Kerry Ellis-Toddington also picked up a helper. In the third, Hutchins took a lead pass from Walby, waltzed in on a breakaway and buried his second of the game and team-leading 24th of the year at 10:58. Walby�s assist gave him the ECHL lead with 61 points, one more than Wheeling�s Jean-Francois Dufour. Jim Baxter also garnered an assist, which was his 250th career professional point.
Mississippi went 0-for-5 on the power play, while Florence converted on their only opportunity. Sea Wolves outshot the Pride, 37-24.
Additional Notes: Mississippi�s Travis Lisabeth failed to register a point, snapping his team-tying record 13-game point streak, equal with former Sea Wolves captain Kelly Hurd. Lisabeth compiled nine goals and 10 assists over the 13-game span � Florence left wing Allan Sirois, the team�s leading point producer, did not make the road trip due to his wife expecting their first child.
The Sea Wolves homestand continues on Friday and Saturday. Mississippi hosts the Greensboro Generals at 7:35 p.m. on Friday at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. It�s 2-for-1 military night, sponsored by Keesler Federal Credit Union. Broadcast of the game begins at 7:20 p.m. with the Nextel Pregame Show on ESPN Radio WXBD-AM 1490 and online at msseawolves.com.
On Saturday, the Sea Wolves play at 7:35 p.m. against the Louisiana IceGators at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Promotion for the game includes $2 drafts and $2 hotdogs from 6:30-8:30 p.m. and a Steffon Walby poster will be given to each fan. The broadcast gets underway at 7:20 p.m. with the Nextel Pregame Show on WTNI-AM 1640 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 - 02/03/04 Florence (2) at Mississippi (3)
SCORE BY PERIODS
Florence 1 1 0--2
Mississippi 1 1 1--3
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Mississippi-Hutchins 23 (Walby; Dumont) 2:05. 2, Florence-Kidney 9 (Goldie) 7:48. Penalties: Naud, FLO (Hooking), 12:12. Donnelly, FLO (Hooking), 17:31.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Florence-Kidney 10 (power play) (Naud; Sutter) 9:32. 4, Mississippi-Kuznetsov 13 (Walby; Ellis-Toddington) 17:53. Penalties: Walby, MIS (Slashing), 8:20. Szwez, FLO (Cross checking), 15:50.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 5, Mississippi-Hutchins 24 (game winner) (Walby; Baxter) 10:58. Penalties: McRae, FLO (Hooking), 1:08. Balan, FLO (Kneeing), 5:59. Maxwell, MIS (Fighting, Major), 13:29. Brunel, FLO (Fighting, Major), 13:29.
SHOTS ON GOAL
Florence 7 12 5--24
Mississippi 14 10 13--37
Power Play Conversions: Florence - 1-of-1, Mississippi - 0-of-5.
Goalies: Florence-Underhill (37 shots, 34 saves; record: 8-12-3). Mississippi-Gardner (24 shots, 22 saves; record: 17-9-3).
A: 2054. Referee: Banfield. Linesmen: Rick; Ross.
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