ESTERO, Fla. � Brian McCullough scored four goals and Paul Vincent grabbed four assists in his Everblades debut as Florida topped the Mississippi Sea Wolves 5-3 in front of 6,722 fans at TECO Arena.
�I�m not happy with the outcome tonight,� said Sea Wolves coach Bob Woods. �We had our chances but couldn�t get it done. McCullough and Vincent were a force and we have to do a better job controlling them. The beauty of back-to-back games we have a chance to come away with some points tomorrow.�
Florida (25-19-9) opened the score on a tally from a blast from the past. Everblades� all-time leading scorer Tom Buckley, playing in his first game since coming out of retirement, took a pass in front from Kevin Swider, who was making his debut, and Buckley beat Greg Gardner at 4:44 of the first.
Mississippi (30-15-6) bounced back to tie the score at 13:36. John Evangelista, who had been without a goal since November 1, moved in on the right wing and blasted a shot over the left glove of Rob Zepp for his third of the campaign. Kerry Ellis-Toddington had the lone assist.
The Sea Wolves took the lead on a quick outlet from the goaltender Gardner to Evangelista and ahead for Dwayne Blais, who raced in on a breakaway and put his own rebound into the back of the cage. The goal at 17:54 was the eighth goal of the season for Blais.
McCullough took over in the second period. At the 4:26 mark, McCullough netted his 29th goal of the season, tying the score 2-2. Helpers went to Chad LaRose and Vincent, who appeared in his first game with the Everblades since being acquired in a trade with Augusta on Wednesday.
On the power play, McCullough deposited a rebound at the side for his second of the game at 8:55, with LaRose and Vincent earning their second assists of the game.
McCullough completed the natural hat trick with 20 seconds remaining in the second period. Vincent fired a shot on net to garner his third assist, as McCullough buried the his third goal of the contest on the rebound and 31st of the campaign, taking the ECHL points lead in the process with 63 points.
In the third, Mississippi closed the margin to one. Steve O�Rourke drifted a point shot through traffic on the power-play, netting his fourth of the year and career high 20th point of the season. The goal came at 11:56, assisted by Jeff Hutchins and Sergei Kuznetsov, who played in his 200th career game with Mississippi.
The Sea Wolves pulled Gardner in the final minute seeking the equalizer, but McCullough notched his fourth goal of the game and 32nd of the season into the empty-net with six seconds left, extending his lead in the ECHL with 64 points.
Mississippi went 1-for-3 on the power play, while Florida converted on 1-of-4 opportunities. Sea Wolves outshot the Everblades 47-37.
Notes: In addition to Everblades� Buckley, Vincent and Swider playing in their first game this season with Florida, forward Jimmy Callahan along with defensemen Tim O�Connell and Mike Fournier also made their debut.
Mississippi and Florida wrap up their two-game series beginning at 6:30 p.m. CT tomorrow at TECO Arena. Listen live starting at 6:15 p.m. with the Nextel Pregame Show on WTNI-AM 1640 and online at msseawolves.com.
The Sea Wolves return home for a 6:35 p.m. game on Tuesday against the San Diego Gulls, for the first-ever contest between the teams, to be played at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. The broadcast starts at 6:20 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 - 02/13/04 Mississippi (3) at Florida (5)
SCORE BY PERIODS
Mississippi 2 0 1--3
Florida 1 3 1--5
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Florida-Buckley 1 (Swider) 4:44. 2, Mississippi-Evangelista 3 (Ellis-Toddington) 13:36. 3, Mississippi- Blais 8 (Gardner; Evangelista) 17:54. Penalties: Blais, MIS (Hooking), 13:56.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Florida-McCullough 29 (LaRose; Vincent) 4:26. 5, Florida-McCullough 30 (power play) (Vincent; LaRose) 8:55. 6, Florida-McCullough 31 (game winner) (Vincent) 19:40. Penalties: Miller, MIS (Slashing), 8:17. Swider, FLA (Interference), 10:29. Walby, MIS (Roughing), 14:10. O'Connell, FLA (Roughing), 14:10. Walby, MIS served by Maxwell (Elbowing), 14:10. McCullough, FLA (Interference), 15:05. Kean, MIS (Roughing), 15:58.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 7, Mississippi-O'Rourke 4 (power play) (Hutchins; Kuznetsov) 11:56. 8, Florida-McCullough 32 (empty net) (Vincent) 19:54. Penalties: Vincent, FLA (Slashing), 10:01.
SHOTS ON GOAL Mississippi 16 13 18--47 Florida 15 18 4--37
Power Play Conversions: Mississippi - 1-of-3, Florida - 1-of-4.
Goalies: Mississippi-Gardner (36 shots, 32 saves; record: 18-11-3). Florida-Zepp (47 shots, 44 saves; record: 11-11-6).
A: 6722. Referee: Hughes. Linesmen: Panasiuk; Phillips.
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