BILOXI, Miss. � Mississippi�s Nic Bilotto scored in his first shift with the Sea Wolves to ignite a 2-1 victory over the Louisiana IceGators and secure a Kelly Cup Playoffs berth in front of 4,913 fans at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
The Sea Wolves head to the postseason for the sixth time in eight ECHL seasons, with the combination of the win and Columbus losing 5-4 in regulation at Pensacola.
Mississippi wins its sixth straight to pull within five points of Louisiana for first place in the Central Division. The Sea Wolves also have one game in hand.
�We played a very sound game,� Sea Wolves director of player development Chuck Thuss said. �Bilotto comes in and gave us an extra boost. Greg Gardner played terrific in net and there were a lot of guys that gave the extra effort needed in a tight game. We�ll try to keep it going Sunday at home against Columbus.�
Bilotto made an immediate impact in his debut at the 1:33 mark. Assigned by Springfield of the American Hockey League earlier in the day, Bilotto deposited a shot from the slot beating Frederic Cloutier. The goal for Bilotto was his eighth in the ECHL this season, tallying seven previous markers with Charlotte. Assists went to Steffon Walby and Brent Gauvreau, who extended his point streak to 12 games.
In the second, Mississippi (41-19-7) made it 2-0 by catching a break in the IceGators zone. The puck ricocheted off the end boards and Cloutier tried to play it, but missed. Sea Wolves� Louis Dumont pounced on the puck and buried his team-leading 31st goal of the campaign at 1:39. Sergei Kuznetsov and Anthony Battaglia registered assists.
Louisiana (46-20-2) peppered 20 shots in the opening 40 minutes on Mississippi goaltender Gardner, who was named ITECH HOCKEY ECHL Saver of the Week on Tuesday, but the IceGators were denied on each occasion.
In the third, the IceGators finally solved Gardner on the 27th shot of the game. Rod Sarich unleashed a left point shot which was re-directed in by Konstantin Kalmikov with under five minutes to go in regulation. Bruce Richardson also picked up a helper.
Louisiana pulled Cloutier for the extra attacker in the dying minute, but couldn�t come up with the equalizer.
Gardner made nine saves in the final period, to preserve his 28th win of the year, just two wins shy of becoming the second goaltender in ECHL history to post consecutive 30-win seasons.
Mississippi failed to convert on two power play opportunities, while Louisiana, which is ranked first with the man advantage, went 0-for-5. Sea Wolves outshot the IceGators 35-30.
Additional Note: Mississippi captured its first home win against Louisiana in the season series, improving to 1-2-3 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
The Sea Wolves remain at home for a 4:05 p.m. contest on Sunday against the Columbus Cottonmouths at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. It�s the 2nd annual �Faceoff Against Kids� Cancer� charity event. A $15 T-shirt is your ticket into the game followed by the postgame party and jersey auction at the Beau Rivage Magnolia Ballroom to benefit Caps For Kids and Candlelighters. The game also features Honor Roll Night, sponsored by Cellular South and WXXV Fox 25. In addition, the party four-pack is available, which consists of four tickets, four hotdogs and four soft drinks starting at only $44. The game broadcast starts at 3:50 p.m. with the Nextel Pregame Show on WTNI-AM 1640 and online at msseawolves.com.
Tickets for the Columbus game can be purchased at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling (228) 594-3707 and online at ticketmaster.com.
Season tickets for 2004-05 are on sale! Discounted group tickets and fundraiser opportunities are also available for this season by calling (228) 275-WOLF.
--- Box Score ---
DATE - 03/26/04 Louisiana (1) at Mississippi (2)
SCORE BY PERIODS
Louisiana 0 0 1--1
Mississippi 1 1 0--2
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Mississippi-Bilotto 1 (Walby; Gauvreau) 1:33. Penalties: Lisabeth, MIS (Cross checking), 6:05. Blais, MIS (Roughing), 7:54. Storey, LA (Roughing), 7:54. Brown, LA (Tripping), 11:12. Berzins, LA (High sticking), 13:59. Maxwell, MIS (Unsportsmanlike Cond), 17:23. Johnson, LA (Unsportsmanlike Cond), 17:23. Rochon, MIS (Hooking), 18:25. Richardson, LA (Unsportsmanlike Cond), 18:25. Kuznetsov, MIS (Hooking), 19:17.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 2, Mississippi-Dumont 31 (game winner) (Kuznetsov; Battaglia) 1:39. Penalties: Maxwell, MIS (Slashing), 7:01. Lisabeth, MIS (Board check), 11:51.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Louisiana-Kalmikov 22 (Richardson; Sarich) 15:07. Penalties: O'Rourke, MIS (Holding), 4:07.
SHOTS ON GOAL Louisiana 10 10 10--30 Mississippi 11 8 16--35
Power Play Conversions: Louisiana - 0-of-5, Mississippi - 0-of-2.
Goalies: Louisiana-Cloutier (35 shots, 33 saves; record: 20-8-2). Mississippi-Gardner (30 shots, 29 saves; record: 28-13-3).
A: 4913. Referee: Smith. Linesmen: Jones; Ross.
|
