BILOXI, Miss. � In the first-ever meeting between the teams, the Reading Royals exploded for three goals in the third period to break open a tie game and defeat the Mississippi Sea Wolves 5-2 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
�It�s frustrating,� Mississippi coach Bob Woods said. �We battled hard but didn�t control the front of the net. Reading is a team that works hard and they earn everything they get. It�s nice that we have another opportunity to redeem ourselves against the Royals at home on (Friday) New Year's Eve.�
Reading (13-8-1, 27 points) hit stride at 10:54 of the first period. Royals captain Cail MacLean crashed the net and knocked the puck past Matt Underhill for his third goal of the season. Graig Mischler and Larry Courville garnered assists.
Mississippi (12-12-3, 27 points) tied the score with the man advantage. Jay Legault extended his point streak to 10 games by depositing his fifth goal of the season at the side of the net. Jeff Hutchins and Kerry Ellis-Toddington set up the goal to register helpers.
Just 49 seconds into the middle stanza, Ryan Kinasewich gave the Royals their lead back again. The rookie, Kinasewich let go with a shot from the slot to cash in his seventh of the campaign assisted by Jon Francisco and Jeff Miles, who extended his point streak on the road to seven games.
The Sea Wolves tied the score 2-2 at 13:20 of the second with some nifty passing. Legault fed Hutchins, who slid the puck to Louis Dumont for an open net and his ninth tally of the year.
Reading got on a roll in the third. Kinasewich potted his second of the night at 3:54 set up by Miles.
The Royals made it 4-2 as Beau Geisler sprung MacLean for a power-play breakaway goal, which was his second marker of the game.
Preston Mizzi put the game away at the 14:44 notching his fifth goal of the campaign assisted by Tom Galvin and Eric Fortier.
Additional note: Rich Libero, Vice President of Editorial and Production for NHL.com was in attendance and was an intermission guest on the Sea Wolves Hockey Network.
Mississippi went 1-for-6 on the power play, while Reading was successful on 1-of-7 man advantages. Royals outshot the Sea Wolves 40-28.
The Sea Wolves and Royals get right back at it on Friday at 7:35 p.m., New Year�s Eve, at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Watch the live web telecast for $6, courtesy of B2 Networks, online at msseawolves.com. Listen live on flagship radio station WGCM-AM 1240, or online at msseawolves.com, courtesy of Teamline.
Individual tickets for the Sea Wolves home game on Friday can be purchased at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling (228) 385-2600 and online at ticketmaster.com.
Flex packs, discounted groups tickets, birthday packages and fundraiser opportunities are available by calling (228) 275-WOLF or online at msseawolves.com.
--- Box Score ---
SCORE BY PERIODS
Reading 1 1 3--5
Mississippi 1 1 0--2
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Reading-MacLean 3 (Mischler; Courville)
10:54. 2, Mississippi-Legault 5 (power play) (Hutchins;
Ellis-Toddington) 15:29. Penalties: Hutchins, MIS (Elbowing), 7:31.
Legault, MIS (Slashing), 12:41. Medak, REA (Slashing), 14:06.
Francisco, REA (High sticking), 17:36.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 3, Reading-Kinasewich 7 (Miles; Francisco)
0:49. 4, Mississippi-Dumont 9 (Hutchins; Legault) 13:20. Penalties:
Legault, MIS (Board check), 3:27. Ellis-Toddington, MIS (Elbowing),
5:51. Greenough, REA (Elbowing), 5:51. Cava, MIS (Fighting, Major),
5:51. Greenough, REA (Fighting, Major), 5:51. Dumont, MIS (Hooking),
10:49. Mizzi, REA (Slashing), 18:27. Ellis-Toddington, MIS (Roughing),
19:55. Borzecki, REA (Roughing), 19:55. Lisabeth, MIS
(Ten minute misc.), 19:55.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 5, Reading-Kinasewich 8 (game winner) (Miles)
3:54. 6, Reading-MacLean 4 (power play) (Geisler) 9:49. 7, Reading-
Mizzi 3 (Galvin; Fortier) 14:44. Penalties: Martone, MIS (Roughing),
5:09. Rome, REA (Unsportsmanlike Cond), 7:16. Hutchins, MIS
(Unsportsmanlike Cond), 7:16. Turner, REA (Tripping), 7:32. Jarmuth,
MIS (Tripping), 8:49. Viitanen, REA (Fighting, Instigator, Major),
12:00. Hutchins, MIS (Fighting, Major), 12:00. Geisler, REA
(Delay of game), 15:14. Miller, MIS (Slashing), 17:42. Rome, REA
(Fighting, Game misc.), 19:58. Hutchins, MIS (Fighting, Major),
19:58.
SHOTS ON GOAL
Reading 14 14 12--40
Mississippi 8 13 7--28
Power Play Conversions: Reading - 1 of 7, Mississippi - 1 of 6.
Goalies: Reading-Brust (28 shots, 26 saves; record: 9-3-1).
Mississippi-Underhill (40 shots, 35 saves; record: 5-5-3).
A: 3197. Referee: Sanborn. Linesmen: Rick; Ross.
