BILOXI, Miss. � Mississippi�s Matt Underhill made 38 saves in his first game against his former team as the Sea Wolves won their fourth in a row by topping the Pee Dee Pride 3-1 in front of 3,712 fans at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
�That was a battle tonight,� said Mississippi�s Bob Woods, who won his 150th game as coach of Mississippi and in professional hockey, improving to 150-84-19 for a .633 winning percentage. �We came out flying in the third and Underhill was steady throughout. The win was nice, but we have to put it behind us right away. Tomorrow is going to be even tougher in the second straight game at home against the Pride.�
Mississippi (20-14-3, 43 points) had a great chance in the first period. Jeff Hutchins, who registered an assist in the 2005 Coors Light ECHL All-Star Game on Wednesday, got behind the Pee Dee defense and went to the backhand only to be stopped by Pride goaltender Nick Boucher.
Pee Dee (22-15-2, 46 points) were denied on 14 shots by Underhill, who played the last two seasons with the Pride.
In the second, Mississippi�s Pat O�Leary, who started the season with Pee Dee, had two breakaways but Boucher remained perfect making a total of 11 saves through 40 minutes.
Late in the second, Hutchins tried to poke the puck past Jan Vodrazka at center, but the Pride defenseman caught him with a big check. Hutchins went to the locker room but came back for the third.
Underhill continued his stellar play in the middle stanza as well, turning away 14 shots for 28 in all to keep the game scoreless after two periods.
Mississippi got rolling at 1:51 of the first on a four-on-four scenario. Mike Jarmuth was trailing on a Sea Wolves rush beating a screened Boucher to bury his eighth goal of the campaign. ECHL All-Star Game representative Nicolas Corbeil, who was playing against his former team for the first time, assisted along with Anthony Battaglia.
The Sea Wolves extended their lead to 2-0 at 5:28. O�Leary cut in on a breakaway from the left wing and found the back of the net for the eventual game-winner, which was his ninth goal overall. Darryl Campbell and John Evangelista garnered assists.
Pee Dee finally solved Underhill on the 36th shot of the game and cut the margin in half at 2-1. Veteran Allan Sirois one-timed a shot from the low right circle at 15:46 set up by the Pride All-Star Game representatives Mark Mullen and Brian Collins.
Mississippi put the game away just over two minutes later. Jay Legault picked up his 100th professional assist feeding Hutchins, who cashed in his team-leading 18th goal of the campaign to round out the score.
Mississippi went 0-for-3 on the power play, while Pee Dee failed to tally on four chances with the man advantage. Pride outshot the Sea Wolves 39-20.
The Sea Wolves and Pride get right back on the ice at 7:35 p.m. tomorrow in the final game of a two-game series at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Promotions feature $2 hotdogs and $2 drafts from 6:30-8:30 p.m., there�s a Mardi Gras Parade On Ice, plus a Mardi Gras Jersey Raffle to benefit the Gulf Coast Youth Hockey Association.
Individual tickets for tomorrow�s home game 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
Pee Dee 0 0 1--1
Mississippi 0 0 3--3
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: None.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: None. Penalties: Kindle, PD (Delay of game),
8:33. Corbeil, MIS (Hooking), 10:17. Cava, MIS (Slashing), 15:04.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Mississippi-Jarmuth 8 (Corbeil; Battaglia)
1:51. 2, Mississippi-O'Leary 9 (game winner) (Campbell; Evangelista)
5:28. 3, Pee Dee-Sirois 13 (Mullen; Collins) 15:46. 4, Mississippi-
Hutchins 18 (Legault; Lisabeth) 17:49. Penalties: Douville, PD
(Elbowing), 0:28. Legault, MIS (Slashing), 1:05. Lisabeth, MIS
(High sticking), 7:58. Szwez, PD (Roughing), 13:19. Evangelista, MIS
(Roughing), 13:19. Vodrazka, PD (Roughing), 13:19.
SHOTS ON GOAL
Pee Dee 14 14 11--39
Mississippi 5 6 9--20
Power Play Conversions: Pee Dee - 0 of 4, Mississippi - 0 of 3.
Goalies: Pee Dee-Boucher (20 shots, 17 saves; record: 14-10-2).
Mississippi-Underhill (39 shots, 38 saves; record: 12-6-3).
A: 3712. Referee: Koharski. Linesmen: Ross; Finley.
