BILOXI, Miss. � Mississippi�s Jay Legault scored two goals while goaltender Randy Petruk turned aside 33 shots to help the Sea Wolves to a 5-1 victory over the Pensacola Ice Pilots at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
The victory gives the Sea Wolves two wins in their last three games, all against the first place Ice Pilots, moving Mississippi into a tie with the idle Gwinnett Gladiators for seventh place in the American Conference.
�We played a great team game,� Mississippi coach Bob Woods said. �Petruk was stellar and Legault had been in a slump so it was nice that he scored a couple. It�s nice that we have those two points in the bank, but now we have to keep battling. It�s going to be a tough stretch drive.�
Mississippi (31-21-4, 66 points) got rolling 2:15 into the first period. Legault deposited a Travis Lisabeth rebound in front of goaltender Todd Ford to count his 14th goal of the season. Stephen Greeley also picked up an assist.
Sea Wolves went ahead 2-0 on a power-play at the 4:12 mark. Kerry Ellis-Toddington sent a wrist shot into the back of the cage for his eighth marker of the campaign. Assists went to Anthony Battaglia and Chris Cava.
Pensacola (40-14-5, 83 points) responded just 36 seconds later. Jordan Krestanovich unleashed a shot from the right circle getting by Petruk to notch his 16th goal of the year. Aaron Phillips and Chris St. Jacques garnered helpers.
Mississippi regained its two-goal lead on another man advantage. Anthony Battaglia netted his team-leading 23rd goal of the year on a rebound at 9:42 set up Bates Battaglia and Louis Dumont.
In the second, the Sea Wolves stretched their lead to 4-1. Legault jammed in his second goal of the game on a loose puck in close off a left circle shot from Austin Miller. Lisabeth also collected his second assist of the night.
Midway through the middle stanza, Petruk made a number of key saves highlighted by a fantastic glove stop on a Chris St. Jacques breakaway.
Sea Wolves� Pat O�Leary rounded out the scoring by tallying his 11th goal of the year at the 7:38 mark. Mike Jarmuth and John Evangelista registered assists.
Petruk would go on to make 12 saves in the third period to preserve his third straight victory for Mississippi.
Mississippi converted on 2-of-3 power play chances, while Pensacola went 0-for-4. Sea Wolves outshot the Ice Pilots 42-34.
The Sea Wolves next game is at 7:35 p.m. on Friday against the Florida Everblades at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Promotions for Friday�s game include an attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Records for the most balloons popped simultaneously. The first 3,000 fans will receive a balloon courtesy of SpaceWalk of Ocean Springs.
The Kelly Cup will be on hand for opportunities on Friday, plus it�s also Youth For Christ Night featuring a postgame jersey auction. In addition, the first 2,000 fans will receive Thundersticks courtesy of Aaron�s Sales and Leasing in Long Beach.
Another game promotion for Friday features Military 2-for-1, sponsored by Keesler Federal Credit Union, which offers all military personnel, active or retired, two tickets for the price of one by showing military identification at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office.
Individual tickets for home games can be purchased at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling (228) 385-2600 and online at ticketmaster.com.
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.
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
Pensacola 1 0 0--1
Mississippi 3 1 1--5
FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Mississippi-Legault 14 (Lisabeth; Greeley)
2:15. 2, Mississippi-Ellis-Toddington 8 (game winner) (power play)
(Battaglia; Cava) 4:12. 3, Pensacola-Krestanovich 16 (Phillips;
St. Jacques) 4:48. 4, Mississippi-Battaglia 23 (power play) (Dumont;
Battaglia) 9:42. Penalties: O'Keefe, PEN (Tripping), 3:25.
St. Jacques, PEN (Holding stick), 9:18. Evangelista, MIS
(High sticking), 14:28. Miller, MIS (Interference), 18:32.
SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 5, Mississippi-Legault 15 (Miller; Lisabeth)
12:29. Penalties: Cava, MIS (Tripping), 14:09. Beckett, PEN
(Interference), 18:15.
THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 6, Mississippi-O'Leary 11 (Jarmuth;
Evangelista) 7:38. Penalties: Dumont, MIS (Holding), 14:10.
SHOTS ON GOAL
Pensacola 13 9 12--34
Mississippi 10 22 10--42
Power Play Conversions: Pensacola - 0 of 4, Mississippi - 2 of 3.
Goalies: Pensacola-Cloutier (0 shots, 0 saves); Ford (42 shots,
37 saves; record: 14-4-2). Mississippi-Petruk (34 shots, 33 saves;
record: 3-1-0).
A: 2318. Referee: Koharski. Linesmen: Jones; Deliman.
