Sea Wolves Squish Kingfish, 8-3
February 28, 2003 - ECHL (ECHL)
Mississippi Sea Wolves News Release
BILOXI, Miss. â The Mississippi Sea Wolves vaulted into first place in the Southwest Division by hammering the Baton Rouge Kingfish, 8-3.
The Sea Wolves have 74 points, one point ahead of Louisiana, after the IceGators fell at Peoria. Mississippi won its third straight game overall and fifth consecutive at the Wolves Den.
Mississippi also picked up two more points in the battle for the Coca-Cola Cup, extending the lead over Baton Rouge, 18 points to 2. The Sea Wolves will be presented with the inaugural Coca-Cola Cup in the final game of the season series on March 25 at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Baton Rouge (17-34-9) opened the score at 2:30. Mike Renzi stickhandled in close and slipped the puck past Sean Matile. The goal was Renzi's 10th of the season.
The Sea Wolves (35-20-4) responded at 4:10. Kingfish goaltender Jeff Blair failed to cover a shot by Dave Paradise, Travis Lisabeth knocked the puck into the net for his 15th of the year.
The Kingfish regained the lead at the 6:19 mark. Jim Vickers made some nifty moves cruised into the slot and tallied his third of the campaign, giving Baton Rouge a 2-1 advantage.
Mississippi stormed back 25 seconds later. Captain Steffon Walby extended his goal streak to a team-high six, by notching his 35th of the season at 6:44. He also tied Tyler Rennette of Peoria for first in the East Coast Hockey League goal scoring parade.
Then the Sea Wolves took the lead at 9:13, for the first time in the game. Baton Rouge alternate captain Chris Bell from behind his own net, passed the puck up the middle and on the stick of Sea Wolves rookie Jeff Hutchins, who deposited his ninth of the year.
Sergei Kuznetsov potted a wraparound goal at 11:23. It was the ninth of the season for Kuznetsov, giving Mississippi a 4-2 lead.
In the second, Sea Wolves Mike Scott tallied a power play goal at the 3:50 mark. The goal was Scott's 19th of the season, making it 5-2 for Mississippi.
The Kingfish answered 20 seconds later. Garnet Jacobson netted his fourth of the year, closing the margin to a pair.
Late in the middle stanza, Kent Davyduke streaked in on a breakaway and buried his 18th of the campaign.
Sea Wolves rookie Stu Pietersma dropped his gloves and squared off with Dan Sullivan. The fighting major for Pietersma was his league-leading 31st fighting major of the season, tying the Sea Wolves team record set by Kevin Evans in 1996-97.
In the third period, Scott set a Sea Wolves rookie record by scoring his 20th of the year, surpassing Travis Lisabeth (2001-02) and Karol Bartanus (1998-99). The goal for Scott was his second of the game on the power play.
Darryl Campbell rounded out the scoring for Mississippi, sliding home a shot at 15:51. Campbell's 13th tally of the year also extended his point streak to seven games (6g-6a).
Matile surrendered three goals on 48 shots, improving his record to 10-6-0. Blair stopped 23-of-31, falling to 5-19-5 on the season.
Mississippi went 2-for-4 on the power play. Baton Rouge failed to convert on five chances with the man advantage.
Following the game it was announced, Davyduke has been loaned to the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League.
The Sea Wolves get back into action tonight at home against Arkansas at 7:35 p.m. at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum.
Individual game tickets are available at all TicketMaster locations, the Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office and by calling 228-594-3707.
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