February 22, 2003
Sea Wolves Dump Fish, 8-1
Baton Rouge Kingfish Press Release
The Mississippi Sea Wolves were perfect on the power play and picked up a
shorthanded goal to down the Kingfish, 8-1 at the Centroplex.
Kent Davyduke gave the Sea Wolves a 1-0 lead midway though the first period on
the power play as he put the puck off the crossbar and past Niklas Sundberg. Jim
Baxter and Patrick Rochon added the assists on the goal.
The Sea Wolves took a two goal lead as the Kingfish left Stu Petersma wide open
in the slot at the 14:05 mark of the first and he buried the shot past Sundberg
from point blank range. John Evangelista and Darryl Campbell added the assists
on the goal.
Mississippi made the Kingfish pay for their second mistake as Mike Scott stuffed
a rebound past Sundberg at the 17:32 mark of the first period. Sundberg made the
initial save on Ken Davyduke’s shot from the right faceoff circle but could not
cover up and prevent Scott from stuffing the rebound home. Jim Baxter also added
an assist on the power play goal.
Jeff Blair replaced Sundberg as the second period began but the Sea Wolves
continued to capitalize on the power play. Sergi Kuznetsov beat Blair with the
extra attacker just 1:33 into the second period. Dave Paradise and Jeff Hutchins
added the assists on the goal.
A minute and a half later, Campbell picked apart the Kingfish defense and beat
Blair with a slapshot from the slot. Kuznetsov and Hutchins added the assists on
the goal.
Campbell added his second of the night, a shorthanded tally, at the 8:29 mark of
the second as he beat Blair on a break away. John Evangelista picked up a helper
on the goal.
The Kingfish cut into the Sea Wolves lead as Chris Bell picked up a loose puck
along the goal line and flipped the puck over Greg Gardner at the 15:25 mark of
the period. Tom Kaiman added an assist on the goal to reduce the Mississippi led
to 6-1.
In the third, Mississippi extended its lead to six goals as Sergi Kuznetsov beat
Blair at the 6:22 mark of the period. Kent Davyduke ad Derrick Byfuglien added
the assists on the goal.
The Sea Wolves put the their 8th and final goal behind Blair at the 11:49 mark
of the third off the stick of Jim Baxter. Mike Scott and Davyduke added the
assists.
Jeff Blair made 21 saves in the second and third period while Sundberg turned
aside 18 shots in the first period in the loss.
The Kingfish are back in action tomorrow as they travel to Arkansas to battle
the RiverBlades. Catch all the action on Baton Rouge’s Best R & B, 104.5 WZRB
beginning with the Kingfish pre-game show beginning at 5:50 p.m.
Playoff Bound Sea Wolves Swamp Kingfish, 8-1
Mississippi Sea Wolves Press Release
BATON ROUGE, La. – The Mississippi Sea Wolves officially earned a playoff berth
by dropping Baton Rouge, 8-1 at the Riverside Centroplex.
The Sea Wolves move into sole possession of second place in the Southwest
Division with 70 points, just two points behind Louisiana for first.
Mississippi also added two more points in the battle for the Coca-Cola Cup,
extending the lead over Baton Rouge, 16 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.
The Sea Wolves (33-20-4) opened the score with the man advantage at 9:43. Rookie
Kent Davyduke tallied his 17th of the season snapping a shot from the right
circle past Niklas Sundberg.
Mississippi built up a 2-0 lead at 14:05. Rookie Stu Pietersma unleashed a shot
over the left shoulder of Sundberg. The goal was the third of the campaign for
Pietersma, making it 2-0 for the Sea Wolves.
Pietersma also dropped the gloves twice in the opening period, handling both Tom
Kaiman and Garnet Jacobson. Pietersma extends his lead for fighting majors in
the East Coast Hockey League with 30. He is also just one shy of tying the Sea
Wolves single-season record of 31, set by Kevin Evans in 1996-97.
Later in the first, Mississippi continued to convert on the power play. Rookie
Mike Scott buried in front, for his 17th of the season, making it 3-0.
In the second, the Sea Wolves kept pouring it on by capitalizing on another man
advantage. Sergei Kuznetsov slammed home a rebound, beating Jeff Blair, who took
over from Sundberg to start the middle stanza. The goal was Kuznetsov’s seventh
of the year.
Mississippi made it 5-0 at the 2:53 mark. Darryl Campbell scored his 11th of the
season. Then at 8:29, Campbell moved in while short-handed and netted his second
of the contest, giving the Sea Wolves a commanding 6-0 lead.
Baton Rouge (15-33-9) finally solved Mississippi goaltender Greg Gardner at
15:23 of the second. Chris Bell tallied his 17th from in tight, making it 6-1
through 40 minutes of action.
In the third, Kuznetsov connected in close at 6:22. His second of the game and
eighth goal of the year made it 7-1 for Mississippi.
The Sea Wolves continued to make the most of their power play opportunities. Jim
Baxter tapped home his 15th of the year at 10:49.
Gardner surrendered one goal on 35 shots, improving his record to 24-14-4.
Sundberg stopped 18-of-21, falling to 13-14-2 on the season. Blair turned away
21-of-26 in relief.
Mississippi went 4-for-4 on the power play. Baton Rouge failed to convert on
seven chances with the man advantage.
The Sea Wolves return home today at 5:05 p.m. to ‘Faceoff against Kids Cancer’
against the Pensacola Ice Pilots at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum. Purchase
your commemorative t-shirt for $15. Proceeds benefit two pediatric cancer
organizations, Caps for Kids and Candlelighters. The t-shirt gets you into the
game plus the postgame party and jersey auction at Grand Casino Biloxi Bayview
Grand Ballroom.
Individual game tickets are available at all TicketMaster locations, the
Mississippi Coast Coliseum box office and by calling 228-594-3707.
DATE - 02/22/03 Mississippi ( 8) AT Baton Rouge ( 1) SCORE BY PERIODS Mississippi 3 3 2--8 Baton Rouge 0 1 0--1 FIRST PERIOD -- Scoring: 1, Mississippi-Davyduke 10 (power play) (Baxter; Rochon) 9:43. 2, Mississippi-Pietersma 3 (game winner) (Evangelista; Campbell) 14:05. 3, Mississippi-Scott 17 (power play) (Davyduke; Baxter) 17:32. Penalties: Kaiman, BR (Fighting, Major), 4:53. Pietersma, MIS (Fighting, Major), 4:53. Paradise, MIS (Tripping), 6:44. Paquet, BR (Hooking), 7:59. Campbell, MIS (Roughing), 10:25. Fraser, BR (Slashing), 15:34. Pietersma, MIS (Fighting, Major), 17:35. Jacobson, BR (Fighting, Major), 17:35. Campbell, MIS (Elbowing), 18:01. Mathieu, BR (Charging), 19:35. SECOND PERIOD -- Scoring: 4, Mississippi-Kuznetsov 4 (power play) (Paradise; Hutchins) 1:33. 5, Mississippi-Campbell 11 (Kuznetsov; Hutchins) 2:53. 6, Mississippi-Campbell 12 (short handed) (Evangelista) 8:29. 7, Baton Rouge-Bell 2 (Kaiman) 15:23. Penalties: Paradise, MIS (Hooking), 7:03. Vickers, BR (Fighting, Major), 17:12. Hutchins, MIS (Fighting, Major), 17:12. Vickers, BR (Game misc.), 17:12. Paradise, MIS (Slashing), 17:38. THIRD PERIOD -- Scoring: 8, Mississippi-Kuznetsov 5 (Davyduke; Byfuglien) 6:22. 9, Mississippi-Baxter 15 (power play) (Scott; Davyduke) 10:49. Penalties: Byfuglien, MIS (Tripping), 0:30. Norrie, BR (Goalie interference), 9:03. Byfuglien, MIS (Hooking), 12:06. SHOTS ON GOAL Mississippi 21 12 14--47 Baton Rouge 10 17 8--35 Power Play Conversions: Mississippi - 4 of 4, Baton Rouge - 0 of 7. Goalies: Mississippi-Gardner (35 shots, 34 saves; record: 24-14-4). Baton Rouge-Blair (26 shots, 21 saves); Sundberg (21 shots, 18 saves; record: 5-8-2). A: 2153. Referee: Britt. Linesmen: ; Jones.