Local pro hockey: Watertown wins second straight over Mississippi

The Wolves swept the two-game series with Mississippi after winning the first game, 5-0, on Friday night in Watertown.

“Oh man, it is nice,” Wilson, a rookie forward, said. “And with all the adversity that we battled at the beginning of the season, it’s great to finally come together as a brotherhood and not just a team.”

Now slowly but surely, Steve Esau is liking what he sees in the team after he took over as Watertown head coach nearly a month ago.

“It was a very good weekend,” he said. “The boys are coming together and playing for each other. The ingredients in the recipe of success are love, passion and having fun. This is a hard-working hockey team that has passion, love and they have fun, which is great to see.”

The Wolves are 4-3 under Esau, who was named as head coach after interim coach Justin Coachman was let go by the team 11 games into the season.

“I think in the beginning it was a little rough, but once we kind of figured out how he wanted us to play, now we’re starting to play as a team again, which is nice,” Lord said. “So we’re kind of finding our gears and getting it going now.”

Watertown (11-13), which lost Thursday at home to Carolina, has now won two straight after a three-game skid.

“For a while, we struggled to find cohesive lines and now we’re starting to find guys that play well together and we’re starting to get an understanding of where guys are going to be and stuff like that,” Wilson said. “So it’s super nice.”

“It’s really nice, to start getting back in the win column after some tough losses,” Lord said. “I wish we didn’t get blown out the first game, but we bounced back the second game and won and today we battled back in the third (period) and closed it out.”

The game got off to an inauspicious start for the Wolves as Mississippi’s Philip Wong scored a power-play goal 1:44 into the game after Watertown was assessed with a too many men on the ice penalty.

The Wolves drew even when Wilson scored an unassisted goal by beating goalie Joseph Sheppard in close with 2:29 left in the period.

“He had a very nice night, he’s coming into this own and is really developing into a player for us,” Esau said of Wilson. “He can be whatever he wants to be for us.”

Wilson provided Watertown with a 2-1 edge by scoring a power-play goal with 19.6 seconds left in the second period, with Thomas McGuire assisting.

“The second one was a beautiful pass from our D-man McGuire and he just found me back door and made a very selfless play,” Wilson said. “He could have shot the puck, he was wide open, but he decided to pass and that’s what we’re doing, we’re building a selfless team here and I like that.”

Mississippi tied it on former Wolves player Justin LaPorte’s goal 4:07 into the third period.

But Lord answered with the deciding tally, scoring 1:08 later, with Nick Papandreas assisting.

“I kind of just picked it up behind the net and went end to end, there was not much to it,” Lord said. “I wrapped it around the net, just had some speed and just kind of burned everybody wide. It was nice, especially to put us in the lead.”

Newcomer Chase DeBari added a goal for Watertown with 5:14 remaining for Watertown, with Kolton Maguire setting up the tally.

“We did a good job of driving the net and it will be good to get more sustained pressure, but those things come as you work on them,” Esau said.

Rookie goalie Travis Smith stopped 30 of 32 shots to record his second win on back-to-back nights.

“I think he had an amazing weekend,” Lord said of Smith. “I wish we got him in there sooner, rather than just putting him in like in the third period. And he finally got a start and a shutout and I think he played fantastic.”

Smith made 34 saves in a 5-0 win Friday in the first meeting between the two franchises.

“Honestly, I couldn’t even tell you,” Smith said Friday night of when he last started in a game with Watertown. “Obviously the last month and a bit has been a little tough, battling and battling injuries and we’ve got two other really good goalies that I respect completely. I think whoever’s hot is going to run with it and we’ve each got to support one other to do that.”

Sheppard finished with 41 saves for Mississippi (3-24), an expansion team now on a seven-game skid.

“I think (Friday) was a little easier with them having like a 30-hour bus ride here,” Lord said of Mississippi. “So I think today, they definitely played a lot better, so they gave us a good game.”

On Friday, Lord, Maguire, DiBari, Matt Brown and Brendan Hussey each scored a goal for the Wolves, with DiBari also recording a pair of assists.

“It’s been a bit of a learning curve for everyone, we’re trying to pull together as a group and figure out how to put together a 60-minute effort and getting on the same page,” Brown said Friday. “With a new coach and everything we’ve been through, we’ve went through so much adversity as a team and we’re just trying to draw some strength from that and get everyone back on the same page and pulling in the same direction.”

Wilson, who started the season in training camp with the Knoxville Ice Bears of the Southern Professional Hockey League and played in five games, has now scored eight goals in 15 games with Watertown.

“It’s amazing, I love being here,” Wilson added. “Obviously I’m doing everything I can to better my game and climb the ladder, but I couldn’t ask to be in a better place right now.”

Wilson, a native of Muskegon, Mich., skated on a line with Brown and Mathias Tellstrom on Saturday.

“They’re some of the best guys I’ve ever played with,” Wilson said. “So they make my job real easy, so it’s nice to play with better players.”

The Wolves will return to Empire Division play when they host Binghamton at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

“This is very good, but we’re not satisfied,” Esau said. “We’re heading in the right direction and we know what’s coming up — and our mission is to keep it going.”

■ NOTES: Smith is now 5-5 on the season with the Wolves and is tied for the team lead in wins with Owen Liskiewicz. ... Watertown will make its first trip to Mississippi of the Continental Division on March 3-4.