JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Oh, baby, does fatherhood agree with Donald Melnyk.

The Richmond Renegades forward, back after missing four games for the birth of his first child, scored two goals and assisted on the game-winner in a 4-3 win over the Jacksonville Barracudas last night.

Justin Joy scored the decisive goal at 19:57, capping a wild third period. Melnyk's second goal of the night, short-handed, tied it 2-2 at 7:22, and Andre Gill's power-play score put the Renegades ahead 4:38 later.

It appeared Gill's goal would stand up, but Chris Rebernik converted a penalty shot to make it 3-3 after Mike Owens was whistled for unsportsmanlike conduct. That set the stage for Joy.

Richmond (24-20-2) overcame a 2-0 first-period deficit in winning for the third time in their past four games.

Richmond ------------------------- 0 1 3 - 4
Jacksonville ------------------------- 2 0 1 - 3

First Period - 1, Jacksonville, Swartzenruber 6 (Rebernik, Scampoli), 5:55. 2, Jacksonville, Furdero 6 (Webb, Colangelo), 7:52 (pp). Penalties - Owens, Rich (hooking), 7:22; Bone, Jack, major (fighting), 7:55; Sicard, Rich, major (fighting), 7:55; Murphy, Jack (hooking), 17:05; Geerlinks, Jack (tripping), 18:56; Vandermeer, Rich (tripping), 19:27.

Second Period - 3, Richmond, Melnyk 19 (Vandermeer, Price), 7:19. Penalties - Joy, Rich (unsportsmanlike conduct), 10:24; Geerlinks, Jack (cross-checking), 13:14.

Third Period - 4, Richmond, Melnyk 20 (Joy, Vandermeer), 7:22 (sh). 5, Richmond, Gill 29 (Lewis, Karasiewicz), 12:00. 6, Jacksonville, Rubernik 24, penalty shot. 7, Richmond, Joy 13 (Melnyk, Needham), 19:57. Penalties - Price, Rich (interference), MacDonald, Jack (tripping), 10:01; Lewis, Rich (holding), 17:20; Owens, Rich (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:31.

Shots on goal - Richmond 9-13-13 - 35. Jacksonville 14-13-9 - 36. Power-play opportunities - Richmond 1 of 4; Jacksonville 1 of 6. Goalies - Richmond, Senft 15-12-0 (36 shots-33 saves). Jacksonville, Person (35-31). Referee - Eugene Binda Jr. A - 1,484.