Weekend Teaser: Bees head into 2024 on a high

  

 First game of the new year 

Bees share the double header points with the Pitbulls  

On Saturday Bees made the trip to Bristol to play the Pitbulls who were buoyed by a win in Swindon on Boxing Day and they were the team to have the edge on the evening with a 4-2 win. Bees goals came from Gianni Vitali who has 8+4 from his 16 games played and Dominik Gabaj who joined the elite few with 50+ points in the season so far (Marcel isn't far behind as he is currently on 49 points). 

Sunday saw the Pitbulls visit Slough on Neon night and after a shaky start Bees finally found their mojo and we were treated to a performance reminiscent of earlier in the season when the team were flying high. Pitbulls were on top in the first period taking a 3-1 lead into the break. Bees only goal coming from Gianni Vitali but it was a superb one. Early in the second Bees could have scored as the puck lay in the crease but they couldn't get the tap in needed to put it across the line. At this point we all thought it probably wasn't going to be their night again but somehow this pushed a button and the team started to dominate the game. Dan Rose scored the second goal with a deflection in front of Pitbulls goalie Norton and then Vanya Antonov scored a brilliant third goal to bring the Bees level and the second period ended 3-3. The third period saw Vanya score again to give the Bees the lead, Ed Bradley then scored his first goal since returning to the Bees to extend the lead and Liam Morris added another before the Pitbulls reduced the deficit to 6-4. Dominik Gabaj found the Pitbulls empty net to bring the scoring to a close and give the Bees a winning scoreline of 7-4. The last time Bees scored 7 goals was on 30th September against the Pitbulls in Bristol, the fans had waited a long time for the new years eve goalfest. More important though was the number of excellent individual performances on the night and how they combined to completely outplay the Pitbulls in the 2nd and 3rd periods.

Player of the Weekend Results

This week's vote was won by Vanya Antonov with 53% of the fans vote, Gianni Vitali came in second with 23%. 

Next - The Bees welcome the Wildcats on Sunday for the first game of 2024

The fixtures have been kind giving the Bees a whole week off before their only fixture this weekend. This is the Wildcats second visit to the Slough Ice Arena this season, they walked away with the points in the first game after a 5-3 win but it was a close affair. Having recently returned to their rink after flooding put the building out of action for some considerable time, the Wildcats have been steadily adding to their points total and are currently sitting 3rd in the league. Their only blip being a loss to pitbulls on Boxing Day. With a core of high scoring players Bees will need a strong effort over all the lines. Interestingly some of the Brits in the Wildcats team are outperforming two of the imports, Lubwele and Tower, however Tower always seems to play at his best against the Bees. He together with Malasinski and Nell need to be on the Bees radar to give the home team a chance of winning the points. 


All that is left to say is safe travels to the Swindon team and fans travelling to Slough. Come on you Bees!


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