Weekend Teaser: Another tough weekend for the Bees

 

 What does weekend twelve have in store for the Bees?

Season weekend eleven review 

Last weekend the Bees headed to Bristol on Saturday with a short benched line up as Adam Rosbottom, Hallam Wilson and Josh Smith were all missing from roster. Bees were however fortunate to have Preston Tombs and Josh Poole available to play and it was Josh who scored the Bees first goal of the night and his first Bees and NIHL goal. If was a class finish and worth looking at if you haven't seen it already. Bees were two goals down by 10.23 and although they brought the scores level at 2-2 the Pitbulls were able to benefit from the extra skaters and came away with a 4-3 win. Bees other scorers were Liam Morris and Vanya Antonov.

On Sunday the Bees squad was depleted as no two way players were available and the news was not going to get any better after Marcel Balaz was wiped from the gamesheet and joined the gang on the "injury balcony". This was never ideal but with the team playing the league leaders you would have thought we were in for a thrashing. Spoiler alert: we did not get thrashed. The Lightning had an extra line and some and on paper should have had a walk in the park but at the end of the first they led by one goal which you would describe as a trickle across the goal line. They extended their lead to 2-0 at 23.20 but the Bees finally got a goal on the board with a powerplay goal scored by Vanya Antonov at 36.42. With Bees just a goal behind going into the third period they still had every chance. Their job was made a bit trickier when Lightning were awarded a penalty shot in the 54th minute that Jordan Cownie scored. So 3-1 down with just over 6 minutes remaining the Bees dug deep and their hard work forced the Lightning into making some questionable actions that resulted in the Bees going 5 on 3. With just over 3 minutes left in the period Vanya Antonov scored a sublime powerplay goal to bring the Bees within one goal and just over a minute later with seconds remaining on the powerplay Will Stead scored the equaliser. The third period ended 3-3 and Bees would have been extremely happy with the point. Overtime could not split the teams and penalty shots followed. Only one penalty shot was successful that was Dillon Lawrence of the Lightning who secured the second point for his team. 
   
My opinion - The game against the Pitbulls was a close affair and could have gone either way. I'm sure the team would have been disappointed to leave Bristol without any points. Sunday was a game that as a Bees fan you felt the team should be considering damage limitation but they delivered in every department. Each and every player gave their all and it seemed that Dom and Vanya were on the ice nearly all the time. They all played with such determination and heart and deserved a point and nobody would have argued if they had bagged the second. It's no secret that the Lightning have a bit of a problem playing on small ice pads and the Bees made sure they weren't going to have an easy night.
My main concern is the number of players injured. The players on the ice are pushing themselves to the limit and this could be costly going forward. Also we know how great the absent players are and their input to the team would have definitely swayed the result on some of the recent close losses. I hope we see some of them return soon.

Player of the Weekend Result

Congratulations to Vanya Antonov who is the player of the weekend, he wins thanks to your votes on Twitter with 83% of the vote. He had 3+1 for the weekend and made chances when chances weren't there to be made. One of his goals made it to the top 5 league goals of the week and he was outstanding.

Next: The Steeldogs head to Slough before the Bees go up North

The Steeldogs visit Slough for the first time this season with a much improved squad compared to last year. The Steeldogs sit third in the league with 11 wins, 2 overtime wins, two overtime losses and just 7 losses in regulation. Their top scorers are Walker Sommer with 41 points and Samuel Tremblay with 37 points. They have a talented roster which Bees know from their visit to Sheffield in early October when the Steeldogs won 7-2. 

The Bees head up to Hull on Sunday. This team were tipped by many to be in the title chase but they currently sit 7th in the league. They started off the season incredibly well but have gone off the boil in the last few weeks. Having said that the Bees are yet to any points off of them in their two meeting so far this season so they know this will be another tough game.
With Slough and Streatham both playing on Saturday and Sunday evening, the Bees access to two-way players will be limited again. The Cardiff Canucks play on Saturday so we will have to wait and see if Josh Poole is available to ice for the Bees anytime this weekend.

All that is left to say is safe travels to the Steeldogs and their travelling fans heading to Slough on Saturday and to the Bees team and fans travelling to Hull on Sunday.

Come on you Bees!

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