Weekend Teaser: Can the Bees sting another big team?

 

 What does weekend eighteen have in store for the Bees?

Season weekend seventeen review 

Weekends don't get any tougher than last weekend with an away trip to Milton Keynes Lightning followed by a home game against the Leeds Knights. The Lightning believe this season they will get their hands on the league title and given the Bees results over the last few months they probably also believed that this game was a foregone conclusion before it even started. I think it is fair to say that the game was closer than the 5-0 scoreline suggested. The Bees all played incredibly well and although they were unable to break Kerlin's shutout they worried the Lightning for a while. Max Wright was the Bees man of the match with a 90% save percentage conceding 5 goals from 50 shots.

The following evening the Bees faced the Leeds Knights who were second in the league with games in hand but their weekend hadn't had the best start with a home loss to the Seahawks the day before. The Knights took a two goal lead into the second period after outshooting the Bees 20:4 in the first. Bees pulled a goal back at 27.56 as Ralfs Circenis scored his first Bees goal on his home debut. Leeds then got into penalty trouble as Jordan Buesa was assessed a 5 minute major for boarding and this was the turning point of the game as just 8 seconds into the penalty the Bees brought the game level as Ralfs Circenis scored his second goal of the night. Just 16 seconds before the end of the period Marcel Balaz put the Bees ahead with what was to be the game winning goal. The third period saw the Knights push for an equaliser and they resorted to pulling Sam Gospel without success as Adam Rosbottom found the empty net with a precise shot from half way down the rink and the Bees were rewarded with a 4-2 win. Max Wright deserves some well earned praise too as he recorded a 95.74% save percentage on the night, some of his saves were unreal and the Knights were dumbfounded by his performance.

My opinion - The whole Bees team played incredibly well all weekend and deserved the two points on Sunday night. The combination of the additions of Ralfs Circenis and Louis Allen to the roster in the week plus the return of Josh Smith and Marcus Mitchell from injury and the formidable performances from Max Wright on both nights made the Bees a challenging opposition for the league's top teams. Ralfs Circenis scored 2+1 on Sunday showing he was definitely a huge signing in the week Vanya Antonov decided to head down the M4 to Swindon. Adam Rosbottom scored 1+3 on Sunday night and being on a line with Ralfs made both players a huge offensive threat that was too strong for the Knights. When Liam Morris (suspension) and Hallam Wilson (injury) return the Bees will finally be able to play at full strength and will be a force to be reckoned with for sure. 

Player of the Weekend Result

Congratulations to Adam Rosbottom who is the player of the weekend, he wins thanks to your votes on Twitter with 37% of the vote, Ralfs Circenis was a close second with 33%. 

Next: Home to the Lightning 

Bees welcome the Lightning to Slough on Sunday. Having met last weekend in Milton Keynes both teams know what to expect of each other however it will be a completely different game with the Bees on home ice. The Lightning now sit top of the league four points ahead of their nearest rivals, the Swindon Wildcats. With Leeds two losses last weekend the Lightning are in a strong position but there are still plenty of games to be played this season so nothing is certain. Interestingly it's the Lightning's Brits who are heading the teams scoring, Jordan Cownie, Ross Venus, Mack Stewart, Martin Susters and Harry Gulliver top their scorers and it's not until 6th place that an import makes an appearance. 
Both Streatham and Cardiff Canucks do not play on Sunday so there are two-way players available from these teams if required, I would be very surprised if we don't see them added to the roster. 
All that is left to say is safe travels to the Lightning and their travelling fans heading to Slough on Sunday.

Come on you Bees!

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