This weekend the TSI World Bees return to a two game weekend as they take the trip up north to take on the Leeds Knights on Saturday evening, then return back to the Slough Ice Arena on Sunday to welcome the Bristol Pitbulls to town for the first time this season.

The Leeds Knights are on a 7 game winning streak and are currently sat at the top of the table on the same amount of points as the Milton Keynes Lightning with 26 points. Leeds have secured roughly 87% of the points on offer from 13 wins and 2 losses.

The Knights’ power play unit will be something Ryan Aldridge will be keen on improving as it currently stands at 11 out of 56 successfully executed with a percentage of roughly 20%. However, like the Bees the Knights also have a very effective penalty kill unit with Leeds being able to effectively kill 59 out of 68 short-handed with a percentage of 87%.

Leeds have managed a total of 5 short-handed so far this season with Kieran Brown scoring 2 of those goals. So far this season the Knights have faced 435 shots on goal creating an average of 29 shots a game against the netminders, while they have had 483 shots on goal against the opposition netminders creating a 32 shot on goal average per game.

In Saturday’s game at Leeds the Bees will need to watch out for Matt Haywood who is particularly a vital part of the power play unit and helping create chances for the Knights. He has collected 25 points in 15 games from 6 goals and 19 assists while also collecting only 8 penalty minutes. Defensively, the Bees will need to keep a close eye on Noah McMullin who has collected 7 points from 1 goal and 6 assists but is a big part of shutting down players before they get the chance to get into the Knights’ defensive zone. 

The Bristol Pitbulls are sat at bottom of the league standings (11th place) with 6 points from 2 wins, 12 losses and 2 overtime losses therefore securing roughly 19% of the points that have been on offer so far in games this season. The Pitbulls have allowed 101 goals against them this season while on the other side scored a total of 44 goals. Their power play unit has a 21.62% effective percentage with 16 out of 74 power plays successfully used while their penalty kill unit is very strong and will be something the Bees will need to try to tackle with 55 out of 77 penalty kills successfully executed. 

Bristol have had a total of 634 shots against them in games with an average of roughly 40 shots against them per game. But have also had 520 shots for and having an average of roughly 33 shots a game on the opposition’s netminder. There have also been 5 short-handed goals scored against the Pitbulls this season but Bristol have also managed to score 3 short-handed goals in response to that statistic. 

During the Bees’ game against the Pitbulls the Bees will need to be aware of Nic Coric offensively as so far this season has collected a total of 17 points from 8 goals and 9 assists. He has also proven himself to be a big part of the Pitbulls’ power play unit after scoring 5 out of the 16 goals scored on the power play chances. As well as being effective on the power play Nic Coric has also scored 1 game winning goal for the Pitbulls this season and could make the difference in the game on Sunday. Defensively, the Bees will need to watch out for Ed Bradley who is no stranger to the Bees fans after not long ago he iced for the Bees. In games completed this season he has collected 15 points from 5 goals and 10 assists. Like Nic Coric, Ed Bradley has also contributed to the power play statistics after scoring 2 power play goals this season.