Over the last weekend the TSI World Bees took on the Swindon Wildcats in their first set of preseason fixtures. With the Bees away fixture of the weekend at the Link Centre the Swindon Wildcats took a 3-1 victory over the Bees. Then on Sunday, the Bees welcomed the Swindon Wildcats to the Slough Ice Arena for their home fixture but the Wildcats took the win again. This time the Wildcats won with a 5-3 score line. 

Swindon Wildcats 3-1 TSI World Bees

The Wildcats took the opening face-off win to begin the start of the preseason games between the two sides. Early on in the first period Vanya Antonov had a breakaway chance, however just before he could take a shot Balint Pakozdi Tripped him up and received a 2 minutes Tripping penalty at 01:15. Just 15 seconds after Balint Pakozdi penalty had finished Sam Godfrey also took a trip to the sin bin at 03:31 for another 2 minute Tripping but was also joined by Edgar Bebris less than a minute later at 04:19 for yet again another 2 minutes for Tripping. This gave the Bees a 5 on 3 chance that saw some good chances for Dominik Gabaj and Vanya Antonov but none of them got past Tyler Perre, who was in goal for the Wildcats. After some more good offensive plays from both sides the Bees received a bench minor of 2 minutes for Too Many Men. 

5 minutes into the second period the Bees found themselves with another bench minor penalty again with 2 minutes for Too Many Men timed at 25:09. Through this penalty the Wildcats were pushing the Bees into a more defensive game than what the previous period had been like and chance for the Wildcats saw Gaël-Mukeba Lubwele try to take advantage of the situation but could not get past Brett Sheppard. Josh Smith found himself facing a 2 minute Hooking penalty at 28:09 but then at 29:46 Josh Kelly also found himself facing 2 minutes however he received a High Stick. This saw the Wildcats in the same situation the Bees were previously in as they had a 5 on 3 chance to take the lead but Swindon could not capitalise on the 5 on 3 and did not manage to take the lead. 

Going into the Third and final period Stuart Mogg received a 2 minute Holding penalty timed at 43:05 and after Swindon applied an immense amount of pressure onto the Bees penalty kill unit, Glenn Billing on his debut for the Wildcats got the first goal of the night timed at 45:11 with assists awarded to Tomaz Malasinski and Chris Jones. At 49:34, Glenn Billing managed to get past Brett Sheppard for the second time on the night with assists awarded to Dylan Lipsey and Afie Druett. Stephen Whitfield received a 2 minute Tripping penalty timed at 58:30 and Bees took the chance to collect together and call a timeout to assess the situation and how they could bring the game back. After many attempts Adam Rosbottom finally managed to get the puck to the back of Tyler Perre’s net to make sure Swindon did not get a shutout. Assists were awarded to Oliver Knaggs and Marcel Balaz while the goal was scored at 59:05. But to secure the win for the Wildcats Gaël-Mukeba Lubwele and get his first goal in a Wildcats jersey.

TSI World Bees 3-5 Swindon Wildcats 

Straight off of the opening face-off Josh Shaw was quick on the puck and went to test Brython Preece very early on in the game but, at 00:11 Chris Jones helped the Wildcats take an early lead with assists awarded to Gaël-Mukeba Lubwele and Balint Pakozdi. Even though this was not the start the Bees had planned for the game they regrouped very quickly to go back into the defensive gameplay they had the previous night at the Link Centre to keep them in the game. Edgar Bebris received a 2 minutes Boarding penalty timed at 05:41 and that gave the Bees a powerplay Chance but through constant battles the Bees could not get to the back of the Swindon net. Not long after Luc Johnson also received a 2 minute penalty for Delay Of The Game but yet again the Bees did not take advantage of this powerplay chance. At 11:45, Josh Shaw found himself with a perfect chance to further extend the Wildcats lead and he did just that with an assist awarded to Colby Tower. This saw the first period end 2-0 in favour of the Wildcats.

Going into the second period early on Vanya Antonov found himself serving a 2 minute Tripping penalty and Reed Sayers extended the Wildcats’ lead to 3-0 at 23:40 with an assist against going to Colby Tower. Only 10 seconds later, at 23:50, Gaël-Mukeba Lubwele added to the Wildcats goal total to make it 4-0 with assists given to Dylan Lipsey and Chris Jones. The Bees fortunes did start to take a positive turn as at 27:30, Brendan Baird got a Bees goal onto the scoreboard for the first time on the night with assists awarded to Marcel Balaz and Adam Rosbottom. Then 11 seconds later, Vanya Antonov got to the back of the Wildcats net with a power play goal at 27:41 with assists awarded to Sam Cooper and Stuart Mogg. This saw the Bees begin to see hope again and push harder and harder to test the Wildcats defence.

Early on in the third period, at 44:00 Stephen Whitfield was forced to sit a 2 minute Hooking penalty giving the Bees another powerplay chance. Then Dan Rose received a 2 minute High Sticking penalty, which then saw Balint Pakozdi get the fifth Wildcats goal of the night with assists awarded to Reed Sayers and Russell Cowley timed at 49:31. Some good defensive plays by Sam Cooper and Oliver Knaggs pass and Dominik Gabaj slips the puck to the back of the Wildcats goal at 57:53 with assists awarded to Adam Rosbottom and Marcel Balaz and this saw us to the end of the period and the game finished TSI World Bees 3-5 Swindon Wildcats.