After an emotional week, the Bees took to the ice to take on the Milton Keynes Lightning on Saturday for their away fixture of the weekend at Planet Ice Milton Keynes and then on Sunday returned back to the Slough Ice Arena to welcome to Peterborough Phantoms. 

MK Lightning 7-4 Bees IHC

A good start to the opening period for the Bees as there were persistent pushes to test Will Kerlin, who was in goal for the Lightning on the night. Dan Rose was the first to get onto the board on the night with a goal timed at 7:37, with Vanya Antonov being awarded an assist on the play. Shortly after, Marcel Balaz wanted his own pieces of success and slotted the puck to the back of the MK Lightning’s net after battling his way through the defence at 8:44 and Dominik Gabaj and Stuart Mogg received assists on the short-handed goal. The Lightning were quick to react to the lead the Bees had totaled up in front of them with multiple chances against Brython Preece but Mack Stewart managed to end the Lightning’s silence at 10:49 with Tom Rutkis getting an assist on the goal. Milton Keynes continued to push the Bees and at 13:32, Tim Wallace got the equalising goal to make it 2-2 with Ross Venus and Harry Gulliver being awarded with assists on the goal. Towards the end of the period at 18:41 after pushing his way past the Bees’ defence, Carter Hamill scores the goal that saw the Lightning take the lead for the first time on the night with Callum Field and Ross Green getting assists on the goal to see both teams till the end of the first period.The Bees were able to out shoot the Lightning 13 to 11 during this period. 

Rory Herrman came out into the second period eager to extend the Lightning lead and he did that at just 22:12 to create a 2 goal gap on the scoreboard with Ross Venus and Ben Solder being awarded assists. Both teams were able to keep up the pace in which both teams were playing at and at 30:16, the Bees were able to react to Rory Herrmans goal for the Lightning as Marcel Balaz got his second goal of the night with an assist awarded to Dominik Gabaj. Not long after the Bees saw a glimpse of hope, Dillon Lawrence added to the Lightning’s goal total of the night to make it 5-3 in favour of the Lightning at 37:06 then again at 39:50 but this time Corey McEwen got himself on the game sheet with a goal. Will Kerlin faced 12 shots in goal during this period compared to the 14 that Brython Preece faced. 

Tensions began to build up over the night but at 44:49 words were exchanged between Liam Morris and James Griffin and the Bees saw themselves on a power play as James Griffin faced a 5+ Game for Fighting in comparison to Liam Morris for Bees who faced 5 minutes for Fighting. Dominik Gabaj took advantage of the 1 man advantage with a goal timed at 47:52 and assists were awarded to Josh Smith and Aiden Doughty. At 52:42, Harry Gulliver secured the 2 points for the Lightning with their 7th goal of the night with Millique MArtelly receiving an assist on the goal. 

Bees IHC 4-3 Peterborough Phantoms 

Strong start to the game with Dominik Gabaj, at 7:00, taking the lead with Aiden Doughty and Will Stead being awarded assists on the play. Both teams were able to test the netminders on both sides of the ice and some amazing saves were made in the Bees goal by Brython Preece to keep the game 1-0 going into the second period. Jordan Marr faced a total of 5 shots during the first period compared to Bryrthon Preece who faced 11.

Vanya Antonov was able to tap the puck into the goal after an original shot from Brendan Baird at 29:08, with Brendan BAird and Dominik Gabaj both skating away with assists on the play. The Phantoms were able to react to this with a goal from Luke Ferrara with assists awarded to Ales Padelek and Bradley Bowering. Another goal from Vanya Antonov saw the Bees take a 3-1 lead going into the second period but this time a power play goal timed at 38:50 with Adam Rosbottom and Liam Morris being given assists. Some great chances for Ryan Webb with a couple of chances one on one with Jordan Marr. During this period Brython Preece faced 13 shots while Jordan Marr faced 10.

A big push from both teams off of the face-off. Both teams were able to clear their zones after multiple offensive plays by both sides but Callum Buglass slotted the puck to the back of the net to make it 3-2. Vanya Antonov secured his first hat trick of the season, joining Marcel Balaz and Dominik Gabaj who also have hat tricks, scored at 47:28 while both teams fans were paying their respects to Adam Johnson throughout the 47th minute of the game.One last chance for the Phantoms saw them create a 4-3 game as Martin Suster got to the back of the Bees net, but this was not enough to push for th points for the Phantoms