Bees buzz off with the points.
Swindon Wildcats welcomed local rivals the Bracknell Bees to the Link Centre in another hotly fought fixture.
A high tempo start would see the ‘Cats pressure the away net but after just their second shot, it would be the Bees would draw first blood. A hard skate off the wing from Chris Wiggins would make his presence known, before the forward would set up James Galazzi for a tap in goal.
However an end to end play by Swindon’s Henrik Sandvik soon evened the scores, as the in form import would slide the puck between the pads of netminder Alex Mettam.
This was followed just moments later with a second, this time with Aaron Nell beating the defense and shooting across goal for a well placed second score.
Minutes later and an action packed period then saw the away side draw even with Lukas Smital being found alone and consequently beat netminder Stevie Lyle across the floor of the ice between the pads.
A momentum swinging period would finally end at the hands of the away side after twenty minutes as a close range redirect from midair would see Wiggins connect with the puck and find the net low for a 3-2 score.
Both sides would ice for the second period with a much tighter defense and despite both testing the netminders, the game would out after fourty minutes at a 3-2 score.
As the third began and needing a goal to tie the game, Swindon took little time to convert and land a crucial third tally. Within minutes Swindon would use a powerplay to their advantage and throw pucks to the net, before Jan Kostal would eventually find the tying goal for a 3-3 game.
A tense third period would make its way into its final minute and with the scores level, the next goal settle the night’s action.
With a face off in the Wildcat zone it took a slapshot from the Bees’ Jan Bendik to make a chance with it, take several deflections before passing Lyle between the pipes. That late stage goal for the away side would make for a 4-3 game and give the bees the 2 points.
The Wildcats will now look toward this coming Wednesday as they host the MK Lightning on home ice in a Kids Go Free 7:45pm face-off fixture.
Final Score: Swindon Wildcats 3 – 4 Bracknell Bees
Man of the Match: SWI – Moore / BRA – Stead
Information and copy from Scott Gummerson : http://www.swindonwildcats.com/news/34/bees-overcome—cats-with-late-sting.html#.UwHr5F5SY78 where you can read the full report.
Action packed gallery of the game:
