Bees fall at the final hurdle against Tigers
The TSI World Bees fell just short in the final stages of Sunday’s 6-5 defeat to the Telford Tigers at the Slough Ice Arena.
In a weekend double header with the Tigers that was full of incident and goals, the Bees were beaten 8-5 on the road on Saturday, before letting slip a two-goal advantage in the final period as they agonisingly lost on home ice.
The teams traded blows in the early stages of the first period, with Finley Howells striking the Tigers ahead at 3.55, with Scott McKenzie and Nick Oliver claiming the assists. However, the goal seemed to spark the Bees into life, and they levelled matters through player/coach Dominik Gabaj at 8.17 with Marcel Balaz and Vanya Antonov assisting.
Then Aiden Doughty kept his composure as he was played through oneon-one with Brad Day and slotted home the Bees’ second to make it 2-1 at 9.20, again Balaz with the assist along with Dan Rose.
The Bees came out chasing a third goal at the start of the second period, but it was the Tigers who drew first blood with Scott McKenzie finding the back of the net to make it 2-2. But the Bees got their noses back in front at
23.21 when Gianni Vitali scraped the puck home as he fell to the floor with Dan Rose and
Aiden Doughty receiving the assists. Chances continued to come for the Bees, with Dominik Gabaj and Edward Bradley going close to a fourth, and the home side were made to rue those missed opportunities when Lucas Price tied the match up again for the Tigers at 30.12.
The see-saw clash continued with Balaz racing through to restore the Bees lead at 33.22, with Vanya Antonov and Gabaj claiming the assists.
Then the Bees put themselves on course for victory when Balaz scored his second of the game to make it 5-3 when the hosts had a man advantage due to a Telford penalty. The powerplay goal seemed to hand them the momentum heading into the third period, with Gabaj and Vitali receiving assists on Balaz’s goal.
But a disappointing final period saw Telford start, and then sustain a comeback which would ultimately win them the two points. First McKenzie scored his second goal of the night to make it 5-4 before James Smith equalised for the Tigers, despite the Bees going ultra defensive in a bid to see out the game.
Then, with only one minute and 49 seconds left on the clock, Vladimir Luka scored the game-winning goal for the Tigers to leave the Bees feeling thoroughly deflated.