Thanks to Bobblehat for this report....
Well the season of goodwill started early at the Hive last night, as both sets of defenders were in chrissy present mode. Tonight's game counted for both ISL and Challenge Cup points, and by the end of the game, both sides were also looking to receive the softest goal of the season points as well.
After 54 seconds the Riverkings looked to have won the prize for the softest goal as, following a face-off, a hapless Riverkings defender passed the puck out straight to Denis the Menace Chasse all alone in front of goal. Ex-NHLers don't miss from that range, and it was 1-0. After this wham bang start, both teams settled to play good attacking hockey. Brian Greer had to be sharp to stop a couple of nifty shots, and Wayne Cowley was called on to do likewise as the play switched rapidly from end to end. Riverkings then put in another claim re soft goals as Cowley cleared out straight to Greg Burke. Greg passed on to Denis the Menace and his cross-goal pass was met by the Chief skating across the goal, and the slightest of deflections was enough to put the puck into the net at 9min 7 secs. Less than a minute later the Bees got in on the act and gift wrapped the puck as they left it all alone inside their blue line. Mr Cooper said thankyou very much and passed the puck onto McAusland who then set up Bodnarchuk for the easiest of chances which he put away at 10min 4 secs. The Bees came straight back, and after Junks had won a puck he had no right to behind the Riverkings goal, the puck found its way back to Rob Stewart at the point and his slap shot gave Cowley no chance at 10min 57 secs, with Sal Manganarro getting the second assist. No one reminded the Bees that they had already given the Riverkings their Christmas present as first Jamie Black, and then Shewan were allowed the freedom of the rink to give Rob Trumbley (not naughty Mr Trumbley so far this season) the chance to put the puck away at 11min 31secs. So 3-2 and about right for the amount of attacking that both sides had put in, and for the gift giving from both defences. However it should have been 3-3 at the interval as in the dying seconds of the period, Knox hit the base of the post with Greer nowhere in sight. SOG of 9 on Greer and 8 on Cowley fairly reflected an entertaining and unpredictable first period.
The second period saw the Bees dominate from the first face-off and the first penalty of the evening was conceded by Conway for an obvious hook on Denis the Menace. The Bees awesome :o) Powerplay swung into action but it took a while for them to realise that they were in fact a man up. However as they cottoned on they began to put a bit of pressure on the Riverking's defence. In the end it was sheer persistence that paid off as Denis the Menace finally got the puck in the net for his second, after great approach work from the Chief and Joey. This was timed at 26min 36 secs, with just 3 seconds of the powerplay left. Paxo saw his first visit to the ice - he's nursing a leg injury - and just two seconds later he was in the box for tripping. At least he had shown a bit of aggression which is still sadly lacking from the Bees' defence. The Riverkings cashed in on this 47 seconds earlier than the Bees' had managed, as at 32min 26 secs McAusland scored from Cooper and Knox. The best goal of the evening occurred at 36min 35 secs as the Chief went on one of his driving runs and turned the Riverkings' defence inside out before faking a shot that Cowley dived for, and then popping the puck over the falling keeper. More and more pressure from the Bees paid off at 39min 15 secs as Sal Manganarro fired in from in front passed an unsighted Cowley. Junks got another assist and also Matt Cote. Right on 40min Sal Manganarro sent in a rip roaring shot as he was falling and Cowley only just managed to stick it away. So 6-3 at the end of the second and the Bees very good value for the lead - despite our doubts about the defensive lapses.
The third period was a little low key, and although the Bees were camped in the Rivekings zone for long periods, no shots of any significance or power were directed at the net. The Riverkings still looked dangerous on the breakaway, and with the bees seeming to be sitting on their lead, us Block 5ers were getting very anxious. As we could see the obvious danger signs. On another raid, the Bees defence backed off yet again, Brian Greer left the puck when he could have cleared it and before he could recover the puck was in the back of the net put their by Knox (who was having a great game) at 53min 58secs. Shewan and Conway got the assists. You could see the Bees wilting and the Riverkings growing after this, and it was no surprise when Black was left all alone to convert the chance set up by Conway and Jago. This was at 58min 14 secs, and at that point it would have been no surprise if the Riverkings had scored again t o tie the game. However this was not to be and despite Cowley going off with about 50 secs left there was no further scoring.
I suppose the Bees were trying to conserve a bit of energy with their short bench, as they have to face Nottingham, Cardiff and Manchester on in the next week. However unless the defence can do what their paid to - take out opposition forwards - we are in for a very torrid week. The attack are still scoring goals, and the line of Chasse, Brant and Ferraccioli is at the moment putting away the majority of these. We look forward to Denis the Menace getting really match sharp and challenging for the top scoring honours. We can dream..........