Swindon Wildcats 9 Bracknell Bees 8
“THESE things happen just once in a lifetime ” said Lukas Smital after his Bees side produced the unlikest of comebacks in Swindon on Saturday night.
The writing appeared on the wall for the visitors when Floyd Taylor struck early in the third period to give the Cats what looked an unassailable 8-1 lead.
But those present would never have expected the heroism which followed, with Milan Kostourek, Smital and Alex Barker, twice, Josh Smith and Carl Thompson all netting within an unforgettable three-and-a-half minute spell to tie up the scoring.
With 16 goals flying in during the previous 60 minutes neither team, unsurprisingly, could find the winner during overtime, meaning a memorable contest would be settled via a penalty shootout.
The home side would eventually hold their nerve and escape with the win, and although disappointed to see his side fall to a sixth straight loss, player-coach Smital was delighted to pick up what could turn out to be a vital point, given the circumstances.
“I don’t think I have ever heard of anything like it, maybe five (comeback) goals has been done before, but not seven,” said the Czech – who hit the equaliser.
“The first thing that came to my mind (when making it 8-8) was I scored and the celebrations, and we were all excited and stuff, but then I looked at the clock and there was still 10 minutes left, so I’m thinking have we equalised too early?
“We had the momentum and we could have won, but it was just one of those things that happen once in a lifetime – it just doesn’t happen.
“Maybe the hockey gods would not allow us to go on and win.”
The scoring started early on, with Nell opening his account for the evening after just eight seconds, slamming a shot past Alex Mettam in the Bees goal and into the top corner.
The lamp, however, was not to be lit again until the latter stages of the stanza, and it was flicked on by Kostourek, who surged forward and hurled his side level with a short-handed goal, as team-mate and captain Matt Foord was sitting out a slashing call.
Both Bracknell’s hopes of getting to the first interval on level terms were dashed when Nell this time turned provider, laying on Jonas Hoog to drive the puck home from close range.
The strike was clearly a sucker punch for the visitors, but the Cats were only just warming up and would stamp their authortiy on proceedings during the second session.
Adam Harding, Nell, Sam Bullas, Jan Kostal on the powerplay and Tomasz Malasinski were all on target as the goals flew in for the home side as Bees had little answer to their opponents’ attacking arsenal.
Having suffered 12-2 and 8-4 reverses against Swindon in recent times, those in the black and gold were probably fearing the worse.
And when Taylor tucked away a rebound three minutes into the third period, it looked as though Smital and his charges were now chasing a lost cause.
Some pride was restored when, from the resulting face-off, Kostourek doubled his and Bracknell’s tally with a tidy finish, lighting the blue touch paper in the process.
This was followed up by Smital diverting another Kostourek strike past Stevie Lyle in the Swindon goal before Barker narrowed the lead further only 48 seconds later.
Smith rattled in goal number five soon after before Carl Thompson got in on the act, cutting the deficit to just the one goal only 26 seconds later.
With Swindon now against the ropes, the away side unbelievably pulled themselves level seconds after Thompson’s effort when Smital bundled home from close range.
But the job was not yet complete, and some nervy moments were to follow when Kostourek was sent to the penalty box for a holding-the-stick minor.
Harding was thwarted by Mettam during the resulting powerplay, but the rejuvenated Bees held out.
The netminder was called into action again late on when Hoog broke clear, but the goal tender was equal to the challenge.
Chances came and went for both sides during the additional five minutes, and only a top draw save from Lyle prevent Foord from completing the great escape.
The same player was denied again when Lyle kept out his penalty shot, saving Thompson’s effort too as the relieved Wildcats snatched the extra point.
“We don’t quit,” added Smital.
“We didn’t have any high hopes but we had that little bit of luck and then the momentum.
“We had some big chances, but Stevie (Lyle) made an unbelieveable save with his paddle to deny Matty (Foord), but this could be an important point for us.”
Kostourek was on target again the following night, but his strike could not prevent Bees falling to a narrow 2-1 loss away at Manchester Phoenix.
Bracknell are away at Telford Tigers on Saturday (5.30pm) before Basingstoke Bison visit The Hive on Sunday (6pm).
