Bees limp to loss against Laredo

HIDALGO - It’s pretty much universally acknowledged that the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees don’t have the talent of the Laredo Bucks. They don’t have a Jeff Bes, nor do they have a James Hiebert or Serge Dube.

So, to beat a team like Laredo, the Bees need to either catch the Bucks on an off-night, or make as few mistakes as possible.

Neither happened Saturday night.

The Bucks won their third-straight game, beating the Bees 4-1 in front of 5,129 at Dodge Arena. One night after winning their third road game of the season, the Bees (11-29-7) reverted to the type of performance that has sent them to the bottom of the Southern Conference.

And, unsurprisingly, Bees coach Paul Fixter was unhappy with his team, which slipped 13 points behind Amarillo for the final playoff spot in the conference.

“I thought the first period was awful. We didn’t come out with the urgency, energy, level of commitment needed to beat a top club,” Fixter said. “What I take out of this is, the mental breakdowns.”

Trailing 1-0 with 3:13 left in the first, Bees forward Jason Weitzel was called for hooking in front of Bucks’ goalie Dustin Traylen. Almost inevitably, Laredo converted on the ensuing power play, with Matt Summers picking up the rebound of a Steve Weidlich shot to give the Bucks (33-15-3) a 2-0 lead with 2:30 remaining in the period.

That type of 43-second sequence is what Fixter and the Bees know they must avoid to beat a team like the Bucks and try to make something out of this poor season. In those 43 seconds, not only did the Bees take a bad penalty, they also allowed Summers to gain control of the puck directly in front of goalie A.J. Bucchino, after rebounding a shot by Steve Weidlich.

“On the goal, we get beat in the corner, we don’t battle in front. I thought we should have controlled the rebound,” Fixter said. “I mean, those are all things we talked about before the game. All three of those things.”

But the worst mistake the Bees made came midway through the second. Bees defenseman Bernie Chmiel attempted a cross-ice pass through the high slot to ignite a break. Chmiel’s pass did that, but for Bes, who intercepted the pass, skated cleanly through the slot and beat Bucchino at the 11:31 mark of the period.

Bes’ goal, his 37th of the season, gave Laredo a 4-1 lead. It also ruined what had been a decent period for the Bees, who had managed to turn some momentum thanks to a Travis Banga goal four minutes earlier.

“We have a play set, and he decides to throw it in the middle,” Fixter said. “I know one thing: Sean Gillam and Paul Fixter do not teach throwing pucks through the middle. We don’t teach that in October. We sure as heck don’t teach it in February.”

ICING: Bees forward Robin Big Snake missed his third consecutive game with what Fixter called an “upper-body” injury. Big Snake hasn’t played since last Saturday night in Wichita.

Brian Sandalow covers the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436.