HIDALGO - The first 40 minutes of Saturday night’s game were probably what the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees expected out of this season.

Through two periods, the Bees outplayed the Laredo Bucks in front of a loud, enthusiastic and standing-room only crowd. Despite the obvious difference in talent, the Bees were unlucky to be tied after 40 minutes, having generated many more chances than the perennial Southeast Division champions.

But, it took only 79 seconds for the Bees to ruin that effort. In that 1:19, Laredo forwards Matt Summers and Jeff Bes scored 33 seconds apart to give Laredo a two-goal lead, one the Bucks held for a 3-1 win, handing the Bees their ninth loss in 10 games.

Bees goalie A.J. Bucchino (30 saves) said he didn’t “even know how the second one got in.” That goal, Bes’ 39th of the season, came on a one-timer off of a pass from forward James Hiebert.

“That was their two bounces, ones we haven’t been getting,” Bucchino said of Laredo’s third-period goals. “Whether I should have had them or not, it’s still two goals. It’s kind of a backbreaker.”

Making those goals even more frustrating for the Bees was how they played in the first 40 minutes. Despite the 1-1 score, RGV looked like the team that was one night removed from clinching a division title, which the Bucks did Friday in Corpus Christi.

However, despite the amount of chances in the first two periods, which included a missed Lance Herauf penalty shot and a 5-on-3 power play for 1:50 midway through the second, the Bees could only score once on Laredo goalie Dustin Traylen (27 saves).

“We had chances. I can probably think of six or more chances that we just didn’t score on,” Bees coach Paul Fixter said. “Listen, we don’t score enough goals. We need to find some goal scorers.”

Laredo, however, doesn’t have that problem. But, to listen to Bucks coach Terry Ruskowski, his team had other issues Saturday night.

“I didn’t think we played with a whole lot of heart and intensity,” Ruskowski said. “I really thought they outplayed us for the first two periods. We just got those two quick goals, I don’t know how we did it. I don’t know how we won that game, to tell you the truth. We were outplayed.”

Bucchino partially agreed, saying the Bucks “played well, but we rose to the occasion.”

“If people are saying they don’t think they played well, I just think that we played well enough to make them look like they didn’t play well,” Bucchino said. “It was a great opportunity to disappoint them, but, unfortunately, it didn’t go that way.”

ICING: Bees forward Josh Bonar returned to the lineup one night after being a healthy scratch. Bonar was scoreless and had a minus-1 ratio. … The Bees wore special one-time Border Fest uniforms. The jerseys were auctioned off after the game.

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

BUCKS 3, BEES 1

LAR 0 1 2 — 3

RGV 1 0 0 — 1

First period — 1, RGV, Voltera 24 PP (Garbutt, Banga) 15:48 Penalties — Elliott, Laredo (cross-checking) 1:20; Voltera, RGV (fighting major) 2:12; Burnett, Laredo (fighting major) 2:12; Hiebert, Laredo (boarding) 3:49; Bonar, RGV(high-sticking) 2:22; Banga, RGV (cross-checking) 10:28; Summers, Laredo (slashing) 15:04; McNeill, RGV (fighting major) 15:53; Penner, Laredo (fighting major) 15:53; Bucchino, RGV (unsportsmanlike conduct) 17:10; Goupil, Laredo (unsportsmanlike conduct) 17:10; Van Hoof, RGV (interference) 17:33.

Second period — 2, Laredo, Walker 1 PP (Rivet, Desjardins) 13:42 Penalties — Lapointe, RGV (cross-checking) 0:28; Bes, Laredo (boarding) 2:15; McNeill, RGV (high-sticking) 5:18; Elliott, Laredo (cross-checking) 7:54; Elliott, Laredo (unsportsmanlike conduct) 7:54; Walker, Laredo (tripping) 10:05; O’Leary, RGV (hooking) 12:01; Maxwell, RGV (roughing) 12:46; Hiebert, Laredo (high-sticking) 13:15

Third period — 3, Laredo, Summers 11 (Weidlich, Goupil) 0:44; 4, Laredo, Bes 39 (Hiebert, Elliott) 1:19 Penalties — Maxwell, RGV (roughing) 2:18; Desjardins, Laredo (roughing) 2:18; Bes, Laredo (roughing) 7:00; Tuomi, RGV (high-sticking) 10:48; Big Snake, RGV (fighting major) 13:48; Penner, Laredo (fighting major) 13:48; Maxwell, RGV (roughing) 15:48; Tuomi, RGV (fighting major) 18:25; Walker, Laredo (fighting major) 18:25

Power-play opportunities: Laredo: 1-9; RGV: 1-9.

Shots — Laredo: 9-11-13-33 ; RGV: 10-11-7-28.

Goalies — Laredo: Dustin Traylen: 28-27 (20-7-2); RGV: A.J. Bucchino 33-30 (0-3):

A — 5,669 T — 2:39

Referee — Tudor Floru; Linesmen — Kyle Simms, Pat Smith