Bees win in typically bizarre fashion

HIDALGO – Soft ice, rare goals and late-game clock issues. For most teams, that would be unusual. For the Killer Bees, stuff like that’s pretty much the norm, even if pretty much everything around the franchise has changed in the last year.

The Bees’ 4-3 win Tuesday over the Laredo Bucks was played on ice that was noticeably softer than usual. Late in the first period, Jason Dixon scored with the Bees (17-14-5) shorthanded two players, a rare feat Laredo’s Matt Pierce almost matched in the second. Then late in the third, the final 4.4 seconds were run off the clock after the whistle blew because it apparently started five seconds too late following the previous stoppage, depriving Laredo (13-21-0) one more chance to tie with a faceoff coming in the Bees’ zone.

Yep, just another night in the life of the Bees and their rivalry with the Bucks.

“Things never change between these two teams,” Bees coach Terry Ruskowski said. “It always comes down to the last couple seconds.”

That’s never been more true than it was Tuesday, though something similar has happened at State Farm Arena before.

That scenario at the end Tuesday was eerily close to what happened in the Bees’ regular season finale last year, when Texas winger Chad Woollard’s apparent game-tying goal was waved off after it was determined the clock hadn’t started on time on an earlier faceoff. Though the Bucks didn’t have a goal disallowed this time, the explanation for the end of the game didn’t sit well with Laredo coach Serge Dube, whose team was surging late.

“If you think about it, myself counting at five seconds when I’m resting in bed and then myself in a game counting five seconds is definitely a different five seconds,” Dube said. “I really do think we got hosed on that one.”

Regardless of whether the Bucks were hosed in the waning seconds, the Bees were more than happy to accept the win. The victory pulls them even with Texas for third in the Berry Conference and two points ahead of fifth-place Tulsa.

Aaron Boogaard’s goal with 3:31 left gave the Bees a 4-2 lead and became the game winner after Laredo’s Rusty Masters cut the Bucks’ deficit in half at the 19:19 mark of the third.

Those goals, though, were routine compared to Dixon’s 16:21 into the first and what Pierce almost did early in the second

With the Bees shorthanded two players, two Bucks players converged on the puck in their offensive zone but collided, giving Dixon a breakaway on soft ice that could have contributed to the collision. Dixon converted to open the scoring and score one of the rarer goals in hockey.

It almost became slightly less rare with 17:55 left in the second when Pierce forced a turnover in the Bees’ offensive zone and had his own breakaway with the Bucks down two men. But instead of duplicating Dixon’s goal, Pierce was stopped by John Murray.

In the end, however, that became just a footnote in what would be a strange game for most franchises.

“We were kind of freaking out on the bench when we looked at the clock because it wasn’t running, then the horn went with 4.4 seconds left,” Dixon said. “I think both teams were a little bit confused there.”

That’s just another night around the Bees.

ICING: Tomas Klempa’s goal in the third period extended his point streak to 11 games.

Brian Sandalow covers the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4436 or via email at bsandalow@themonitor.com.

Tuesday’s Game

KILLER BEES 4, BUCKS 3

LAR                           1        0       2    —       3

RGV                           1        0       3    —       4

First period — 1, RGV, Dixon 5 (unassisted) 16:21 (sh.); 2, LAR, Hanson 5 (Pierce, Hau) 17:28 (pp.) Penalties — Bench minor, RGV (too many men --- served by Ischi) 15:40; Boogaard, RGV (spearing double minor) 15:40.

Second period — No goals. Penalties — Boyd, LAR (tripping) 0:38; Styffe, LAR (hooking) 1:19.

Third period —  3, RGV, Lee 18 (Gendur, Mikkelsen) 7:04 (pp.); 4, LAR, Boisvert 5 (unassisted) 16:54; 5, RGV, Klempa 17 (Gendur) 17:09; 6, RGV, Boogaard 4 (Balan) 17:29; 7, LAR, Masters 8 (Pierce, Trimm) 19:19 (pp.) (ea.). Penalties — Bench minor, RGV (too many men --- served by Boogaard) 3:39; Moore, LAR (tripping) 6:29; Klempa, RGV (hooking) 18:43.

Power-play opportunities: Laredo: 2 of 5; RGV: 1 of 3.  

Shots — Laredo: 12-9-13--34; RGV: 11-11-18--40.  

Goalies — Laredo: Ryan Rondeau 6-7-0 (40 shots, 36 saves); RGV: John Murray 8-7-1 (34 shots, 31 saves).

A — 3,388 T — 2:36

Referee — Zac Blasic

Linesmen —  Cory Piche, John Grandt