SWINDON Wildcats won a dramatic clash with the Bracknell Bees at the Link Centre, triumphing on penalty shots after a pulsating 5-5 draw.

A day after taking Elite League-bound Milton Keynes Lightning to overtime on the road, Cats were plunged into a shoot-out for the second game in a row but this time, they claimed maximum points, winning 2-1 after 65 gruelling minutes of play.

Things didn’t start as planned for the Wildcats as the visitors surged into an early 2-0 lead, Carl Thompson converting from close-range before Alex Barker clinically finished off Luka Basic’s pass across the face of goal.

Bracknell’s second strike sparked chief Nell to call an early time out and even a five-on-three situation couldn’t provide any early respite for the hosts as their opponents continued to hassle Cats across the ice.

However, with 8:43 of the first period remaining, Swindon clawed their way back into the contest with a power play goal, Robin Kovar lashing home a long-range effort, which produced a sumptuous ping as it cracked into the back of the net.

The Bees continued to prove a tough nut to crack but with just over a minute to go until the first period break, Tomasz Malasinski tied things up with a moment of individual brilliance.

The Polish ace gained possession of the puck in a promising position and despite first appearing off-balance, he span full circle before bamboozling netminder Alex Mettam with a flicked effort that nestled in the goal to tie things up at 2-2.

However, the Wildcats had the stuffing knocked out of them once again midway through the second period as they lost possession high up the ice, allowing Bracknell to break two-on-one.

James Galazzi teed up Barker, who was denied by Lyle, but the former was on-hand to tuck away the rebound and make it 3-2 to the visitors.

However, they managed to respond in timely fashion this time, with Max Birbraer and Jonas Hoog combining to tee-up D-man Stevie Whitfield for the leveller.

With 8:19 remaining, proceedings were brought to a halt as Kyle Smith and Galazzi engaged in a bloody scrap in the centre of the ice, with the Bracknell man forced to head straight to the dressing room after being left with a nasty head wound.

When the action resumed, the hosts got themselves ahead for the first time on the night in a flash, Kovar stroking a superb strike over the shoulder of goalie Mettam and into the top corner of the net to make it 4-3 but the pendulum swung straight back the other way as Shaun Thompson zipped forward and fired home past Lyle to tie things up again.

Bracknell then almost regained the lead with a superb piece of invention, Olegs Lascekno knocking an aerial puck just wide with a cushioned mid-air strike while at the other end, Hoog saw an effort ping back off the inside of the goal-frame.

In the third, the Bees put themselves in the ascendancy once again with a smart team move, Basic touching the puck forward for Shaun Thompson to tap home his team’s fifth of the match.

From there on, the visitors set about putting Swindon in a stranglehold but with 6:42 to go, Toms Rutkis came to the fore and fired home at the second attempt after seeing his initial strike saved by Mettam.

Bracknell had Josh Tetlow ejected from the game in the dying stages of regulation time for butt-ending, handing Cats a late man advantage.

However, the Bees held firm to force overtime and passions boiled over again with just seconds of the third period remaining, Birbraer getting into a fight with Harvey Stead after the former Swindon man took umbrage with a challenge on goalie Mettam.

In the early stages of the added period, with Bracknell playing with just three men as a result of Tetlow’s earlier ejection, Ben Nethersell smacked a shot against the goal-frame, but there was to be no winning goal before overtime elapsed, with the contest decided in a shoot-out.

Lyle saved from Barker and David Gaborcik while Hoog and Kovar notched past Mettam to hand the Wildcats victory.