Jan Bendik and captain Matt Foord were also on target at the Hive, with the result helping the hosts move to within seven points of their closest rivals at the foot of the EPIHL table.

Although still without injured import forward Radek Hubacek, Bees started the contest brightly, with Matt Towalski going close with a shot from out on the left before Pavel Strycek could only steer an effort wide having cleverly worked the puck around the net.

Scott Spearing then saw an effort pushed away by MK netminder Jordan Hedley as the home side continued to create all the early chances.

However, a mistake by Jordan Gregory almost proved costly moments later. Robbed of possession in the neutral zone by Marek Curilla, the forward burst forward, but with only Tom Annetts to beat, the player dragged his effort wide of the ironwork.

And Bees were to take full advantage of the miss.

With Grant McPherson sitting out a two-minute slashing penalty, Bracknell nudged themselves ahead on the resulting powerplay, where player-coach Lukas Smital sprayed a pass from the left to fellow countryman Bendik, who took a touch before firing high past Hedley on 16:30.

Yet they were not in front for long, as a now full-strength Lightning needed only 32 seconds to tie up the scoring.

The equaliser came from Jordan Cownie, who found himself in the right place at the right time to net unmarked at the far post after Annetts had kept out Blas Emersic’s initial effort from range.

Both teams continued to trade chances in the second session with Bendik, capitalising on a slip, forcing Hedley into an early save, but opposite number Annetts also had to be at his best to thwart Adam Carr from point-blank range following a swift MK counter attack.

Antonov and opponent Milan Kostourek both chanced their luck in front of goal unsuccessfully before Foord failed to provide the necessary conviction when attempting to meet a pass from out on the right wing.

It was becoming evident something special would be required to break the stalemate, and that duly arrived in the 39th minute.

Good work between Bendik and Spearing resulted in Antonov receiving the puck down the inside left channel. Having ghosted past his marker, the Great Britain Under-20 international decked a shot before firing across Hedley into the top right-hand corner.

It was a lead Bees would hold going into the third stanza, but it was again surrendered too quickly.

Just a minute and 15 seconds of the period had been played when Lewis Hook had the lamp lit at the second attempt, slotting home after the puck fell kindly to the player following an initial stop by Annetts.

With the momentum now appearing to shift in favour of the Buckinghamshire side, Mark Curilla had two quick-fire chances to put the visitors in front, but failed to convert either chance at the far post.

For a side enduring a nine-game losing streak, it could be argued Bees have been devoid of their fair share of luck in recent weeks.

A good chunk of that, however, was to arrive when Antonov provided the deftest of touches to divert Strycek’s powerful drive beyond a stranded Hedley on 46 minutes to regain the lead for the hosts.

They then enjoyed another slice of good fortune when a combination of the MK keeper and the pipework resulted in the puck trickling over the line to finish off a fine Bracknell move down the right.

Foord claimed to have provided the finishing touch, but such suggestions appeared inconclusive.

Boasting a two-goal advantage and, with less than five minutes left on the clock, the task now for Bees was to see the game out.

A hooking call on Spearing, though, allowed MK to make the numerical advantage count, with Curilla flashing a fine shot from distance through a clutch of players on the powerplay from outside the blueline past Annetts to set up tense finish.

Lightning duly called a timeout and then sacrificed Hedley for the extra skater as they pushed for an equaliser which would send the game into overtime.

This left the hosts, unsurprisingly, camped in their own end zone, but with the away side failing to muster any real chance of note in the final few seconds, Bees held out to record a deserved – if not welcome – victory.