The Bees produced an excellent display at The Hive to upset the mid-table Steeldogs in the English Premier Ice Hockey League.

Bees got the perfect start as player-coach Lukas Smital fed James Galazzi from behind the goal and and he fired a first time shot over import netminder Dalibor Sedlar with just 36 seconds on the clock.

Chances came and went at both ends in an evenly contested first period, with Ryan Watt firing wide before Smital saw an effort saved. Meanwhile Bees’ netminder Alex Mettam had to be on his game to deny Ben Morgan.

The game burst into life in the second period and the Steeldogs levelled matters when Lubomir Korhon netted with a quick first time wrist shot on a feed from Jeff Legue.

Moments later, Mettam made a big double save and then had a slice of luck, when a rebound off of the backboards left Tom Squires with most of the net to aim at, but he could only fire the puck wide.

But the visitors did take the lead shortly after as Greg Wood fired home, and they made it 3-1 when Korhon found Squires unmarked and he beat Mettam.

Steeldogs continued to have the better of the contest, but Bees struck a key blow in the final minute of the period, when Radek Hubacek picked up an outlet pass from Sam Waller at the right of the blue line. The forward burst past the defenceman to give himself a one-on-one, and a bullet of a wrist shot hit the net plumb in the middle to leave the Bees trailing 3-2.

And the hosts completely dominated the final period, restricting their opponents to just one even-handed shot in a session of play that resembled a Bees’ powerplay. Vanya Antonov tipped an early shot just past the right hand post, while Matt Towalski and Hubacek both fired wide to the left before Bees got the equaliser. Hubacek in the corner on the left found Matt Foord on the left side of the slot, and the skipper stopped the puck on the forehand, pulled it back to his backhand and fired over Sedlar’s shoulder.

The comeback was completed shortly after when Smital scored the winning goal, picking up the pass from Galazzi and firing a wrister into the top corner that Sedlar didn’t even move for.

The Bees found the going tougher against the high-flying Phantoms the following night. The first period was a scrappy and goalless affair, but the visitors broke the deadlock through Edgars Bebris just before the half hour.

And although the Bees fought bravely, they were unable to beat the Phantoms’ inspired netminder Janis Auzins.

The visitors confirmed the victory when Milan Baranyk scored with less than four minutes remaining.

Bees have two British Challenge Cup games this weekend, hosting Invicta Dynamos on Saturday (6pm), before visiting Chelmsford Chieftains on Sunday (6.30pm).