BASINGSTOKE, UK: Bison netminder Dean Skinns recorded his seventh shut-out for the Herd as they beat the Bracknell Bees 4-0 last weekend.
This moves him level with Canadian netminder Curtis Cruickshank as the shut-out kings of the Herd.
Cruickshank were achieved between 2003-2008, while Skinns;’ feat has taken just the last two seasons and he certainly took the sting out of the Bees as he turned away all 20 shots he faced to record his second blank of the current campaign.
Last season the goalie set a new club record of five shut-outs in one season and also the only Bison goalie to have also shut-out the Herd when he was playing for Swindon
“It is always nice to get a shut-out, but the defense deserve just as much credit as me,” said netminder Dean Skinns.
Bracknell just could not find a way past him and they did not even ping the pipework as the Bison goalie turned away everything they fired at him.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the ice goals from Joe Greener, Ciaran Long, Joe Rand and Andy Melachrino made sure of the win.
The following night in Manchester, Bison lost in a penalty-shoot for the second time running at Altrincham and again by a 4-3 scoreline.
Michal Psurny was the only shooter to hit the target out of the five taken as this league series ended with three home wins apiece.
It was a really tight game with each period drawn 1-1 as the Bison came from behind three times.
The Phoenix goals were scored by Frankie Bakrlik, Psurny and Bobby Chamberlain.
The Herd equalizers came from Rand, Aaron Connolly and Greener.
This weekend the Bison will be looking to extend their home winning streak to six games when they entertain the Sheffield Steeldogs.
At present the series is tied at 2-2 with Basingstoke having two home games left to play and they beat Sheffield on their last visit.
Contact the author Graham.Merry@Prohockeynews.
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