MANCHESTER Phoenix coach Tony Hand praised the way his team responded from defeat at Swindon Wildcats to record their biggest win of the season at home to Bracknell Bees on Sunday night.

A near capacity crowd at the Altrincham Ice Dome saw the Phoenix smash seven goals past the beleaguered Bees without reply to erase the memory of Saturday's 4-2 defeat in Swindon.

Hand said: “The guys bounced back well after Saturday night’s defeat and I thought we played well throughout.

"Now we have next weekend off to re-charge the batteries before two tough games against Peterborough and Milton Keynes.”

The home side got on the board courtesy of a powerplay goal from James Archer in the fifth minute, but despite a total of 23 shots in the first period, there was only 12 seconds left on the clock when the second goal finally arrived.

Again, it came via another powerplay marker from Czech forward Frantisek Bakrlik.

The second period continued in a similar vein with Bakrlik grabbing his second of the night before compatriot Robin Kovar quickly added a fourth to make it 4-0 after 40 minutes.

Phoenix kept up the pressure in the final period, with Kovar scoring his second and Luke Boothroyd and player/coach Hand rounding off the scoring.

Goaltender Declan Ryan also claimed Phoenix’s first league shut-out of the season.

Hand and Bakrlik were also on target in Saturday night's defeat.

The Phoenix twice took the lead to go into the final period 2-1 up, but after Bakrlik was given a game penalty for high sticks the home side eventually got on top to hit three goals in the closing stages.

Phoenix are next in action a week on Sunday when they welcome the Milton Keynes Lightning to the Ice Dome for a 5.30pm faceoff.