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Bulls Comeback to Defeat 67’s
 Brendan Taylor had a goal and an assist in the Belleville Bulls 4-3 victory over the Ottawa 67's Wednesday night at the Yardmen Arena.
For the second time this season, the Belleville Bulls scored two unanswered third period goals to erase an Ottawa 67’s lead and defeat their East Division rival at the Yardmen Arena. The Bulls scored twice in just 20 seconds early in the third period to erase a 3-2 deficit and earn their second win of the season against the 67’s.
The two sides played a relatively even first period of play, as both Mike Murphy and Adam Courchaine were strong in goal for their respective sides. The Bulls scored what turned out to be the lone goal of the period with nine minutes remaining in the opening frame when Brendan Taylor’s pass attempt was blocked and deflected right back to him. The Bulls forward then quickly fired the puck past an out of position Courchaine for his third goal of the season. Kyle Tront picked up the lone assist on the goal to earn his first point as a Bull. Belleville had a glorious chance to increase their lead in the final minute of the period but Courchaine made a terrific save on a Matt Beleskey shorthanded breakaway to keep the Bulls lead at 1-0 after twenty minutes of play. Shots on goal in the first period were 13-12 Ottawa.
The Bulls continued to press to begin the second period but Courchaine again stopped a shorthanded breakaway, as he turned aside Cory Tanaka in tight. Belleville was finally able to increase their lead to 2-0 five minutes into the period on the power play when Shawn Matthias wired a shot top corner from the face-off circle. Eric Tangradi and Nick Pageau assisted on Matthias’ team leading 13th goal of the season. Ottawa was quick to bounce back, as they cut the Bulls lead back to a single goal just a minute and a half later when Adam Zamec picked up a loose puck in front on Murphy after a scramble and slid it under the Bulls goaltender. The goal seemed to give the 67’s momentum, as they dominated play for the remainder of the period. Ottawa tied the score on the power play with nine and a half minutes remaining when Jamie McGinn lifted a backhand over Murphy after he had corralled a loose puck following a missed 67’s shot attempt that had bounced off the end boards. Ottawa then took their first lead of the night with 48 seconds remaining in the period when Julien Demers’ point shot hit a body in front of Murphy and deflected into the Bulls net just after a Belleville penalty had expired. Shots on goal in the second period were 19-11 Ottawa, as the 67’s led 3-2 after forty minutes.
Belleville tied the score five minutes into the third period when Tanaka took a Beleskey pass and wired a slapshot top corner from the face-off circle for his second goal in as many games. Tangradi also assisted on Tanaka’s third goal of the season. The Bulls then took the lead on the very next shift when Bryan Cameron fed Andrew Self a perfect pass from behind the net that the overage forward was able to one-time past Courchaine for what turned out to be the eventual game winning goal. Taylor also earned an assist on Self’s second goal of the season. The Bulls were then able to thwart any 67’s attempts to level the score, as both Murphy and the defence were solid over the remainder of the period to preserve the victory. Shots on goal in the third period were 10-10 and overall favoured the 67’s 42-33.
Murphy enjoyed a very strong game in goal for the Bulls, stopping 39 shots to win his career best ninth game of the season. Courchaine also played well, making 29 saves in losing effort for Ottawa. The Bulls power play finished the game one for five while Ottawa scored once in three chances with the man advantage. The three stars of the game were Tanaka, Taylor, and Demers. With the win, the Bulls improve their record to 12-5-1-1 and move to within two points of the Oshawa Generals for first place in the East Division while still holding a game in hand. Ottawa falls to 8-10-0-2 with the loss. The Bulls will now prepare for an important divisional game with the Generals Friday night in Oshawa. The following night, the Guelph Storm will make their lone trip to Belleville this season. Game time is 7:15pm at the Yardmen Arena and tickets are available at the Bulls Box Office.
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