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Bulls Rally to Defeat 67’s 3-2
 Shawn Matthias had two goals and an assist to lead the Belleville Bulls to a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa 67's Wednesday night at the Yardmen Arena.
Two unanswered third period goals lifted the Belleville Bulls to a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa 67’s Wednesday night at the Yardmen Arena. The Bulls have dominated their opponents in the third period at home thus far this season, outscoring them 15-2 in six games. The win increases the Bulls lead in the East Division to two points over the Oshawa Generals.
The two sides played to an even first period of play in which quality scoring chances were limited. The game featured an extremely physical tone not seen in most games this season. Both Mike Murphy and Adam Courchaine were strong in goal for their respective sides when called upon to keep the game scoreless after one period of play. Shots on goal in the first period were 9-8 Belleville.
Ottawa opened the scoring just under four minutes into the second period on the power play when 67’s first round pick Michael Latta was able to slide a rebound between the pads of Murphy for his sixth goal of the season. The Bulls were able to tie the score with a power play goal of their own eight and a half minutes into the period when Shawn Matthias used a 67’s defender as a screen and wired a wrist shot from the faceoff circle past Courchaine. Matt Beleskey and P.K. Subban earned assists on Matthias’ seventh goal of the season. The tie game was short-lived however, as the 67’s retook the lead just 51 seconds later when Matthieu Methot walked into the Bulls zone and ripped a hard wrist shot top corner past Murphy. The 67’s pressed for an insurance goal during the late stages of the second period but could not beat Murphy, as the game remained 2-1 heading to the third period. Shots on goal in the period favoured the 67’s 14-8.
The Bulls came out hard to begin the third period, looking for the equalizing goal, forcing Courchaine to make several outstanding stops to keep his team in the lead. The Bulls offence finally broke through on the power play with just over eight minutes remaining when a 67’s clearing attempt deflected off Eric Tangradi and went straight to Matthias in front of the Ottawa goal. Matthias then made a quick pass to Bryan Cameron who put the puck past Courchaine after being stopped by the 67’s goaltender on his first attempt. Belleville took their only lead of the night with five minutes remaining when Matthias beat Courchaine with a quick shot after receiving a terrific pass from Tyler Randell. Chris Mifflen also assisted on Matthias’ team leading eighth goal of the season. The Bulls were then able to hold on for the rest of the third period for the win, thanks in large part to some outstanding goaltending from Murphy. Shots on goal in the third period were 13-8 Belleville and overall finished tied 30-30.
Murphy enjoyed another great game in goal for the Bulls stopping 28 shots to earn his sixth victory of the season while Courchaine was also strong, making 27 saves in a losing effort. The Bulls power play remained hot, scoring twice in seven chances while Ottawa scored one in opportunities with the man advantage. The three stars of the game were Matthias, Cameron, and Julien Demers who had two assists in the loss for Ottawa. With the win, the Bulls record improves to 7-1-0-1 while Ottawa drops to 5-4-0-2 with the defeat. The Bulls are in action next when they travel to Sault Ste. Marie to face the Greyhounds. The Greyhounds are currently rated as the CHL’s number one team and have yet to lose in regulation this season. On Saturday night, Belleville is in Sudbury to face the Wolves in an Eastern Conference Championship rematch from last season. Both games begin at 7:30pm and can be heard on CJBQ with Jack Miller. The Bulls next home game is Wednesday, October 24 when they host the Oshawa Generals. Game time is 7:15pm at the Yardmen Arena and tickets for the game are available at the Bulls Box Office.
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