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Bulls Shutout Attack 6-0 to Earn Third Consecutive Victory
 Mike Murphy stopped all 33 shots he faced to earn his first career OHL shutout in a 6-0 Belleville Bulls victory over the Owen Sound Attack Saturday night at the Yardmen Arena.
Mike Murphy stopped 33 shots to earn his first career OHL shutout to help pace the Belleville Bulls to an impressive 6-0 victory over the Owen Sound Attack Saturday night at the Yardmen Arena. The Bulls scored twice in each period, as they complete a perfect week with three wins and move back into first place in the East Division. Belleville outscored their opposition 16-5 in three victories this week.
The Bulls got off to an outstanding start, opening the scoring just two minutes into the first period when Bryan Cameron fired a rebound past Attack goaltender David Davenport after having his first chance stopped. Andrew Self and Cory Tanaka earned assists on Cameron’s 14th goal of the season. Following the goal, stuffed animals rained down on the Yardmen Arena ice for the Zellers Teddy Bear Toss. A total of 40 bags of stuffed animals were collected. Following a brief delay to clear to ice surface, Belleville’s quick start continued, as they forced Davenport to make several outstanding saves in the opening moments of the period. The Bulls were able to increase their lead to 2-0 nine minutes into the period when Tanaka fired a loose puck overtop of Davenport from the top of the crease. Self and Cameron earned assists on Tanaka fifth goal of the season. The Attack were able to pick up their play during the second half of the opening frame, but Murphy was very solid to keep the Bulls lead at 2-0 heading into the first intermission. Shots on goal in the first period were 15-7 Belleville.
Owen Sound continued to press during the opening stages of the second period, but again, Murphy was very strong to keep Belleville’s lead at two goals. The Bulls increased their lead to 3-0 with just over six and a half minutes remaining in the period when Stephen Blunden found Kyle Tront alone in front of the Attack net with a nice pass. Tront then made a pretty deke before sliding the puck past Davenport for his first goal as a Bull. Eric Tangradi also assisted on the goal. Shawn Matthias gave the Bulls a 4-0 lead just 20 seconds later when he one-timed a Matt Beleskey pass in front of Davenport after the Bulls Captain had stolen the puck from an Attack defender. Shots on goal in the second period favoured the Attack 15-10 but Belleville led 4-0 heading into the final twenty minutes of play.
The Bulls increased their lead to 5-0 six minutes into the third period on the power play when Matthias jammed a puck past Davenport from the side of the net for his second goal of the game. Tangradi earned the lone assist on Matthias’ 19th goal of the season. Murphy continued to play well in net for the Bulls throughout the final period while the Belleville defence was also solid to preserve the shutout. Cameron rounded out the scoring with just over two minutes remaining in the game when he took a Tanaka pass and snapped a high shot past Davenport from the slot. Self also assisted on Cameron’s second goal of the game and 15th of the season. The line of Tanaka, Self, and Cameron combined for three goals and nine points in the win. Shots on goal in the third period were 11-8 Owen Sound and overall finished 33-33.
Murphy was outstanding in goal for the Bulls, stopping all 33 shots he faced to earn his 15th victory of the season while Davenport made 27 saves in a losing effort for the Attack. Belleville finished the game a strong two for five on the power play while holding Owen Sound scoreless in five attempts with the man advantage. The three stars of the game were Murphy, Cameron, and Tanaka. With the win, the Bulls improve their record to 19-8-2-1 and move one point ahead of the Oshawa Generals for first place in the Eastern Conference. Owen Sound drops to 12-17-2-0 with the loss. The Bulls will wrap up the first half of their schedule next week with three more games. On Wednesday, the Bulls will play host to the Ottawa 67’s before a home and home with the Niagara Ice Dogs Thursday in St. Catharines and Saturday at the Yardmen Arena. Game time on both Wednesday and Saturday night is 7:15pm at the Yardmen Arena and tickets for each game are available at the Bulls Box Office.
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