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Bulls Defeat Barrie 4-2 for Fourth Consecutive Victory
 Shawn Matthias scored once and added an assist to help the Belleville Bulls defeat the Barrie Colts 4-2 Saturday night at the Yardmen Arena.
The Belleville Bulls extended their winning streak to four consecutive games with a 4-2 victory over the Barrie Colts Saturday night at the Yardmen Arena. The Bulls jumped out to a 3-0 lead and held off a mid-game charge from the Colts to skate away with the win. Belleville now enters the final week of play needing two points to crack the century mark for the first time in team history.
It was the Bulls who came out hard to begin the game, firing numerous shots on Colts goaltender Michael Hutchinson. Hutchinson was very strong early on for Barrie, keeping the game scoreless. Belleville was finally able to open the scoring with seven minutes remaining in the opening period on the power play when Nigel Williams blasted a shot past Hutchinson from the high slot. Cory Tanaka and Shawn Lalonde assisted on Williams’ 15th goal of the season. The Bulls continued to press to extend their lead but could not beat Hutchinson while Mike Murphy was also very strong when called upon in goal for Belleville in the opening frame. Shots on goal in the first period were 20-6 Belleville.
Both teams maintained a fast pace during the first half of the middle frame forcing both Murphy and Hutchinson to make several outstanding saves each to keep the score 1-0. The Bulls extended their lead to 2-0 with nine minutes remaining in the second period when Adam Perry took a Shawn Matthias pass and waited for Hutchinson to go down before flipping the puck overtop of the Colts goaltender. Matt Beleskey also assisted on Perry’s 30th goal of the season. Bryan Cameron then put Belleville ahead 3-0 just 46 seconds later when he broke down the wing and fired a shot past Hutchinson to extend his point streak to seven games. Lalonde picked up the lone assist on Cameron’s 38th goal of the season. Cameron now has nine goals and eleven points in his past seven games. Despite falling behind 3-0, the Colts did not quit and fought their way back into the game when the Bulls found themselves in penalty trouble. Former Bull Ryan Berard cut the lead to 3-1 with seven and a half minutes remaining in the period on the power play when he snapped a shot past Murphy after a Colts face-off victory. Barrie then cut the lead to 3-2 on another power play less than three minutes later when Daniel Michalsky tipped a Jaroslav Kruzik point shot past Murphy. Shots on goal in the second period favoured the Colts 12-6.
Despite seeing their lead cut to just a single goal, the Bulls came out and played a very controlled third period, as they dominated puck possession and allowed the Colts very few quality scoring opportunities. Murphy was also very solid when called upon to preserve the victory. Matthias gave the Bulls some insurance with five minutes remaining in the game when he took a P.K. Subban cross-ice pass and snapped a shot past Hutchinson. Geoff Killing also assisted on Matthias’ 30th goal of the season. Shots on goal in the third period were 10-8 Belleville and overall favoured the Bulls 36-26.
Murphy was very solid in goal for the Bulls, stopping 24 shots to earn his 35th victory of the season. Hutchinson was also strong in net for the Colts, making 32 saves in a losing effort. Belleville finished the game one for five on the power play while Barrie scored twice in eight opportunities with the man advantage. The three stars of the game were Williams, Matthias, and Lalonde. With the win, the Bulls improve their record to 46-13-4-2 while Barrie drops to 28-32-3-3 with the loss. The next game for the Bulls is Wednesday night when they wrap up their regular season home schedule by hosting the Oshawa Generals. Game time is 7:15pm at the Yardmen Arena and tickets are available at the Bulls Box Office. Wednesday’s game is sponsored by Telus and will feature the finale of the McDougall Million Dollar Shootout where one fan will have the chance to shoot to win one million dollars.
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