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Bulls Defeat Frontenacs 4-1
 Nick Pageau scored his sixth goal of the season in the Belleville Bulls 4-1 victory over the Kingston Frontenacs Wednesday night at the Yardmen Arena.
The Belleville Bulls scored twice in each of the first and third periods en route to a 4-1 victory over the Kingston Frontenacs Wednesday night at the Yardmen Arena. The win is the Bulls sixth in seven games against Kingston this season, as they maintain their six point lead over the Oshawa Generals for first place in the Eastern Conference.
The Bulls got off to a terrific start, opening the scoring just three minutes into the game on the power play when Nick Pageau fired a low, hard shot from the point that beat Kingston goaltender John Murray just inside the goalpost. Cory Tanaka and Adam Perry assisted Pageau’s sixth goal of the season. Belleville continued to press during the opening stages of the period but could not beat Murray to extend their lead. Kingston was able to tie the score eight minutes into the first period when Kyle Paige beat Bulls goaltender Mike Murphy on a rebound following Frontenacs faceoff win. Despite allowing the equalizing goal, Belleville continued to press, forcing Murray to make several great saves to keep the score tied. The Bulls were finally able to retake the lead on another power play with four and a half minutes remaining in the period when Shawn Matthias one-timed a perfect cross-ice pass from Perry over the shoulder of Murray for what turned out to be the eventual game winning goal. Matt Beleskey also assisted on Matthias’ 26th goal of the season. Shots on goal in the first period were 19-8 Belleville.
The two teams played to a scoreless second period of play despite some good scoring opportunities for each side. Both Murphy and Murray were strong in net for their respective sides, as the score remained 2-1 heading into the final period of play. Shots on goal in the second period favoured the Bulls 12-7.
Andrew Self gave the Bulls some much needed breathing room six minutes into the third period when he broke down the wing and snapped a shot top corner past Murray from the face-off circle. Chris Mifflen earned the lone assist on Self’s 15th goal of the season. Nigel Williams then rounded out the scoring eight and a half minutes into the final frame on a delayed Kingston penalty when his low shot from the boards surprised Murray. Beleskey and Tanaka picked up assists on Williams’ 12th goal of the season. Murphy played extremely well during the third period to keep Kingston off the scoreboard, as he becomes just the fourth goaltender in team history to record 30 wins in a single season. Shots on goal in the third period were 11-10 Belleville and overall favoured the Bulls 42-25.
Murphy played a strong game in goal for Belleville, making 24 saves to earn the victory. Murray was also very good, stopping 38 shots in the loss for Kingston. The Bulls finished the game two for six on the power play while Kingston failed to score in their two opportunities with the man advantage. The three stars of the game were Williams, Self, and Pageau. With the win, the Bulls improve their record to 39-12-4-2 while Kingston falls to 17-36-0-2 with the loss. Belleville will now finish the season series with the Frontenacs on Friday night when they travel to Kingston to open the new K-Rock Centre. On Saturday night, the Bulls return home to host the Sudbury Wolves in an Eastern Conference Championship rematch from last season. Game time is 7:15pm at the Yardmen Arena and tickets are available at the Bulls Box Office. Saturday’s game is sponsored by Acklands-Grainger and will feature a Tim Horton’s Timbits mini game during the second intermission.
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