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Bulls Defeat Frontenacs 3-1 to Win Eleventh Straight Game
Mike Murphy stopped 34 shots to help the Belleville Bulls to a 3-1 victory over the Kingston Frontenacs Sunday afternoon in Kingston.
Two late second period goals by the Belleville Bulls broke a scoreless tie en route to a 3-1 victory over the Kingston Frontenacs Sunday afternoon in Kingston. The win is the Bulls eleventh straight and is their fifth win in six games against the Frontenacs this season.
The two sides played to a scoreless first period, as both Mike Murphy and John Murray were strong in goal for their respective sides. The first period featured a good pace with both the Bulls and Frontenacs generating quality scoring chances. Shots on goal in the first period were 16-8 Belleville.
The second period was very similar to the first, as both teams continued their strong defensive play while Murray and Murphy were very strong when called upon. It was the Bulls who were finally able to open the scoring with just four minutes remaining in the middle frame when Cory Tanaka tipped an Adam Perry shot past Murray for his third goal in the past two games. Andrew Self also assisted on Tanaka’s 10th goal of the season. Belleville then increased their lead to 2-0 with 48 seconds remaining in the period when Matt Beleskey fired a quick shot just inside the post past Murray after taking a perfect Bryan Cameron pass on a two on one rush. Keaton Turkiewicz also assisted on Beleskey’s team leading 30th goal of the season. Shots on goal in the second period were 17-8 Kingston.
The Frontenacs pressed hard to cut into the Bulls lead during the third period but Murphy was very strong to keep Kingston off the scoreboard. Murray also played well to keep the Bulls from extending their lead further. The Frontenacs finally broke the shutout and cut the Belleville lead to a single goal with just two minutes remaining when Nathan Moon beat Murphy with a quick shot after a perfect cross-crease pass from Jesse Brown. Kingston’s attempts to tie the game were then derailed with a late penalty and the Bulls put the game away with a power play goal. Perry rounded out the scoring with just five seconds remaining when he took a pass from Beleskey and made a nice move before firing a backhand past Murray. Tanaka also assisted on Perry’s 20th goal of the season and third in as many games for the Bulls. Shots on goal in the third period were 10-7 Kingston and overall favoured the Frontenacs 35-31.
Murphy enjoyed another terrific start in goal for Belleville, stopping 34 shots to earn his 24th victory of the season. Murphy has now won his last eight starts. Murray was also very good for Kingston, turning aside 28 Bulls shots in a losing effort. Belleville scored on their only power play opportunity in the game while Kingston was scoreless in three chances with the man advantage. With the win, the Bulls improve their record to 31-9-3-2 while the Frontenacs fall to 12-29-0-1 with the loss. The Bulls are now off until Wednesday night when they will play host to the Oshawa Generals in a key East Division match-up. Game time on Wednesday is 7:15pm at the Yardmen Arena and tickets are available at the Bulls Box Office.
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