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Bulls Unable to Recover from Poor Second Period in 7-3 Loss to Kingston
 Matt Beleskey had three assists in a losing effort, as the Belleville Bulls lost 7-3 to the Kingston Frontenacs Wednesday night at the Yardmen Arena.
The Belleville Bulls suffered their worst defeat of the season Wednesday night, as the Kingston Frontenacs scored three unanswered second period goals in a span of less than four minutes en route to a 7-3 victory at the Yardmen Arena. The Bulls were unable to stop the trio of Cory Emmerton, Nathan Moon, and Matthew Kang who combined for six goals and fourteen points. The loss in Belleville’s first in five games against the Frontenacs this season.
The Frontenacs got off to a terrific start, opening the scoring just a minute and a half into the first period when Emmerton jumped on a Bulls turnover and fed a cross-ice pass to Moon, who quickly one-timed the puck past goaltender Mike Murphy from the side of the goal. Belleville quickly roared back with two goals in just nine seconds just past the five minute mark of the period to take the lead. P.K. Subban tied the score with a point shot that went between the pads of a screened Jason Guy in the Kingston net. Matt Beleskey and Keaton Turkiewicz assisted on Subban’s fifth goal of the season. The Bulls then took their only lead of the game off the ensuing face-off when Turkiewicz fired a rebound from a Beleskey shot into an empty side of goal for his 11th goal of the year. Shawn Matthias also assisted on the goal. The Frontenacs tied the score midway through the opening frame on the power play when Emmerton fired a beautiful shot just inside the post past Murphy. Both teams pressed for the go ahead goal during the second half of the period but both Murphy and Guy made some excellent saves to keep the game tied 2-2. Shots on goal in the first period were 17-11 Belleville.
Kingston retook the lead just before the five minute mark of the second period when Emmerton fired the puck past a down and out Murphy during a goalmouth scramble, after the Bulls goaltender had made an outstanding save on the original shot. Following the goal, Murphy was replaced in the Bulls net by Edward Pasquale. The Frontenacs increased their lead to 4-2 just over a minute later on the first shot Pasquale faced when Bobby Mignardi snapped a shot between the pads of the Bulls goaltender from the slot. Kang then made it 5-2 eight and a half minutes into the period on the power play when he was left alone at the side of the Bulls net to lift the puck over Pasquale. Belleville did press to get back into the game throughout the remainder of the second but they could not beat Guy, as Kingston led 5-2 heading into the final twenty minutes of play. Shots on goal in the second period favoured Belleville 16-11.
Murphy returned to the Bulls net to begin the third period and Belleville quickly pulled to within two goals just two minutes into the period when Nick Pageau one-timed a Beleskey pass over the shoulder of Guy on an odd man rush. Subban also assisted on Pageau’s third goal of the season. The Bulls did have a few chances to cut into the lead further during the period but the Frontenacs did do a nice job to limit those opportunities and Guy made some excellent saves when called upon. Kingston iced the victory with just under four minutes remaining in the game with their third power play goal of the night when Emmerton made a terrific deke on a Frontenacs two on one rush before sliding the puck past Murphy to complete his hat-trick. Emmerton then rounded out the scoring with his fourth goal of the game with just one minute remaining when he one-timed a Kang pass from behind the net over the shoulder of Murphy. Emmerton finished the game with four goals and six points while Moon and Kang each had a goal and three assists. Shots on goal in the third period were 10-6 Belleville and overall favoured the Bulls 43-28.
Murphy and Pasquale split the Bulls goaltending duties in the loss, making 16 and 5 saves respectively. Guy was very strong in goal for Kingston, stopping 40 shots to earn the win. Specialty teams played a big factor in the game, as Kingston was a perfect three for three on the power play while the Bulls were scoreless in three chances of their own with the man advantage. The three stars of the game were Emmerton, Moon, and Beleskey. With the loss, the Bulls record drops to 10-4-1-1, as they remain one point behind the Oshawa Generals for first place in the East Division while still holding a game in hand. Kingston improves to 5-11-0-1 with the victory. Belleville will not have much time to dwell on the loss, as they travel to Peterborough on Thursday to face the Petes. On Saturday night, the Bulls return home to host the OHL leading Kitchener Rangers in what should be an exciting match-up. Game time is 7:15pm at the Yardmen Arena and tickets for the game are available at the Bulls Box Office. Fans are reminded to wear red to Saturday’s game in support of ‘Armed Forces Appreciation Night.’
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