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Bulls Extremely Impressive in Season Opening Victory
 Shawn Matthias had five points in the Belleville Bulls season opening 8-1 victory over the Kingston Frontenacs Friday night in Kingston.
The Belleville Bulls got their 2007-2008 season off to a terrific start on Friday night with an 8-1 victory over the Kingston Frontenacs in Kingston. The Bulls dominated throughout and were extremely strong in all aspects of the game. The Bulls power play which struggled mightily during the preseason was dominant thanks in large part to an influx of players returning from NHL camps.
The Bulls skated extremely well throughout the opening stages of the first period but were turned aside by some excellent goaltending from Frontenacs goaltender Jason Guy. Belleville was able to open the scoring with eight minutes remaining in the period on the power play when Shawn Matthias was able to grab a rebound and fire a quick shot short side past Guy. Keaton Turkiewicz and P.K. Subban earned assists on the goal. Just over two minutes later, the Bulls power play struck again when Subban stepped into a cannon slap shot from the point that beat Guy. Turkiewicz and Matthias assisted on the goal. Shots on goal in the first period were 13-8 Belleville, as they led 2-0 after twenty minutes of play.
Matthias scored his second goal of the game six minutes into the second period to increase the Bulls lead to 3-0 when he tipped a Matt Beleskey shot past Guy. Paul Cianfrini also assisted on the goal. The Frontenacs did have more jump in the second period but were stymied by some strong goaltending from Mike Murphy in the Bulls goal. Belleville increased their lead to 4-0 with seven minutes remaining in the period when Geoff Killing hit Bryan Cameron with a perfect breakaway pass just after he had stepped out of the penalty box. Cameron broke in all alone on Guy and made a pretty deke before sliding the puck past the Kingston goaltender. Cianfrini also assisted on the goal. Beleskey gave the Bulls a 5-0 lead with five minutes left in the middle frame when his point shot hit a Frontenac defender and deflected past Guy while Belleville enjoyed a two man power play advantage. Matthias and Cameron assisted on the goal. The Bulls led 5-0 after two periods of play despite being out-shot 15-8 by Kingston in the middle frame.
The Bulls continued their dominance in the third period and increased their advantage to 6-0 midway through the final frame when Cameron tipped home a beautiful pass from Eric Tangradi as he drove to the Frontenacs net for his second goal of the game. Cory Tanaka also assisted on the goal. Less than two minutes later, the Bulls went ahead 7-0 on another power play when first round pick Tyler Randell was able to bang a loose puck in the crease past Guy for his first OHL goal. Brendan Taylor and Matthew Tipoff assisted on the goal. The Frontenacs were finally able to break the shutout with less than seven minutes remaining in the game when rookie Andris Dzerins beat Murphy with a quick wraparound. Beleskey then rounded out the scoring just 40 seconds later when his pass hit a Kingston player and deflected past Guy. Matthias earned his fifth point of the game on Beleskey’s second goal. Shots on goal in the third period were 12-11 Belleville but overall favoured Kingston 34-33. However, shots were not indicative of the game, as the Bulls clearly had the better scoring opportunities.
Murphy was very strong in goal for the Bulls when called upon making 33 saves to earn his first victory of the season. Guy did not receive much help in goal for Kingston and made 25 stops in a losing effort. The Bulls power play was outstanding, finishing four for six while Kingston failed to score in four chances with the man advantage. The three stars of the game were Matthias, Beleskey, and Cameron, all of whom had two goals in the victory. The Bulls will now look to complete a perfect opening weekend when they play host to the Oshawa Generals on Saturday night. Game time is 7:15pm and tickets are available at the Bulls Box Office.
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