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Bulls Defeat Generals 11-0 to Win Eastern Conference Championship
The Belleville Bulls celebrate after winning the 2008 Eastern Conference Championship.
Photo: Aaron Bell
The Belleville Bulls are the 2007-2008 OHL Eastern Conference Champions following an emphatic 11-0 victory over the Oshawa Generals Wednesday night at the Yardmen Arena. The win gives the Bulls a 4-1 series victory, as they will now face the Kitchener Rangers for the OHL Championship. The win also gives Belleville a spot in the 2008 Memorial Cup in Kitchener. It marks the third time in team history that the Bulls have reached OHL Finals and will mark their second appearance in the Memorial Cup.
The Bulls got off to a terrific start, opening the scoring just four and a half minutes into the first period when Cory Tanaka took a pass from Bryan Cameron and lifted the puck overtop of Generals goaltender Daryl Borden. Eric Tangradi also assisted on Tanaka’s sixth goal of the playoffs. Belleville continued to press throughout the first period, forcing Borden to make several great stops to keep the game close. Adam Perry put the Bulls ahead 2-0 with two and a half minutes remaining in the period on the power play when he one-timed a pass from P.K. Subban past Borden from the side of the Oshawa net. Jan Mursak also assisted on Perry’s fifth goal of the playoffs. Perry then scored his second power play goal of the period with just 27 seconds remaining in the opening frame when he one-timed a Cameron pass past Borden. Subban also assisted on Perry’s sixth goal of the playoffs. Shots on goal in the first period were 11-10 Belleville, as Bulls goaltender Mike Murphy was very solid in the opening stanza to keep Oshawa off the scoreboard.
Shawn Lalonde extended the Bulls lead to 4-0 just over two minutes into the second period when he fired a rebound past Borden after the Generals goaltender had stopped Tanaka on the original shot. Cameron also picked up an assist on Lalonde’s second goal of the series. Oshawa continued to run into penalty trouble during the second period and the Bulls power play made them pay. Mursak put Belleville ahead 5-0 seven and a half minutes into the period when he one-timed a shot past Borden from the face-off circle. Perry and Matt Beleskey assisted on Mursak’s eighth goal of the playoffs. The assist extended Beleskey’s point streak to 13 games. Beleskey scored Belleville’s fourth power play goal of the game midway through the period when he snapped a shot past Borden from the slot. Perry and Nigel Williams assisted on Beleskey’s sixth goal of the playoffs. Keaton Turkiewicz put the Bulls ahead 7-0 with five and a half minutes remaining in the period when he took a pass from Andrew Self and snapped a shot between the pads of Borden. Murphy also assisted on the goal to pick up his second point of the series. Beleskey then added his second goal of the period just over two minutes later when he one-timed a pass from Musak past Borden from the high slot. Geoff Killing also assisted on Beleskey’s seventh goal of the playoffs. Shots on goal in the second period were 17-10 in favour of the Bulls, as they led 8-0 heading into the final twenty minutes of play.
Beleskey completed his hat-trick nine and a half minutes into the third period when he jumped on a Generals turnover before skating in alone on Borden and beating the Oshawa goaltender with a pretty move for his eighth goal of the playoffs. Self then scored his fifth goal of the playoffs two minutes later on the power play when he batted a rebound from a Williams point shot past Borden. Stephen Johnston also assisted on the goal. Stephen Blunden rounded out the scoring on the power play with five and a half minutes remaining in the game when he picked up a loose puck in the slot and fired a quick shot past Borden. Turkiewicz and Killing assisted on Blunden’s first goal of the playoffs. Murphy continued his solid play throughout the game to earn his first career playoff shutout. Shots on goal in the third period were 19-8 Belleville and overall favoured the Bulls 47-28.
Murphy was excellent in goal for Belleville, stopping all 28 shots he faced to earn the victory and shutout while Borden made 36 saves in a losing effort for Oshawa. The Bulls finished the game a sensational six for thirteen on the power play while the Generals failed to convert in three chances with the man advantage. The three stars of the game were Beleskey, Perry, and Murphy. The Bulls will now have a few days off before beginning their OHL Championship Series with the Kitchener Rangers. Be sure to continue checking bellevillebulls.com playoff scheduling information when it becomes available. Tickets for the OHL Championship will go on sale on Thursday morning at 10:00am at the Bulls Box Office.
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