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Bulls Reach 100 Points with 4-3 Overtime Victory over Oshawa
 P.K. Subban scored in overtime to give the Belleville Bulls a 4-3 victory over the Oshawa Generals Wednesday night at the Yardmen Arena.
The Belleville Bulls reached the 100 point plateau for the first time in franchise history with an exciting 4-3 overtime victory over the Oshawa Generals Wednesday night at the Yardmen Arena. The win gives Belleville a 27-5-1-1 record on home ice this season. Defenceman P.K. Subban scored the game winning goal just over one minute into overtime to give the Bulls the victory.
The Bulls came out very hard to begin the game, forcing Generals goaltender Daryl Borden to make several outstanding saves to keep the game scoreless. Belleville did breakthrough and open the scoring midway through the opening frame when Adam Perry took a Matt Beleskey pass and snapped a shot from the slot between the pads of Borden. Shawn Matthias also assisted on Perry’s 31st goal of the season. The Bulls lead was short-lived, as Oshawa tied the score just 16 seconds later when Brett MacLean fired his own rebound past Mike Murphy for his league leading 60th goal of the season. Belleville retook the lead with seven and a half minutes remaining in the period when Tyler Randell tipped a Nigel Williams point shot past Borden. Stephen Blunden also assisted on Randell’s fourth goal of the season. Once again, Oshawa was quick to respond, tying the score just over a minute later when MacLean chipped a rebound overtop of Murphy for his second goal of the period. The goal seemed to give the Generals so jump, as they pressed for the go ahead goal only to be turned away by some great goaltending from Murphy. Shots on goal in the first period were 18-10 Belleville.
Belleville continued their strong play into the second stanza but could not beat Borden to take the lead during the opening moments of the period. Matthias was finally able to give the Bulls a 3-2 lead on the power play with just over eight minutes remaining in the middle frame when he snapped a shot over the shoulder of Borden from the face-off circle. Following the go ahead goal, the Bulls found themselves in penalty trouble and Oshawa made them pay on a two man advantage with three minutes left in the period when Patrick Asselin was alone at the side of the net to one-time an Eric Regan pass past Murphy to tie the game heading to the third period. Shots on goal in the second period favoured the Bulls 20-8.
Both teams had chances to go ahead in the third period, hitting several goalposts but were unable to score the crucial go ahead goal. The Bulls also tightened up defensively during the final frame, not allowing a shot on goal for nearly the first 14 minutes of the period. Oshawa did have a glorious chance to go ahead when they enjoyed a power play late in the third period but they could not capitalize, as the two sides headed to overtime for the second straight meeting. Shots on goal in the third period were 10-2 Belleville.
After killing off the final 41 seconds of penalty time, it was the Bulls who ended the game when Subban took a pass from Beleskey as he drove to the net before snapping a shot past Borden to give Belleville their fifth overtime victory of the season. Geoff Killing also assisted on Subban’s eighth goal of the season. Shots on goal in overtime were 1-1 and overall favoured the Bulls 49-21.
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Murphy played very well in goal for Belleville, stopping 18 shots to earn his 36th victory of the season. Borden also had a strong game, making 45 saves in a losing effort for the Generals. The Bulls finished the game one for three on the power play while Oshawa scored once in four attempts with the man advantage. The three stars of the game were Subban, Matthias, and MacLean. With the win, Belleville improves their record to 47-13-4-2 while Oshawa moves to 37-16-6-7 with the overtime defeat. The Bulls will now wrap up their regular season schedule with road games in Niagara and Oshawa on Thursday and Friday night. Belleville will then face either Peterborough or Ottawa in the first round of the playoffs. Playoff tickets are currently on sale at the Bulls Box Office. Be sure to continue checking bellevillebulls.com for playoff information as it becomes available. |
Photo: Aaron Bell
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