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Bulls Lose 4-2 to Oshawa
 Eric Tangradi scored both Bulls goals in a 4-2 loss to the Oshawa Generals Wednesday night at the Yardmen Arena.
Three unanswered second period goals by the Oshawa Generals were the difference, as they defeated the Belleville Bulls 4-2 Wednesday night at the Yardmen Arena. For the second time this season, Bulls third period comeback fell short, as they drop their second consecutive game against Oshawa at the Yardmen Arena.
The Generals came out flying to begin the game and were rewarded three minutes into the opening period when they capitalized on a Bulls turnover that created an odd man rush. Kory Nagy then fed Tyler Taylor a perfect pass that the Generals forward was able to slide between the pads of Bulls goaltender Mike Murphy for his second goal of the season. Oshawa continued to press, as the Bulls struggled to find their legs early on but Murphy played very well to keep the lead at just one. The Bulls slowly began to take over the game midway through the first period and forced Generals goaltender Jakub Kovar to make several outstanding saves. Belleville was able to tie the score with just under five and a half minutes remaining in the period when Eric Tangradi poked a loose puck past Kovar during a goalmouth scramble. Bryan Cameron and Shawn Matthias assisted on Tangradi’s eighth goal of the season. Both sides pressed during the remainder of a fast paced, end to end period of play but both Murphy and Kovar were strong to keep the score tied heading into the first intermission. Shots on goal in the first period were 17-13 Belleville.
It was the Bulls who got off the good start to the second period but could not beat Kovar with some good early scoring chances. Oshawa then took advantage of their first scoring chance of the middle frame at the six minute mark when Brett Parham wired a terrific shot off the goal post and in as he skated into the Bulls zone. The goal seemed to energize the Generals, as they forced Murphy to make several outstanding saves during the next few minutes. Oshawa did breakthrough with an insurance goal with seven minutes remaining in the period when John Tavares lifted the puck over Murphy’s shoulder for the top of the crease after the Bulls goaltender had made the original save. The Generals then increased their lead to 4-1 with less than two minutes remaining when Tavares won an offensive zone face-off and fed a quick pass to Brett MacLean who wired a low, hard shot past Murphy. Shots on goal in the second period favoured Oshawa 14-12.
The Bulls came out hard to begin the third period to try to get themselves back into the game. Tangradi cut the lead to 4-2 just two minutes into the period when his slapped a rolling puck past Kovar from just inside the blueline for his second goal of the game. Cameron and Matthias again assisted on Tangradi’s ninth goal of the season. Belleville pressed throughout the period for another goal but could not beat Kovar, as the Generals goaltender was outstanding to preserve the victory. Shots on goal in the third period were 12-3 Belleville and overall favoured the Bulls 41-30.
Murphy made 26 saves in a losing effort for the Bulls while Kovar turned aside 39 shots to earn the victory for Oshawa. Despite the two highest ranked power play units in the OHL facing one another, neither side was able to manage a goal with the man advantage. Belleville went scoreless in six tries while Oshawa had three attempts on the power play. It marked the first game this season that the Bulls power play had failed to score. The three stars of the game were Kovar, Tangradi, and Tavares. With the loss, the Bulls record drops to 8-3-0-1 while Oshawa improves to 8-3-0-1, as both teams are currently tied with the Peterborough Petes for first place in the East Division. The Bulls are in action next on Friday night when they travel to Ottawa to face the 67’s. On Saturday night, the Bulls will host the top ranked Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. The Greyhounds have yet to lose a game in regulation this season, so Saturday’s game should be extremely entertaining. Game time on Saturday is 7:15pm at the Yardmen Arena and tickets are available at the Bulls Box Office.
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