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Bulls Head into Holiday Break with 5-2 Victory over Niagara
 Chris Mifflen recorded a goal and an assist in the Belleville Bulls 5-2 victory over the Niagara IceDogs Saturday night at the Yardmen Arena.
The Belleville Bulls wrapped up the first half of their season in style with an impressive 5-2 victory over the Niagara IceDogs Saturday night at the Yardmen Arena. The Bulls got an extremely balanced attack in the win with five different goal scorers and 11 different players recording at least one point. Belleville led throughout the game and now enters the holiday break in first place in the Eastern Conference.
The Bulls came out flying to start the game and nearly opened the scoring on an early power play. Belleville did grab the lead four minutes into the opening frame when Matt Beleskey made a big hit to take the puck away from an IceDogs defender before finding Bryan Cameron alone in front of Niagara goaltender Adrian Volpe. Cameron was able to put a rebound past Volpe for his 17th goal of the season. The Bulls increased their lead to 2-0 nine minutes into the first period when Andrew Self banged him own rebound past Volpe on a wraparound. Chris Mifflen and Stephen Johnston assisted on Self’s eighth goal of the season. The IceDogs did have their chances in the first period but were turned aside by Bulls goaltender Mike Murphy who was very strong in the opening twenty minutes. Stephen Blunden also made a terrific defensive play to deflect a Michael Swift shot that was heading towards an open net to help keep the IceDogs off the scoreboard. Shots on goal in the first period were 16-9 Belleville.
Kyle Tront gave the Bulls a 3-0 lead three and half minutes into the second period when he made a nice move to come off the side boards and snap a shot past Volpe. Blunden and Tyler Randell earned assists on Tront’s second goal of the season. The Bulls continued to press throughout the second period and forced Volpe to make several outstanding saves to keep the game close. Keaton Turkiewicz increased the Belleville lead to 4-0 nine minutes into the second period when he fired a laser shot, top corner past Volpe from the slot. Geoff Killing earned the lone assist on Turkiewicz’s 14th goal of the season. The Bulls then made it 5-0 with three minutes remaining in the period when Chris Mifflen picked up the puck in his own zone and skated into IceDogs territory before firing a slapshot that just squeezed past Volpe. Murphy earned the lone assist on Mifflen’s first goal as a Bull. The assist was Murphy’s first career OHL point. Shots on goal in the second period were 16-8 in favour of the Bulls.
Niagara was able to get on the scoreboard four minutes into the third period while enjoying a two man power play advantage when Luca Caputi one-timed a cross-ice pass past Murphy from the side of the Bulls net. Neither side generated much offence in the final period but both Murphy and Volpe were strong when called upon. The IceDogs rounded out the scoring with two and a half minutes remaining in the game when Jordan Foreman collected his own rebound and beat Murphy with a shot that the Bulls goaltender could only get a piece of. Shots on goal in the third period were 9-8 Niagara but overall favoured the Bulls 40-26.
Murphy played another strong game in net for the Bulls, stopping 24 shots to earn his 16th victory of the season. Volpe made 35 stops in a losing effort for Niagara. The Bulls power play continued to struggle this weekend, failing to score in five attempts while Niagara converted once in three chances with the man advantage. The Bulls power play has not scored in its last 20 opportunities. The three stars of the game were Mifflen, Self, and Turkiewicz. With the win, the Bulls improve their record to 20-8-3-2 while Niagara falls to 18-15-0-1 with the loss. The Bulls will now enjoy some time off before returning for the second half of the season after Christmas. The next game for Belleville will be December 28 in Ottawa before returning home the following night to host the Erie Otters. Game time on Saturday, December 29 is 7:15pm at the Yardmen Arena and tickets are available at the Bulls Box Office.
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