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Poor Start Costs Bulls in 6-4 Loss to London
 P.K. Subban had two assists in the Belleville Bulls 6-4 loss to the London Knights Friday night in London.
One night after a poor finish to a game cost the Belleville Bulls, it was a bad start that hurt them in a 6-4 loss to the London Knights Friday night in London. The Knights scored five times in the first period and enjoyed two four goal leads in the opening frame. The Bulls slowly made a comeback throughout the remainder of the game but it was not enough, as they lose their third consecutive road game for the first time this season.
It was the Knights who got off to a terrific start, opening the scoring just two minutes into the game when Justin Taylor beat Bulls goaltender Mike Murphy with a high, hard shot from the wing. London increased their lead to 2-0 less than three minutes later when Patrick Maroon wired a slapshot off the goalpost and into the net from the face-off circle. London kept pressing and extended their lead to 3-0 on the power play with nine minutes remaining in the opening frame when Maroon was left alone at the side of the net to one-time a perfect cross-ice pass from Sean O’Connor past Murphy. Murphy was then replaced in the Bulls goal by Parker VanBuskirk. The goaltending change did not work, as the Knights scored their second power play goal of the period less than three minutes later when Phil Varone beat VanBuskirk with a high, hard shot from the slot. The Bulls were finally able to reply just over a minute later when Keaton Turkiewicz took an Andrew Self pass from behind the net and one-timed a hard shot past Knights goaltender Jhase Sniderman for his 20th goal of the season. Lonon quickly restored their four goal advantage less than two minutes later when Akim Aliu beat VanBuskirk with a hard shot from the slot. Belleville was able to cut the Knights lead back to a single goal with just over a minute and a half remaining in the period when Matt Beleskey one-timed an Adam Perry pass from behind the net past Sniderman. P.K. Subban also assisted on Beleskey’s team leading 34th goal of the season. Shots on goal in the first period were 18-11 London.
Murphy was back in the Bulls goal to begin the second period and made an outstanding breakaway save on Taylor in the opening moments of the middle frame while Belleville was on a power play keep the deficit at 5-2. The Bulls then pulled to within two goals on the same power play when Jan Mursak completed a pretty three way passing play with Subban and Perry by chipping the puck past Sniderman at the side of the Knights net for his 11th goal of the season. The Bulls pressed during the middle frame to cut into the lead further but Sniderman was excellent to keep the score 5-3 heading into the final twenty minutes of play. Shots on goal in the second period favoured the Bulls 12-10.
The Bulls continued to press throughout the early stages of the third period but could not beat Sniderman. Murphy also settled down from his difficult start to the game and was very strong over the final two periods. Belleville had a glorious chance to cut into the lead on a lengthy two man power play advantage but could not beat Sniderman, as the score remained 5-3 into the latter stages of the final period. The Bulls were finally able to pull within a single goal with just over two minutes remaining while shorthanded when Cory Tanaka took a perfect Chris Mifflen pass and fired a quick shot over the shoulder of Sniderman. Bryan Cameron also assisted on Tanaka’s 11th goal of the season. Belleville pressed in the final couple minutes for the equalizing goal but could not beat Sniderman. The Knights rounded out the scoring when Kevin Montgomery fired the puck into the empty net from his blueline with 41 seconds remaining in the game. Shots on goal in the third period were 12-6 Belleville and overall favoured the Bulls 35-34.
Murphy and VanBuskirk made 25 and 3 saves respectively in a losing effort for the Bulls. Sniderman stopped 31 Belleville shots in the win for London. The Bulls finished the game one for six on the power play while London converted twice in four opportunities with the man advantage. Belleville also added a shorthanded goal. The three stars of the game were Maroon, Varone, and Subban. With the loss, the Bulls record drops to 33-12-3-2 while London wins their seventh straight game and improves to 29-16-2-2. Bulls’ defenceman Geoff Killing set a team record by playing in his 268th career regular season game. Killing breaks the record of all-time great Bull Dunc MacIntyre. The Bulls will quickly look to rebound and avoid losing a third straight game for the first time this season when they play host to the Sudbury Wolves on Saturday night. Game time is 7:15pm at the Yardmen Arena and tickets are available at the Bulls Box Office.
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