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Specialty Teams Pace Bulls to 6-2 Victory over Mississauga
 Captain Matt Beleskey recorded a hat-trick Wednesday night at the Yardmen Arena in a 6-2 victory over the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors.
The Belleville Bulls specialty teams which have struggled as of late got back on track in a big way Wednesday night at the Yardmen Arena in a 6-2 victory over the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors. The Bulls scored three times on the power play and once shorthanded to help snap a two game losing streak. The win also moves the Bulls back into first place in the East Division.
The Bulls got off to a terrific start, generating all of the scoring chances to begin the game. Belleville was able to capitalize on their early pressure with the opening goal seven minutes into the first period on the power play when Bryan Cameron took an Andrew Self pass and slid the puck past Majors goaltender Anthony Grieco from the front of the net. Geoff Killing also assisted on Cameron’s 12th goal of the season. Despite being outplayed for the majority of the period, St. Michael’s was able to tie the score with seven minutes remaining in the opening frame when Kris Sparre beat Bulls goaltender Mike Murphy with a pretty deke on a breakaway. The goal seemed to energize the Majors, as the rest of the period was very even, with both Murphy and Grieco playing well to keep the score tied heading into the first intermission. Shots on goal in the first period favoured the Bulls 12-7.
The Bulls continued to press throughout the second period and did a good job limiting the Majors scoring chances. Belleville was able to retake the lead seven minutes into the middle frame when Cameron fired a perfect shot from the faceoff circle that just found its way over the shoulder of Grieco. P.K. Subban and Shawn Matthias earned assists on Cameron’s second goal of the game and 13th of the season. Just over five minutes later, the Bulls increased their lead to 3-0 on a pretty goal when Subban fired a perfect blind pass to Matt Beleskey who was left with an open net to fire the puck into for his 17th goal of the season. Cory Tanaka also earned an assist on the goal. Murphy, while not overly busy in the period, was solid and kept the Belleville lead at 3-1 heading into the final twenty minutes of play. Shots on goal in the second period were 14-6 Belleville.
It was the Majors who came out hard to begin the third period, as they tried to cut into the Bulls lead. St. Michael’s was able to get the lead back to one six minutes into the period when Matt Piva picked up a loose puck behind the net following a missed chance by Matt Caria and fired a quick shot past Murphy from the side of the goal. Belleville was rapid to respond to the Majors goal, as they took a 4-2 lead less than two minutes later on the power play when Matthias fed Beleskey a great pass from behind the net that the Bulls Captain one-timed past Gieco. Nick Pageau also assisted on Beleskey’s second of the game and 18th goal of the season. Beleskey then completed the hat-trick less than a minute and a half later with another power play goal when he banged a rebound past Grieco. Matthias and Pageau again assisted on Beleskey’s team leading 19th goal of the season. The Bulls continued to press throughout the period, forcing Grieco to make several outstanding saves while Murphy was also very strong in goal for Belleville. Tanaka rounded out the scoring with three and half minutes remaining while shorthanded when he used Matt Tipoff as a decoy on an odd man rush before firing a shot between the pads of Grieco for his fourth goal of the season. Shots on goal in the third period were 20-13 Belleville and overall favoured the Bulls 46-26.
Murphy played a good game in goal for the Bulls, stopping 24 shots to earn his 13th victory of the season while Grieco made 40 saves in a losing effort for Mississauga. The Bulls finished the game three for four on the power play while holding the Majors scoreless in six chances with the man advantage and adding a shorthanded goal. The three stars of the game were Beleskey, Cameron, and Subban. Bulls forward Stephen Blunden returned to the lineup on Wednesday after missing the first 27 games of the season with mononucleosis. With the win, the Bulls improve their record to 17-8-2-1 while Mississauga drops to 14-13-1-0 with the loss. The Bulls are in action next on Friday when they travel to Ottawa to face the 67’s. On Saturday night, Belleville will play host to the Owen Sound Attack. Game time is 7:15pm at the Yardmen Arena and tickets are available at the Bulls Box Office. Fans attending Saturday’s game are encouraged to bring a stuffed animal for the Zellers Teddy Bear Toss.
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