|
Bulls Extend Win Streak to Eight Games with 3-1 Victory over Mississauga
 Mike Murphy stopped 40 shots in the Belleville Bulls 3-1 victory over the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors Saturday night at the Yardmen Arena.
The Belleville Bulls extended their season long winning streak to eight games with a hard fought 3-1 victory over the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors Saturday night at the Yardmen Arena. Belleville was able to grab a 2-0 first period lead and hold off a hard charging Majors team for their third victory in as many nights. The win improves the Bulls to a perfect 3-0 against Mississauga this season.
It was Mississauga who got off to a quick start, as they forced Bulls goaltender Mike Murphy to make several good saves early to keep the game scoreless. Bryan Cameron opened the scoring for Belleville eight and half minutes into the first period when he took a Matt Beleskey pass and fired a high, hard shot past Majors goaltender Chris Carrozzi from the slot. Jan Mursak also assisted on Cameron’s 26th goal of the season. Cameron now has 15 goals in his past 15 games. The two sides traded chances throughout the middle portion of the opening frame but both Murphy and Carrozzi were strong to keep the Bulls lead at 1-0. Belleville went ahead 2-0 with two and a half minutes remaining in the period on the power play when Cameron took the puck off the end boards and fired a perfect pass to Beleskey who quickly one-timed the puck past Carrozzi from the top of the crease. P.K. Subban also assisted on Beleskey’s 28th goal of the season. Beleskey has now scored 13 goals in his past 13 games. Shots on goal in the first period were 15-10 Mississauga.
Mississauga cut the Belleville lead in half just four minutes into the second period when Jordan Mayer jumped on a Bulls turnover and fired a quick pass to Zach Rinaldo. Rinaldo made a nice deke on Murphy before sliding the puck past the Bulls goaltender for the fifth goal of the season. The Majors pressed for the equalizer during the remainder of the period but could not beat Murphy. Carrozzi was also excellent, turning aside several great Bulls chances to keep the score 2-1 heading into the final twenty minutes of play. Being out-scored 1-0 in the middle frame marked the first time in 23 consecutive periods that Belleville had been out-scored by their opponents. Shots on goal in the second period were again 15-10 Mississauga.
The Bulls came out hard to begin the third period, as they looked to extend their lead and put the game away. Despite a significant territorial advantage, Belleville could not beat Carrozzi, as the game remained 2-1 late into the third period. The Majors pressed during the final few minutes of the final period but were unable to beat Murphy, as the Bulls goaltender was outstanding to preserve the victory. Shawn Matthias iced the win for Belleville when he fired the puck into the empty net from centre ice with just under one minute remaining. Cameron and Nick Pageau assisted on the goal. Shots on goal in the third period were 16-11 Belleville but overall favoured the Majors 41-36.
Murphy was terrific in goal for the Bulls, stopping 40 shots to earn his 22nd victory of the season. Carrozzi was also strong in goal for Mississauga, making 33 stops in a losing effort. The Bulls finished the game one for seven on the power play while the Majors failed to score in two chances with the man advantage. The three stars of the game were Murphy, Beleskey, and Carrozzi. With the win, the Bulls improve their record to 28-9-3-2 and move three points ahead of the idle Oshawa Generals for first place in the Eastern Conference. Mississauga drops to 20-20-1-0 with the loss. The Bulls are now off until next weekend when they will play three more times. On Friday night, the Bulls will travel to Oshawa to face the Generals in a key divisional battle. The following night, Belleville returns home to host the Sarnia Sting before wrapping up the weekend Sunday afternoon in Kingston. Game time on Saturday night is 7:15pm at the Yardmen Arena and tickets for the game are available at the Bulls Box Office.
| 
