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Bulls Fall 4-1 to Saginaw
 Adam Perry scored the Bulls lone goal in the 4-1 loss to the Saginaw Spirit Friday night in Saginaw.
The Belleville Bulls suffered their first regulation loss in nearly a month, dropping a 4-1 decision to the Saginaw Spirit Friday night in Saginaw. The Spirit scored twice in the third period to break open a close game and skate away with the victory. The Bulls are yet to win in Saginaw in their history, holding a 0-5-1 record.
The two teams played a fast paced, scoreless opening period of play. Both Mike Murphy and Ryan Daniels were excellent in goal for their respective sides in the first period, as they each faced a number of quality scoring chances. Shots on goal in the first period were 17-9 Saginaw, as the Spirit held the majority of play during the opening twenty minutes.
It was the Bulls who came out hard to begin the second period, forcing Daniels to make several great saves to keep the game scoreless. Despite the early Belleville pressure, it was the Spirit who opened the scoring midway through the second period when Joe Pleckaitis drove towards the Bulls net and flipped a backhand past Murphy. Saginaw then went ahead 2-0 just 55 seconds later when Ryan McDonough was left alone in front of Murphy and was able to backhand the puck past the Bulls goaltender. Belleville was quick to respond, cutting the lead to 2-1 just 57 seconds later when Adam Perry fired a rebound from a Nick Pageau shot past Daniels for his 29th goal of the season. Bryan Cameron also assisted on the Bulls lone goal of the game. Murphy was terrific during the final few minutes of the second period, thwarting Saginaw’s attempts to restore their two goal lead before the end of the middle frame. Shots on goal in the second period favoured the Spirit 15-12.
The Bulls again came out hard to begin the third period but could not beat Daniels despite two early power plays. Saginaw was able to restore their two goal lead eight and a half minutes into the third period when Jack Combs fired a rebound past Murphy from the top of the crease. Jordan Szwarz then rounded out the scoring with six minutes remaining in the game when he beat Murphy with a quick wraparound. The Bulls tried hard to get back into the game during the final few minutes but Daniels was very solid to preserve the win for Saginaw. Shots on goal in the third period were 9-7 Belleville but overall favoured the Spirit 39-30.
Murphy played a strong game in goal for the Bulls stopping 35 shots in a losing effort while Daniels was also very good, making 29 saves to earn the victory for Saginaw. The Bulls finished the game scoreless in four power play opportunities while the Spirit failed to capitalize in three chances with the man advantage. The three stars of the game were Pleckaitis, Daniels, and Tyler Murovich who had two assists for Saginaw in the win. With the loss, the Bulls record drops to 42-13-4-2 while Saginaw improves to 31-23-4-2 with the win. Belleville now holds a ten point lead over the Oshawa Generals for first place in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls will now wrap up their road trip on Saturday night when they travel to Plymouth the face the Whalers. The next home game for the Bulls is next Wednesday night when they will host the Ottawa 67’s for the final time this regular season. Game time is 7:00pm at the Yardmen Arena and tickets are available at the Bulls Box Office. Wednesday’s game is sponsored by GoodLife Fitness and will be shown live on Rogers Sportsnet.
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