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Bulls Defeat Spirit in Overtime
 Goaltender Mike Murphy made 47 saves to lead the Belleville Bulls to a 3-2 overtime victory over the Saginaw Spirit Saturday night at the Yardmen Arena.
The Belleville Bulls got a terrific goaltending performance from Mike Murphy en route to a 3-2 overtime victory over the Saginaw Spirit Saturday night at the Yardmen Arena. Murphy was the star of the game, making 47 saves including several of the spectacular variety. Murphy continued his success against the Spirit after stopping 53 of 56 shots in a game last season. Belleville had a difficult time dealing with a tenacious Spirit forecheck all game long but Murphy gave his team a chance to win his performance.
It was the Spirit who jumped out to an early lead just a minute and a half into the game when some miscommunication between Murphy and a Bulls defender led to a turnover behind the Belleville net. Spirit forward Tomas Zaborsky was quick to jump on the turnover and fired a pass to Jordan Szwarz in the slot. Szwarz quickly one-timed the pass past Murphy for his first career OHL goal. The Bulls were quick to tie the game just three minutes into the period when Bryan Cameron blasted a rebound from a Matt Beleskey shot past Saginaw goaltender Ryan Daniels. Eric Tangradi also assisted on Cameron’s fourth goal of the season. The Spirit dominated much of the first period, hemming the Bulls in their own zone for long periods of time but were unable to beat Murphy, as the score remained 1-1 after twenty minutes of play. Shots on goal in the first period were 18-7 in favour of the Spirit.
Saginaw continued their dominance throughout the opening stages of the second period and were finally rewarded six minutes into the middle frame on the power play when Patrick Asselin fired a rebound that Murphy could only get a piece of into the Bulls goal. Once again, the Bulls were quick to tie the score, as they struck for a power play goal of their own with nine minutes remaining in the period when Tangradi one-timed a low, hard shot from a perfect Chris Mifflen cross-ice pass. The assist was Mifflen’s first point as a Bull in his first game with the team. Cameron also assisted on Tangradi’s fourth goal of the season. The tying goal seemed to shift the momentum of the game significantly, as the Bulls played their best hockey of the night during the second half of the middle frame. The Spirit who had 15 shots in the first 11 minutes of the period were able to manage just one more during the rest of the second stanza. The Bulls however, were not able to beat Daniels on a number of good scoring chances and the game remained tied 2-2 heading into the third period. Shots on goal in the second period were 16-10 Saginaw.
The two sides played a scoreless final period thanks in large part to several dynamite saves from Murphy to send the game to overtime. Shots on goal in the third period were 12-5 Saginaw. In overtime, the two sides both skated well and traded chances before a Spirit penalty gave the Bulls a late power play. The Bulls top ranked power play made the most of the opportunity when Beleskey one-timed a bullet shot from the point past Daniels to give the Bulls the victory. P.K. Subban and Tangradi assisted on Beleskey’s fifth goal of the season. The assist gives Tangradi eight points in his previous two games. Shots on goal in the overtime period were 4-3 Belleville but overall favoured the Spirit 49-26.
Murphy enjoyed one of his finest games as a Bull stopping 47 shots to earn his third victory of the season while Daniels made 23 stops in a losing effort for Saginaw. The Bulls power play remained hot, scoring twice in seven chances with the man advantage while the Spirit went one for four on their power play opportunities. The Bulls have now scored at least two power play goals in each game this season. The three stars of the game were Murphy, Beleskey, and Asselin. With the win, the Bulls improve to 3-1-0-0 and sit fourth place in the tight East Division. The Spirit are now 2-1-2-1 with the loss. The Bulls will look to push their winning streak to three games on Monday night when they play host to the Kingston Frontenacs in their annual Thanksgiving matinee game. Game time is 2:00pm at the Yardmen Arena and tickets are available at the Bulls Box Office.
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