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Bulls Back on Track with 5-0 Victory over Windsor
 Keaton Turkiewicz scored twice against his old team in a 5-0 victory over the Windsor Spitfires Saturday night at the Yardmen Arena.
One night after seeing their club record tying twelve game win streak come to an end, the Belleville Bulls rebounded in fine fashion, defeating the Windsor Spitfires 5-0 at the Yardmen Arena. Mike Murphy made 33 saves to earn his second shutout of the season while former Spitfire Keaton Turkiewicz scored twice against his old team. The win also helps the Bulls regain their four point lead for first place in the Eastern Conference.
Both teams skated hard throughout the first period, as the opening twenty minutes featured a furious end to end pace with numerous quality scoring opportunities for each side. Mike Murphy and Jakub Kovar were both exceptional in the opening frame, as only one goal would be scored. It was the Bulls who scored the lone first period goal seven and half minutes into the game when Adam Perry took a Jan Mursak pass and snapped a terrific shot, top corner past Kovar for what turned out to be the eventual game winning goal. Matt Beleskey also assisted on Perry’s 23rd goal of the season. Perry now has goals in each of his past six games. Shots on goal in the first period were 14-12 Windsor.
Murphy and Kovar continued their strong play into the second period, as each goaltender was forced to make several quality saves apiece in the first half of the middle frame. It was the Bulls who were able to extend their lead midway through the second period when Beleskey tipped a perfect pass from Mursak past Kovar. Perry also assisted on Beleskey’s team leading 32nd goal of the season. Turkiewicz then gave the Bulls a 3-0 lead just four minutes later when he one timed a Shawn Matthias pass from behind the net past Kovar. Andrew Self also earned an assist on Turkiewicz’s 18th goal of the season. Shots on goal in the second period favoured the Spitfires 15-13.
The Bulls played an extremely strong third period, as they limited the Spitfires to very few shots on goal to preserve the victory and the shutout. Shawn Lalonde increased the Bulls lead to 4-0 on the power play midway through the third period when he took a Mursak cross-ice pass and snapped a high, hard shot past Kovar from the faceoff circle. Nick Pageau also assisted on Lalonde’s seventh goal of the season. Turkiewicz rounded out the scoring on the power play with three and a half minutes remaining when he one-timed a Pageau pass past Kovar for his second goal of the game. Lalonde also assisted on Turkiewicz’s 19th goal of the season. Shots on goal in the third period were 12-4 Belleville and overall favoured the Bulls 37-33.
Murphy was outstanding in goal for the Bulls, stopping all 33 shots he faced for his 26th victory of the season. Kovar was also very strong in goal for Windsor, as he made 32 saves in a losing effort. The Bulls finished the game two for seven on the power play while holding the Spitfires scoreless in four chances with the man advantage. The three stars of the game were Turkiewicz, Murphy, and Mursak. With the win, the Bulls improve their record to 33-10-3-2 while Windsor falls to 26-13-5-4 with the defeat. Belleville is now off until Thursday when they will embark on a two game road trip in Sarnia and London before retuning home next Saturday night to host the Sudbury Wolves in an Eastern Conference Finals rematch from last season. Game time on Saturday is 7:15pm at the Yardmen Arena and tickets are available at the Bulls Box Office.
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