SUDBURY, ON - The Belleville Bulls played 66 regular season games in the 2011 calendar. They lost in overtime just once.

For the second time in as many nights, the Bulls partook in late game drama, but a hard fought effort came up short at the Sudbury Memorial Arena as Andrey Kuchin won the game with just 33 seconds left in overtime. The Bulls' first overtime loss since February 27th, 2010 featured arguably the most exciting third period of the season as the Sudbury faithful made for an intense environment.

The Bulls headed into Friday's action with a record of 30-33-0-2 in their regular season games throughout the 2011 calendar and looked to round things out on a positive note on a cold night in Sudbury. 

Unlike their early game jump on Thursday in Sault Ste. Marie, the Bulls were a little off in the opening moments of Friday's matchup. The result of multiple lost battles in their own zone, the hungry Wolves were able to draw first blood on home ice.

Just under five minutes into the first period, the continual grinding of the Wolves down low in the Belleville zone eventually created a seam as the offensive wizardry of Michael Sgarbossa was displayed for all to see. Sgarbossa created room for himself as he busted off the boards and cut down below the right circle before sending a puck through the slot for Brody Silk who slammed home his 8th of the campaign.

Sudbury managed to outdo Belleville handily in time of posession in the opening stanza as the Bulls had pucks bouncing off their sticks in the neutral zone, some moments of miscommunication in their own zone, and just one scoring chance that came off the stick of Austen Brassard in the slot.

Sudbury outshot the Bulls 10-5 through twenty minutes as the Bulls headed to the dressing room to regroup.

Although he allowed five goals in the Bulls' victory on Thursday in Sault Ste. Marie and was supported by some timely offence, John Chartrand was a gamesaver on Friday night as he was a force in the second period. The Wolves sent 13 scoring chances on Chartrand in the second, and only one managed to beat him and did so just 27 seconds from the opening faceoff.

Toronto Maple Leafs third round draft pick Josh Leivo's 13th of the season from Justin Sefton and Kristoff Kontos gave Sudbury a 2-0 lead as Kontos' harmless shot that missed the net caromed off the boards hard and directly onto the stick of Sefton. The Bulls forgot all about Leivo who hung back on the play, remaining all alone in front of the Belleville goal as Sefton found him for an eventual goal that came off the backhand.

Chartrand went into lockdown for the remainder of the period with his pinnacle saves coming in a quick flurry off of Brody Silk in the goalmouth. Chartrand extended his right pad quickly to make the initial save and proceeded to kick aside the rebound as well.

Belleville managed to get on the board 3:53 into the period as Luke Judson streaked down the right wing with very limited options. Rather than send the puck into the corner, Judson opted to test Vienneau who hadn't seen any action to that point in the period. Judson would blast a low shot through a screen to beat the Wolves netminder under the glove for his 11th goal of the season and 80th of his OHL career.

Sgarbossa gave Wolves fans great entertainment value with several displays of his smooth hands through traffic, nearly beating Chartrand twice in the second.

The shots were 28-16 Sudbury after two as the Wolves led 2-1.

The Bulls pulled out a complete effort in their sixth period in two nights as they reversed their dire second period fortunes and took the play to the Wolves.

With an increased tempo in the third, the Bulls controlled the game off the rush as Austen Brassard continued his torrid pace through December with yet another goal that came 59 seconds into the period. Brassard was the trailer on a four man rush. As Brady Austin joined the rush and drove hard to the net, Adam Payerl dished back to Brassard who snapped a lightning quick shot over the shoulder of Vienneau to bring the Bulls back to a tie at 2-2. Brassard's 17th on the year gave him 7 goals and 8 assists in the month of December as his six game point streak raged on.

After Josh Leivo reinstated the Wolves to a 3-2 lead at 7:05, the Bulls hit injury trouble. Payerl was cut for nine stitches and missed an extended amount of time while Scott Simmonds and Dylan Corson each missed shifts with equipment trouble, creating quite the quandry for coaches Jake Grimes and Jason Supryka on the bench. "Jason and I both kind of looked at each other and eventually decided that Jason Shaw would be able to fill in nicely up front especially since we'd dressed seven defencemen," said Grimes. "It turns out that Jason didn't just fill in, he filled the net."

With the Bulls charging down the ice on another rush, Michael Curtis drove hard through the middle as Brassard dished quickly to Shaw who overpowered Vienneau over the shoulder on the blocker side for his first career OHL goal at 7:56.

The two teams were knotted at three with twelve minutes left in regulation as Chartrand continued providing timely saves for his team that wasn't backing down despite a steady Sudbury presence in the offensive zone.

Belleville nearly won the game with under five seconds remaining as Judson collected the puck inside the Sudbury blueline and sent it towards the goal. The puck rolled through traffic towards Vienneau as Michael MacDonald attempted to push the puck into the corner but sent it dangerously towards his own goal as it hit iron a split second before the buzzer rang to end regulation.

The two teams headed to overtime playing quality hockey as the Sudbury fans were treated to a spectacular game on Friday.

Sgarbossa managed to win and offensive zone draw to the right of Chartrand as the puck was sent back to the point. Josh McFadden quickly pushed the puck across the blueline to Charlie Dodero who quickly blasted a low shot that was redirected by Andrey Kuchin past a hopeless Chartrand who had no chance on the goal. 

The Bulls return home with three of a possible four points on their northern road swing. Brendan Gaunce had mixed feelings after the loss. "You never want to be content when you don't come away with two points," said Gaunce. "Our goaltender deserved better tonight and I think we certainly elevated our game late. We didn't leave anything in the tank and unfortunately we were on the losing side of a similar scenario we got ourselves into on Thursday."

The Bulls are 21-13-1-0 on the season and head into a new calendar year occupying 2nd place in the East Division behind the Ottawa 67's who they'll face in a home and home set next weekend.

The Bulls ring in the new year on Sunday afternoon at home to Stan Butler's Brampton Battalion at 2:00pm. Former Bull Brett Mackie comes to town as the 20-10-1-4 Troops always bring a well planned tactical approach to the Yardmen's big ice.

For ticket information, contact the Bulls Box Office at 613-966-8338. Unfortunately, web sales are currently down until further notice.