BRAMPTON, ON - Sometimes in the wild ups and downs of an OHL season you need your goaltender to steal you a game. The only catch on Thursday night at the Powerade Centre in Brampton was that the kid between the pipes was 16 years old. Charlie Graham stole the show, making 35 saves to end the Brampton Battalion's reign of terror across the OHL at 12 games since their last regulation loss. The 3-2 Belleville victory also saw an end to the Bulls' five game losing skid.

Graham came out of the gate looking poised and confident, holding off an early Brampton attack with a save off Matt MacLeod. The hot-handed MacLeod, who has 4 goals already in the 2012 calendar, was rejected by the glove hand of the agile Graham.

The young goaltender wasn't able to hold one of the OHL's hottest teams of late off the board for much longer though. Former first round draftee Barclay Goodrow finished off a two-on-one rush that developed off a turnover at the Brampton blueline. Goodrow snuck a low dribbler through the legs of Graham after Ian Watters dished on the odd-man rush, leaving Graham to fend for himself as the Troops took a 1-0 lead at 5:22.

The Belleville offence didn't start clicking until 9:31, when it registered it's first shot on goal of the game that beat Matej Machovsky in the Battalion goal. Adam Payerl, who spent the night on a line alongside the hard working Garrett Hooey and Michael Curtis managed to find his 13th of the season on a scrambly play. After Hooey worked hard down low in the corner, Payerl managed to scoop up the puck and pivot off the half wall to snap a quick shot past Machovsky that the Czech netminder didn't appear to have a good look at. 

The Bulls' second shot of the game got past Machovsky a little over one minute later as Luke Judson camped out in the slot and got his stick on a puck linemate Jordan Mayer sent towards the Brampton goal. Judson's 12th of the season and Mayer's first point as a Bull were made possible by a great effort by defenceman Jason Shaw at the Brampton blueline to keep a rolling puck in the zone.

The Bulls' execution game carried over into the second period as they received some puck luck for the first time in what's seemed like ages. Markham boy Joseph Cramarossa picked up his first goal in a Bulls uniform on an odd play that happened to work out for Belleville. Cramarossa circled behind the Brampton goal and sent a pass intended for Brendan Gaunce in the high slot. Before reaching it's intended target, the puck ricocheted off the skate of Sam Carrick and trickled helplessly through the legs of Machovsky to give the Bulls at 3-1 lead at 6:38. Austen Brassard extended his point streak to eleven games with an assist on the goal.

Those in their green Battalion jerseys at the Bunker on a Thursday night certainly weren't very loud as their squad trailed 3-1 with over half of the second period remaining. In an effort to spark his club, Stan Butler made a goaltending change as Machovsky was replaced by Keegan Wilson after allowing three goals on six shots.

The tide began to turn in Brampton's favour from that point onward, as the Bulls weren't able to sustain much pressure in the offensive zone and the relentless Brampton attack was bombarding Charlie Graham's crease with a barrage of fire. The 16 year-old Toronto native stood tall in his goal, with perhaps his finest moment coming on a sheer robbery he commited on Ian Watters from point blank range. Watters' attempt at a rebound was also thwarted by Graham, who reached across to make a second save on the play.

The Troops eventually broke through to bring the score back to within one before the second period expired. Former Bulls forward Brett Mackie chipped in with an assist on Patrik Machac's 9th goal of the campaign at 16:36. Despite a blocked shot by Branden Morris on Machac's initial attempt, the rebound scooted back out onto the stick of the rookie forward as he shoveled a backhander into a yawning cage to make the score 3-2 Belleville headed into the second intermission.

The Bulls entered the third frame being outshot 29-12 by a Brampton squad that hadn't lost in regulation time since December 2nd. 

The third period started with a bang, as both teams had close scoring opportunities. Graham made a big pad save off Watters from the slot before the Bulls went down in transition and couldn't beat Keegan Wilson as Brady Austin couldn't finish when he jumped into the rush.

Graham was at his best in the game's dying moments, making numerous clutch saves including a butterfly stop off Machac's deflection in the slot as Brampton threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Belleville goal.

The 3-2 win pushes the Bulls to a 22-17-1-0 clip on the season. The Brahmas are home to the Sudbury Wolves on Saturday night at 7:05pm before heading out to Ottawa for a Sunday afternoon matchup.

Tickets for Saturday's game are still remaining. For more information or to purchase, contact the Bulls Box Office at 613-966-8338.