KITCHENER, ON - With January in their rearviewmirror, the Belleville Bulls charged out of the gate in the month of February on Friday night in Kitchener as hometown boy Adam Payerl was on a rampage, netting three goals enroute to a 6-3 Belleville win.

 It was evident that the Bulls' work habits were present from the opening puck drop as, despite a capacity crowd at The Aud, the boys in white, red and gold were on the ball. 

A tight end-to-end battle consumed the first fifteen minutes of the opening period before the Rangers drew first blood on Andrew Crescenzi's 15th goal of the season. Although Belleville carried much of the first period pace, Crescenzi caught the Bulls at the end of a long shift pinned inside their own blueline as some great work by Brandon Francisco got Kitchener on the board. Francisco's behind the back pass to the slot eventually wound up on Crescenzi's stick as he hit the post before the puck caromed over the goal line off of Subban's right skate.

The Bulls were denied late in the period as Daniil Zharkov teed up a one-timer from the right circle but netminder Franky Palazzese was up to the task in his second start against the Bulls this season.

Belleville outshot Kitchener 14-10 through twenty minutes. Malcolm Subban was back in fine style, making a highlight reel first period stop on Ryan Murphy as the Carolina prospect went on an end-to-end escapade reminiscent of his game winner in Belleville two weeks ago.

The Bulls didn't allow the first period deficit to sink their ship, coming out of the gate strong in the second to win several puck battles enroute to a pair of hard working goals.

One of the OHL's most effective power forwards and Kitchener native Adam Payerl brought his family to their feet at 7:02 after Joseph Cramarossa displayed his grit and tenacity to get to a loose puck at the offensive blueline. Cramarossa collected the biscuit and quickly fed Brendan Gaunce who saw Payerl open in the slot for a backhanded shot that would beat Palazzese on the glove side.

It was clear the Bulls were moving their feet through the game's opening forty minutes as they didn't give Murphy and the Rangers a single powerplay while nabbing three of their own that seemed to slowly wear down the energy level of the Kitchener bench. By the end of the second it was all Bulls as they staked themselves out to their first lead of the game.

Belleville's second marker began all the way back in the defensive zone with Daniil Zharkov displaying his defensive game that doesn't always receive the credit it deserves. Zharkov tied up a Ranger down below the Bulls goal line as Belleville moved the disc up-ice, eventually resulting in Winnipeg Jets prospect Austen Brassard's 24th goal of the season. Brassard displayed his well-publicized wrist shot as it rocketed over the shoulder of Palazzese from down the right wing at 15:47.

The third period started with a bang, as Tobias Rieder dampened the mood by extending his current point streak to eight games with his 29th goal of the season. Rieder tied the score at 2-2 as he stopped Cody Sol's point shot enroute to the net, tucking it around a sprawled out Subban 2:20 into the period.

The Rangers pulled ahead moments later as Belleville's first penalty kill of the night was prey for Ryan Murphy's 7th from Rieder and Crescenzi at 4:08. Murphy's low blast from the blueline had eyes, evading several obstacles before slamming into the back of the net with the Kitchener crowd erupting immediately.

The Bulls faced an uphill battle with 16 minutes left on the third period clock. Down 4-3, they sought out an opportunity to settle the score with the Rangers after Kitchener snuck out of Belleville with a late game victory back on January 21st.

The Bulls charged back, with Austen Brassard leading the resurgence at 5:59 with his second of the night. Brassard took a drop pass from Zharkov as he crossed the Kitchener blueline, snapping a low percentage shot that somehow squeezed past Palazzese.

All knotted up, Belleville went back ahead at 11:14 on a Dylan Corson faceoff win in the offensive zone. Credit Michael Curtis for being quick off the draw, swatting a knuckleball over the shoulder of Palazzese for his first goal since January 18th.  

With the Bulls ahead 4-3 in the final three minutes of the game, the Rangers turned up the heat as they constantly looked for Ryan Murphy for his big shot on the blueline. After a Kitchener timeout, the Rangers attempted to go with the extra attacker before the Bulls were able to muscle the puck away, with Payerl hitting the empty net not once, but twice.

"I'll take the hat-trick tonight," said Payerl with a laugh. "It was a nice way to cap off my OHL career playing at the Aud unless we meet them in the finals. Our fast start really helped us zap the energy in the building and I think Luke Judson stepped up with a big tilt early on in the third period to give us that extra little push to finish strong."

Payerl's trio of goals was the third time he's accomplished the feat in his 291 game OHL career, leading the Bulls to a 6-3 win at The Aud. 

With the victory and an Oshawa loss in Ottawa, the Bulls pull into a tie for 8th place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 24-23-1-0. The triumph was Belleville's first regular season win in Kitchener since November 25th, 2005. The win improves Belleville's record against Western Conference opponents to 11-5-0-0 this season.

Malcolm Subban made 34 saves in his first start since December 17th. The Bulls did a stellar job of keeping Subban's workload light as the Ranger attack was kept to the perimeter on many occasions.

The Bulls go back to work Saturday night in Owen Sound when they take on the Attack who come off a 6-5 overtime loss against Windsor on Friday. The Bulls and Attack will drop the puck at 7:30pm and David Foot will go live on AM 800 CJBQ at 7:15pm. The game can also be seen on TV Cogeco Belleville.