BELLEVILLE, ON - Try as they might, the Belleville Bulls saw victory slip away a fifth time on home ice in 2012 on Wednesday night as Alex Cord's first goal of the season made the difference in a 3-2 loss. 

It was a progressively better effort late in the game by Belleville, who rebounded from being outshot 17-7 in the opening frame to outplay the Majors heavily in the third but weren't able to bury their chances.

Pesky forward Jamie Wise displayed the soft hands he isn't always acknowledged for at 9:32 of the opening frame, as the former Peterborough Petes free agent signee beat a Bulls defender before roofing a backhand on a sprawling Charlie Graham for his 16th of the year. It was a considerably slow start for the Bulls who were pinned inside their own blueline for much of the period.

As he often has since joining the club a couple of weeks ago, Joseph Cramarossa provided a spark, this time against his former mates. Cramarossa picked up his 9th of the campaign from the hard working pair of Dylan Corson and Luke Judson at 12:05. Corson and Judson outworked a group of Mississauga defenders, muscling the puck to the slot where Cramarossa was on the doorstep to swat a backhander past Brandon Maxwell. 

Although the goal got the Yardmen crowd more involved in the game, the Majors quickly found an antidote for what appeared to be a mounting Belleville attack. Veteran winger Riley Brace picked up goal number 22 on a lucky bounce that seemed to hypnotize Graham in the Bulls crease. Brace deflected a Dylan DeMelo dump-in as the puck took an odd bounce off the end boards and took a turn for the worst, deflecting into the net off Graham's skate at 15:59.

Down 2-1 after one, the Bulls retreated to the dressing room as they didn't appear to have the energy early in the game to bring home two points.

The second period changed things though, as the Bulls came out of the gate with a little more gas in the tank and challenged the 8th placed Majors as Michael Curtis would knot things up at two early. 

With Maxwell appearing to fight the puck in the first half of the game, the Bulls decided to fire away on the Mississauga net. Adam Payerl crossed the offensive blueline and wristed a shot on Maxwell's blocker that he couldn't corral, allowing the rebound to fall to his feet where Curtis was driving through the middle to knock home his 10th of the season at 2:36.

Daniil Zharkov was sentenced to the penalty box late in the second frame, giving the Majors their first powerplay of the evening. With consistent pressure in the Bulls' zone, Alex Cord eventually hammered home a slapshot along the ice that got through the legs of a screened Graham to give James Boyd's Majors a 3-2 lead. Cord's goal was his first since January 30th, 2011. 

Down 3-2 to a potential threat to their playoff livelihood, the Bulls knew they'd have to play an inspired third period. Although they did that, an equally inspired Maxwell made up for his shaky play early in the game, turning away 14 shots to lead his team to victory.

Brendan Gaunce was denied twice while Jordan Subban and Daniil Zharkov were each stymied as Maxwell appeared to have that big game presence back that he displayed at various points in his playoff career with the Kitchener Rangers.

Maxwell was named the game's first star, making 34 saves while Charlie Graham bounced back from a rough second goal allowed to make 30 saves on the night.

Joseph Cramarossa was the night's second star as he provided a goal and was the hardest working Bull on the ice throughout the full 60 minutes.

"It wasn't Sunday (6-1 loss in Ottawa), but there still weren't any results, not near enough energy, and we aren't just talking about one or two guys here, it's all of them," said George Burnett after the loss. "You'd expect these guys to come out and play with some inspiration in front of a 16 year-old, but giving up 17 shots in the first period doesn't reflect that."

Burnett doesn't see a lack of willingness, but energy levels are definately a concern. "I thought they had an excellent practice on Tuesday afternoon and with the opponent being where they are in the standings, I thought we'd come out charged up for this one, but that wasn't the case. We only had one powerplay tonight, and 10 in our last 6 games, that tells me we aren't competing."

These may be trying times for the Bulls, who are 1-7-0-0 in the new year, but adversity presents opportunity. There's no better time than now for someone to step up and take the lead.

The next opportunity comes Saturday night when the Kitchener Rangers visit the Yardmen. The Bulls managed to beat the perennial contender on home ice last season and hope to do so again as points are at a premium in the stretch drive toward the postseason. Game time on Saturday is 7:05pm. For ticket information, call the Bulls Box Office at 613-966-8338.

(Photo Credit: Aaron Bell)