BELLEVILLE, ON - One night after being beaten for eight goals in an ugly loss in Oshawa, the Belleville Bulls came back strong. Notching eight goals of their own, the Bulls poured the pressure on the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors on Saturday night in an 8-3 win that snatches up two very valuable points. Ten different Bulls hit the scoresheet as Stephen Silas led the way with his second career multi-goal game. 

The Bulls were in control from the very beginning as the Majors, with just ten forwards in the lineup, didn't seem to have the jump they've shown in their previous two encounters with the Bulls this season. Belleville was physical, hard on pucks and determined to get on the board first.

At 9:39, Adam Payerl staked the Bulls out to a 1-0 lead with assists from Brendan Gaunce and Brady Austin. Payerl jumped all over a Brandon Maxwell rebound as the Mississauga goaltender had stopped Gaunce on back-to-back efforts. Like a pack of hungry dogs, the Bulls wouldn't be denied as Payerl finally slammed the rebound into the net.

The Majors hit penalty trouble beyond the midway point of the first as Ryan Duhaime and Riley Brace were both sent off. The Bulls' powerplay got down to business as Stephen Silas' 5th goal of the season squirted through the legs of a screened Maxwell.

Knowing their dire need of points against a Belleville club working hard to surpass them, the Majors kept the game close early on as Riley Brace picked up his 31st on the powerplay at 16:44. The Bulls weren't able to clog shooting lanes or clear the zone on the attempts they had as Brace camped out to the right of Malcolm Subban's goal and beat him upstairs on a rebound.

Luke Judson got a big monkey off his back with 1:42 remaining in the first as another powerplay goal put Belleville back ahead by two. Judson's first goal since January 12th had the 2,683 fans at the Yardmen optimistic as the Bulls headed to the intermission up 3-1.

After Brace picked up his second of the night thanks to Sergey Kuptsov's strength along the boards, Dylan Corson and Doug Harvey had an entertaining scrap as the two combatants swapped big blows. 

Corson's tilt seemed to spark the Belleville offense as the floodgates opened shortly after. Four consecutive goals from Silas, Payerl, Jordan Mayer and Jordan Subban effectively took the Majors out of the game as the Bulls scored four times in three minutes. Brandon Maxwell was pulled after allowing 5 goals on 21 shots. The overaged netminder received very little support from the team in front of his as he made several big saves to keep the Majors in contention early on. Rookie Spencer Martin would take over and surrender 3 goals on 17 shots.

Mississauga's Justin Rasmussen would capitalize once more for Mississauga while Jake Worrad scored the lone goal in the third period to make the final 8-3 in favour of Belleville.

The Bulls' powerplay was stellar, going 3 for 9 in the game with goals from Silas, Judson and Worrad.

After a great Corson/Harvey scrap in the second period, a lightweight bout between Adam Bignell and Spenser Cobbold entertained the crowd in Belleville as two players of smaller stature dropped the mitts in the third.

In one statistic of note, Bulls forward Adam Payerl made immense for a rough outing in Oshawa on Friday when he went -5. Payerl led the Bulls with a +4 rating on Saturday and scored a pair of goals.

Both Jordan Mayer and Joseph Cramarossa had excellent games against their old club. Mayer had a goal and an assist while Cramarossa pitched in with two assists.

The Bulls' eight goals match a season high as they bring their record to 27-27-1-0 and climb into an 8th placed tie with the Majors for the Eastern Conference's last playoff spot. Belleville's next action comes Monday afternoon in a Family Day matinee against the visiting Erie Otters at 2:00pm.

Monday's game is the annual Timbit Jamboree featuring all Timbit teams that have played in a Bulls intermission this season. To purchase tickets, contact the Bulls Box Office at 613-966-8338 x 3885 or visit the Bulls' online ticket system.