The Belleville Bulls erased a 3-1 third period deficit to defeat the Ottawa 67’s 4-3 in a shootout Saturday night at the Yardmen Arena.  Bryan Cameron led the offensive attack for Belleville with a two goals and an assist while also scoring the only goal in the shootout.  The Bulls and 67’s each earned three of four points in their weekend home and home series.

 The Bulls got off to a quick start, opening the scoring just five minutes into the first period when Cameron one-timed a Tipoff pass past 67’s goaltender Chris Perugini from the slot.  Andy Bathgate also assisted on Cameron’s team leading 15^th goal of the season.  The two sides traded scoring chances for the remainder of the first period, as both Perugini and Bulls goaltender Mike Murphy were excellent to keep the score 1-0 after twenty minutes of play.  Shots on goal in the first period were 11-7 Ottawa.

 The two sides played a very defensive second period of play with neither team generating much offence for the majority of the stanza.  The Bulls did run into penalty trouble late in the period and Ottawa made them pay with a pair of power play goals to take the lead.  The 67’s tied the score with under two and a half minutes remaining in the period when Thomas Nesbitt jammed a loose puck past Murphy from the crease.  Michael Latta then gave Ottawa the lead with just 29 seconds remaining in the second period when he one-timed a Ryan Martindale pass into the empty side of the net past Murphy.  Shots on goal in the second period favoured Ottawa 9-5.

 The Bulls came out very fast to begin the third period but were unable to tie the score.  Shawn Lalonde then took a triple minor penalty six minutes into the third period and the 67’s made Belleville pay with their third power play goal of the game when Latta tipped a Julien Demers pass past Murphy for his second goal of the night.  The Bulls were able to kill off the remainder of the penalty and worked themselves back into the game.  Cameron cut the 67’s lead to 3-2 with eight minutes remaining in the third period when he fired a Luke Judson pass into the empty side of the 67’s net for his second goal of the game.  Stephen Johnston also assisted on Cameron’s 16^th goal of the season.  Cameron then had a glorious chance to tie the score with less than five minutes remaining in the third period when he was awarded a penalty shot but the Bulls forward was unable to beat Perugini and the score remainded 3-2.  Belleville was able to tie the score with three and a half minutes remaining in the third period when Eric Tangradi slid the puck into the open side of the net after receiving a wonderful pass from Cameron.  Shawn Lalonde also assisted on Tangradi’s 12^th goal of the season.  The Bulls pressed for the go ahead goal but were unable to beat Perugini for a third time in the period and the game headed to overtime.  Murphy was also strong to prevent Ottawa from re-taking the lead.  Shots on goal in the third period were 16-7 Belleville.

 The Bulls pressed during the overtime period and did enjoy a late power play but were unable to beat Perugini, as the two sides headed to a shootout for the second consecutive night.  Shots on goal in overtime favoured the Bulls 4-0.  In the shootout, after Murphy stopped Logan Couture, Cameron beat Perugini with a quick shot to give Belleville the lead.  Murphy then stopped Corey Cowick and Michael Latta to preserve the victory.  Final shots on goal favoured the Bulls 33-27.

 Murphy enjoyed another strong game, stopping 24 shots to earn his 12^th victory of the season while Perugini was also excellent, making 29 saves in a losing effort for Ottawa.  The Bulls power play continued to struggle, failing to score in five opportunities with the man advantage.  Belleville has now scored just one power play goal in the past six games.  Ottawa converted three times in six power play chances.  The three stars of the game were Cameron, Latta, and Perugini.  With the win, the Bulls improve their record to 15-6-1-2 and increase their lead to seven points over the 67’s for first place in the East Division.  Ottawa moves to 12-9-0-2 with the shootout defeat.  Belleville is now off until Wednesday night when they will host the Niagara Ice Dogs for the first time this season.  Game time on Wednesday night is 7:15pm at the Yardmen Arena and tickets for the game are available at the Bulls Box Office.

 Photo: Aaron Bell

Belleville Bulls - Ottawa 67’s Nov 15/08 Highlights

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