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Morning Skate: Bulls Search for 5th Straight in Niagara

October 16, 2014 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Belleville Bulls News Release


ST. CATHARINE'S, ON - The Belleville Bulls close out a home-and-home with the Niagara Ice Dogs on Thursday night when they travel to St. Catharine's. Dropping 6 straight on the road to begin their season, the IceDogs finally get to enjoy a home game in the brand new Meridian Centre. When the two clubs met at the Yardmen Arena last Saturday night, the Bulls jumped out to an early 5-0 lead and never looked back downing the IceDogs 8-5. The win gives the Bulls their 4th in a row and the highest win percentage in the Eastern Conference.

Although the IceDogs lead 43-31 in shots, it was the Bulls offence that was on full display on Saturday night. The scoring came early and often lead by Captain Jake Marchment who buried his first of the year just under 2 minutes in. Not long after, Welland, Ontario native Niki Petti forced a turnover in the Niagara zone and beat rookie netminder MacKenzie Savard. Forward, Brett Gustavsen got into the action and continued his hot play of late, putting home his 5th of the season at 6:22. Marchment, who was named the contests first star, added another before Remi Elie scored short handed to wrap up an explosive period for Belleville. Anthony DiFruscia put the IceDogs on the board with 1 second remaining in the first 20 minutes.

There was lots of scoring in the second frame as well. This time it was the IceDogs lighting the lamp first as Aleksandar Mikulovich potted his first of the season. Teams then exchanged markers for the rest of the period. Goal scorers for the Bulls were David Tomasek and Matt Luff while Carter Verhaeghe and Jordan Maletta found the back of the net for Niagara. After two periods the Bulls lead 7-2.

Penalties were the story of the third however, as both clubs traded trips to the sin bin. Belleville's Alex Yuill and Niagara's Billy Jenkins, who was awarded the third star of the game, were the only goal scorers in the period. Charlie Graham continues to lead all goaltenders in the OHL with a 0.946 save percentage and added another win to his perfect record thus far.

The IceDogs much anticipated return to St. Catharines finally comes to fruition Thursday night when they welcome their hometown fans to the brand new Meridian Centre for the very first time. The Bulls will be their first opponent in the new 50 million dollar facility. "We are going to approach this the same way we did with the season opener in Guelph. We have full respect for our opponent and we need to make sure that we have a good start and that we keep things simple." said Head Coach George Burnett on Thursday morning.

Opening night for the IceDogs get underway at 7 PM. You can get full play-by-play coverage on 800 CJBQ AM.

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Your Bulls have cracked the BMO CHL Top 10 list and sit at number 8. They return home this weekend for back to back games against two West Division teams, the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, who are number 2 on that list and hold a perfect record, and the Sarnia Sting, who have won 3 straight.

Our fall special is now available! Bring in or purchase a ticket for Saturday's game and receive Sunday's ticket for just $10! Stop by the Bulls Box Office or call (613) 966-8338 for more information.

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