Belleville wins huge battle

March 2, 2012 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Mississauga St. Michael's Majors News Release


The Belleville Bulls won a huge battle in the war for an Eastern Conference playoff spot on Friday night at the Hershey Centre.

Brady Austin scored the game-winning goal on a power play with 2:57 left in regulation time to lead the Bulls to a crucial 4-2 win over the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors, lifting the Bulls into a tie for sixth place in the East with the Majors.

Michael Curtis scored into an empty net with six seconds remaining and Carter Sandlak and Daniil Zharkov scored the other Bulls goals, who were the only team in the four-team logjam for the final playoff spot in the East to get a win on Friday.

The Oshawa Generals lost to London and the Peterborough Petes dropped a game in Sault Ste. Marie, leaving Oshawa in eighth with 60 points and Peterborough in ninth with 59 points, behind the Bulls and Majors who both have 63 points.

Mika Partanen and Trevor Carrick scored the goals for the Majors, while Riley Brace added a pair of assists. Malcolm Subban made 25 saves for the Bulls and Brandon Maxwell stopped 20 shots for the Majors, who out-shot Belleville 27-24.

It was a tough loss for the Majors, who saw their four-game winning streak snapped and their chance to take more of a stranglehold on a playoff spot also halted.

"Losses like this sting, but we'll just regroup and get ready for Brampton on Sunday," Mississauga General Manager/Coach James Boyd said. "I thought it was a pretty good game by both teams with big points on the line, but we just came up a little bit short.

"Our execution could have been better in the offensive zone and that cost us, and Subban made some big saves when he needed to. These two teams are pretty even and tonight the only difference was a late power play goal.

"We still have seven games left to try and nail down a playoff spot, so we just have to bounce back and move on"

Zharov opened the scoring with his 21st goal of the season at 12:44, before Partanen tied the game on a Mississauga power play at 14:08, leaving the game tied 1-1 after 20 minutes.

Sandlak scored the lone goal of the second period at 5:42, putting the Bulls up by a goal heading into the third period. It looked like that goal might hold up but Carrick tied the game with a shot from the point at 14:26.

That set the stage for Austin's game winner, followed by Curtis' empty net marker to complete the scoring.

Belleville went 1-for-2 on the power play, while Mississauga was 1-for-5.

Mississauga travels to Brampton on Sunday at 2 p.m., the first of four straight road games for the Majors. The Majors play at home next on Friday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m. against the Barrie Colts. You can get Majors tickets online at www.ticketmaster.ca or at the Hershey Centre box office during regular business hours.



Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 2, 2012


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