Bulls Go Down Battling in 3-2 OT Loss

Published on March 15, 2014 under Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Belleville Bulls News Release


OSHAWA, ON - The Belleville Bulls won't be going to the postseason, but their play over the last month has certainly drawn the admiration of their fans. Another all-out effort on Friday night in Oshawa yielded a point, but one point was unfortunately not enough in game #67 of the regular season.

With the Ottawa 67's getting a point in an OT loss in Kingston and the Mississauga Steelheads defeating Niagara in a shootout, the Bulls faced a win or go home scenario headed into overtime on Friday night, and came three seconds away from a shootout before hitting the end of the road.

The first period at the General Motors Centre was a white knuckle experience for Bulls fans. A few black and gold sweaters could be found amongst the throng of red and white in a packed house at the GMC. The hometown Generals had already locked up the Eastern Conference and the crowd came to pay their respects.

A playoff-bound Generals club played a playoff brand of hockey in the first period, inspired by the vocal example of Head Coach D.J. Smith on the bench. Oshawa came with speed and physicality, hitting a Bull every chance they got in the early going. Despite being the smaller of the two clubs, the Bulls pushed back, with Jake Marchment and Scott Simmonds laying the body in response.

The clubs swapped chances before Oshawa drew first blood at 4:51. Scott Laughton picked a good time to score his 40th of the season, taking advantage of a funny bounce behind the Belleville net to give his Generals the lead. The Belleville defence attempted to reverse back behind the goal, with the pass taking a strange carom into the slot to present a gift-wrapped opportunity for a dangerous scorer.

The Bulls didn't fold up and go home, they hung around in the first period and stuck with the Generals. Charlie Graham provided some sensational goaltending, taking away what looked to be a sure goal off the stick of Michael Dal Colle at the midway point. Dal Colle blazed in on a two-on-one, opting to shoot as Graham stuck out his blocker for a quick reflex save. Graham robbed Hunter Smith in the slot before the end of the first period as his fine play was the difference in the opening twenty minutes. The Bulls were outshot 11-10.

An overager playing one of his final games in the OHL brought the Bulls back even just 25 seconds into the second. Cameron Brace scored a goal eerily similar to one he did on Wednesday night against Peterborough, taking a long-bomb pass from Remi Elie to beat Daniel Altshuller upstairs for his 30th of the year. The Bulls took a little bit of the buzz out of the GMC with an early goal to start the period.

With the Bulls beginning to look more comfortable in a hostile environment, the game began to open up. A back and forth transition style game played to the Bulls' benefit as they took a 2-1 lead at 5:33 off the rush. The speed of Cameron Brace and Jordan Subban combined with the strength and smarts of Remi Elie proved to be a lethal combination. Subban took a feed from Brace as the trailer on a three-on-two, quickly firing a shot through the legs of Altshuller for a big goal.

The Bulls killed off a pair of consecutive minors in the second before Hunter Smith took out Adam Bignell on a dangerous play in front of the Belleville bench and was penalized. Smith hit Bignell into an open bench door as Bignell went to the dressing room briefly for repairs and Smith sat for four minutes.

The Bulls started the third on the man advantage, one that proved unfruitful as Oshawa scored upon its expiration. A centering attempt in the offensive zone through the slot turned bad quickly as the Generals scooped up the puck and headed up ice on a two-on-one. Bradley Latour decided to take his best shot, beating both a sprawling Jordan Subban and an outstretched Graham at 3:52 for his 18th. 

Tied at two, the Bulls had ample opportunity to reclaim their edge, but an inability to capitalize would hurt them. Daniel Altshuller made a big pad save off David Tomasek on the doorstep to preserve the tie before even bigger chances came Belleville's way.

Scott Simmonds was leaving it all on the ice on Friday and set up both of his linemates in the latter half of the third period. Remi Elie couldn't beat Altshuller up high and Cameron Brace couldn't sneak a low shot past the pad of the Oshawa goaltender. The two clubs wrapped up 60 minutes knotted at two with the shots 29-28 Oshawa.

A controversial play midway through overtime didn't go Belleville's way. Cameron Brace turned on the jets, beating Will Petschenig to a loose puck through the neutral zone to register a breakaway chance in alone. Brace however, was hooked on the play and didn't get a quality shot off, prompting the Belleville bench to look for a penalty shot. The officials would not go that route though as the Bulls went on a 4-on-3 powerplay.

The man advantage once again didn't yield any results as the Generals nearly scored on an odd-man rush. Oshawa would kill off the penalty and push OT into the final minute.

A neutral zone faceoff with 7.5 seconds to play set the stage for a sad ending to the night for the Bulls. Faceoffs, which have been a struggle for the Bulls at points throughout the season, were a point of weakness on Friday, ultimately leading to their demise at 4:57 of overtime. A Cole Cassels faceoff win gave Michael Dal Colle time and space to stride over the Belleville blueline and rip a howitzer past both Alex Yuill and Charlie Graham as 6,002 at the GMC erupted.

The Bulls got one point, but unfortunately that wasn't enough as the numbers game eliminated them from postseason contention on Friday in a 3-2 loss.

"At any other point in the season we'd probably be happy to come away with an overtime loss against the best team in the Eastern Conference," said Bulls Assistant Coach Jason Supryka. "With the numbers being what they are though, it's the time of year where these points make or break you, and we needed two of them."

Cameron Brace and Scott Simmonds were both determined competitors on Friday, playing in the final weekend of their OHL careers. "Those two guys have set a positive example for the young guys in our dressing room of what it takes to play in big situations and be leaders at and away from the rink. They've both put everything on the line for this team and have distinguished themselves as highly regarded leaders in this league."

The 22-38-4-3 Bulls are out of the playoff hunt, but still have their integrity to play for on Saturday night at home to the Sudbury Wolves. They'll be sure to come out hard and put forth a good effort for their loyal fans at the Yardmen.

Game time on Saturday is 7:05pm! Be sure to come out and see the 2013-14 Belleville Bulls one last time! For tickets, contact the Bulls box office at 613-966-8338.

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Ontario Hockey League Stories from March 15, 2014


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