Majors Kick off Home and Home Series with Loss in Belleville

February 26, 2011 - Ontario Hockey League (OHL)
Mississauga St. Michael's Majors News Release


Belleville, ON - The Mississauga St. Michael's Majors were in Belleville this evening to kick off a home and home series against the Bulls. After a thrilling comeback victory at the Hershey Centre last night against Brampton, the Majors were looking to continue their winning ways in Belleville. The Bulls had different plans though, as they defeated the Majors, 4-1.

The two teams played at a very quick pace to start the game, but it was fairly uneventful for most of the period. While neither team could muster any offense in the first, both teams had scoring chances late in the period. The period was also fairly tame as neither team took a minor penalty. There was one major penalty however late in the first as the two teams dropped the gloves at 19:31. The culprits were Chris DeSousa from the Majors and Brendan Gaunce from the Bulls. The two went to the box for fighting to close out the first period. Shots after one period of play were 7-6 in favour of Mississauga.

The Bulls took the lead early in the second period when Michael Curtis scored his ninth goal of the season. Curtis' goal came at 4:30 and was assisted by Brett Mackie and Stephen Silas, giving Belleville a 1-0 lead. Although Belleville had the lead, the Majors continued to outshoot the Bulls in the second; however, the double blue could not solve Belleville netminder Tyson Teichmann. The Majors kept the pressure up though and eventually solved the Belleville goalie. At 19:12, Maxim Kitsyn deflected in a shot to tie things up. Kitsyn's goal was his sixth of the season and was assisted by Casey Cizikas and Brett Flemming. Mississauga outshot Belleville 13-8 in the second period as the two teams went into the intermission, tied 1-1.

Just before the end of the second period, Marc Cantin took a delay of game penalty and Belleville took full advantage of the man advantage at the start of the third period. Just 38 seconds into the final frame, Andy Bathgate scored a powerplay goal to break the tie, making it 2-1 Bulls. Adam Payerl and Silas had the assists. Off the ensuing faceoff, Mike Mascioli took the puck into the Majors zone and scored again for Belleville, making it 3-1 Bulls. Curtis and Silas assisted on the insurance goal. The two Bulls goals came just 10 seconds apart. Belleville added one more goal at 17:38 when Brett Mackie skated out in front of the Mississauga net and beat JP Anderson to make it 4-1, which would prove to be the final score. The Majors kept the pressure up on Tyson Teichmann throughout the third period but they couldn t solve the young Bulls netminder. Shots on goal were 13-9 in favour of Mississauga in the third period.

JP Anderson was in net once again for Mississauga, making 19 saves on 23 shots in a losing effort. Tyson Teichmann was strong all evening in the Belleville net. He made 32 saves on 33 shots in the victory and was awarded 1st star for his efforts. The games other two stars were Silas (3rd) and Curtis (2nd).

The Majors and Bulls will now shift their home and home series to Mississauga, as the two teams will face off in their final regular season meeting of the year tomorrow at 2:00 PM at the Hershey Centre. The Majors will then spend the week preparing for a match up with the London Knights on Friday, March 4. The game will begin at 7:00 PM as it is being shown on Rogers Sportsnet. Tickets for both games are available at the Hershey Centre box office, by visiting ticketmaster.ca or by calling 905-502-7788 x. 1.

MasterCard Memorial Cup ticket packages are also still available. Limited packages are available and start at just $495.00. Call 905-502-7788 x. 1 or visit ticketmaster.ca to order your package today. The MasterCard Memorial Cup will be held from May 19-29, 2011 at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga.



Ontario Hockey League Stories from February 26, 2011


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