By Thomas Lee
[1]Ottawa 67’s player Shane Prince (18) takes a wrist shot at the Belleville Bulls net at Wednesday’s game at the Yardmen Arena in Belleville Ontario. Ottawa won the game 6-4. Photo by Thomas Lee
Despite outplaying the Ottawa 67’s at Wednesday’s game in Belleville, the Bulls lost 6-4.
The Bulls were the more aggressive team throughout the game. They managed to keep most of the play in Ottawa’s end. The Bulls even had almost twice as many shots on goal, 43-25.
“I think we deserved a better outcome based on the numbers we put up shot-wise, and the chances we had against a first-place team,” said Bulls assistant coach Jason Supryka.
“Anytime you make a significant error on the ice, a first-place team is going to take advantage of it and that’s exactly what they did. We gave their key guys too much time and space,” said Supryka.
When the first period started, the Bulls came out strong, handling the puck past Ottawa’s defence and playing it hard in their end. Despite this aggression, Ottawa’s Michal Cajkovsky scored the first goal of the game at 15:48. Less than two minutes later, Ottawa’s Tyler Toffoli scored.
Unlike Sunday’s game, being down two goals did not stop Belleville from fighting back. A season high attendance of 3,053 fans at the Yardmen Arena may have contributed to the confidence of the Bulls.
The game was at a standstill until Ottawa’s Sean Callaghan was given a two-minute penalty for holding, followed by another penalty for Ottawa’s Michal Cajkovsky for high sticking. Just seconds later, Daniil Zharkov scored Belleville’s first goal of the night on a double power play.
After the faceoff, Stephen Silas tied the game. With the game now tied 2-2, the Bulls turned up their aggression in Ottawa’s end trying to get ahead of the team that just a few days before shut them out. Despite outshooting and outplaying Ottawa, player Remy Giftopoulos managed to get another goal past the Bulls goalie Malcolm Subban.
Although the Bulls would turn up the heat once again, Sean Monahan scored another goal for Ottawa. Nicholas Foglia, who rushed out of the penalty box taking a pass from Mike Vlajkov, beat Subban on a breakaway to score Ottawa’s fifth goal of the night ending the second period.
Coming into the third period, three goals down was tough. But the Bulls came out with all they had in the third period. Two minutes in, Bulls player Austen Brassard scored, bringing the Bulls back into the game.
However that was short lived when Ottawa’s Steven Janes managed to score just three minutes later.
Jordan Subban managed to get one more goal halfway though the third period. For the remainder of the period, the Bulls played with all the aggression they had. They kept the play in Ottawa’s end and took every shot they could get. But Ottawa’s goaltender Petr Mrazek managed to deny the Bulls any more goals, saving Ottawa from defeat.