POST-GAME: OHL Hockey Belleville Bulls vs Kingston Frontenacs October 2nd, 2013

BELLEVILLE- Ryan Kujawinski scored with 20 seconds left in overtime to lift the Kingston Frontenacs over the Belleville Bulls 4-3 last night in Belleville.

Both goaltenders stole the show. Frontenacs goalie Matt Mahalak earned the games first star honours making 44 saves. Bulls goalie Charlie Graham was tested early and often. The 18-year old gave Belleville the opportunity to steal a point while making 38 saves.

Mahalak says the atmosphere was dialed up right from the opening faceoff.

“The intensity for this game is definitely much higher knowing you’re playing Belleville. They’re our rivals and to beat them in dramatic fashion like that definitely felt great.” says the Monroe, Michigan native.

The scales tipped in Kingston’s favour just over a minute in. Forward Sam Bennet threw the puck in front of the net and banked it off Bulls defenseman Justin Lemcke’s skates for the early 1-0 lead. The Bulls defense was able to keep Kingston off the board for the rest of the period despite allowing 17 shots in the frame.

A high-sticking double-minor put Kingston short-handed just before the end of the first. Early in the second, Belleville capitalized on the man advantage. Bulls captain Brendan Gaunce sent a pass through the hash marks to a wide open Luke Cairns who made no mistake going over Mahalak’s glove to tie the game at one.

The Frontenacs offense retaliated with over 12 minutes left in the frame. Defenseman Michael Moffat grabbed the puck behind the Belleville net and sent it in front where Spencer Watson picked the top-right corner on Graham to restore the Frontenacs early lead.

Shortly after Watson put Kingston in front, the Bulls broke out on a 2-on-1. Gaunce split two Kingston defenseman before sending the one-time pass to Garret Hooey who was stopped by the quick glove of Mahalak. The breakout sparked the Bulls offense. With 9:08 left in the second, Aaron Berisha took a hard wrist shot from the left faceoff circle to beat Mahalak and knot the game back at two.

The seesaw battle continued and 10 seconds later Kingston caught Belleville napping. Frontenacs forward Corey Pawley stripped Bulls defenseman Adam Bignell of the puck at the blue line. The initial point shot was stopped by Graham but Frontenacs forward Darcy Greenaway collected the rebound, scoring his 7^th goal of the season and giving Kingston the 3-2 lead.

Just like the beginning of the second period, Belleville came flying out of the gates early for the third. Less than two minutes in, Berisha wired a shot and the rebound ended up on Bulls forward Nikki Petti’s stick. The 17-year old centre put it in the open cage to tie the game 3-3.

After 60 minutes of back-and-forth play, the game went to overtime. With 20 seconds left in the overtime frame, Sam Watson dug the puck out of the Belleville corner and threw it in front where Ryan Kujawinski sealed the deal for the Frontenacs.

Despite coming away with one point, Berisha thought Belleville deserved to come out on top.

“They’re a really fast-paced team. They (have) a lot of young talent. We should have buried them tonight, but they got the best of us.” said Berisha, who had two points in the contest.

Belleville (1-2-2) will try to climb to .500 when they travel to Oshawa to take on the Generals Friday night. Kingston (4-0-1) is looking to stay undefeated in regulation when they travel back home to take on the Ottawa 67’s.

*Photo courtesy of www.thewhig.com