On the brink of elimination and a sweep, the Belleville Bulls battled hard in game four of the OHL final and defeated the Kitchener Rangers in overtime. Kitchener got off to a fast start by scoring the first three goals of the game. They looked to be in complete control of the game but Belleville got on the board with less than a minute to go in the first period and seemed to take the momentum away from the Rangers. The two teams traded goals in the second period before Belleville shut the door defensively and scored two unanswered goals in the third period to force overtime. In overtime, the Bulls captain, Matt Beleskey, scored on the power play to force a game five back in Kitchener.
Every game from this point forward is a big game. If Belleville wins game five and gets the series to 3-2 then they may derive some momentum out of it and, now that they know they can beat the Rangers, they will definitely force the play more. Kitchener needs to rebound from their loss and end the series Thursday to ensure there are no doubts about the team’s ability heading into the Memorial Cup. I have no doubts they will rebound as after their loss to the Greyhounds in the conference finals, they rebounded with a commanding 6-3 win. Game five should be exciting as both teams will be fighting for the win.
In the other leagues, the Spokane Chiefs are looking for a sweep of their own with a 3-0 series lead on the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the WHL. Over in the QMJHL, the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies are in tough with the Gatineau Olympiques as they find themselves down two games to one after sweeping their first three series. The winners of the WHL and the QMJHL will join the Bulls and Rangers in Kitchener in just over a week to play for the Memorial Cup.
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