Former Otter Nick Palmieri had a goal and an assist to lead the Bulls past his former team in his much-anticipated return to Tullio Arena on Thursday night.
Palmieri, traded to Belleville last week, helped the Eastern Conference-leading Bulls (18-6-2-2) to a 2-0 lead in the game’s opening 3 minutes, 13 seconds. He assisted on the club’s second goal, scored by Eric Tangradi. Bryan Cameron snapped the scoreless tie 1:15 into the opening period with his OHL-best 20th goal of the season.
The Otters (11-13-1-0), losers of three straight, responded quickly. Brandon Biggers scored 37 seconds after Tangradi’s goal. Luke Gazdic’s tying goal followed less than two minutes later. The teams combined for four goals in that 5:35 span, but two goals the rest of the way.
Meanwhile, the Otters’ offense was silent.
They had scoring chances. The Otters outshot Belleville 41-34, with 33 shots in the first two periods.
But Belleville’s Matthew Tipoff snapped a 2-2 tie with 1:42 left in the first. Palmieri then sealed the win late in regulation. Palmieri has two goals and five points in three games since the trade. Mike Murphy made 39 saves in goal for the Bulls.
While the Bulls continued a strong surge (8-1-1-1 in their past 11 games), the Otters continued to struggle through the latter half of a key 13-game stretch headlined by 10 home games. The Otters have lost three of four on home ice since a season-high, four-game winning streak to fall to 7-5-1-0 overall. Shane Owen stopped 30-of-34 shots for the Otters.