Bulls Return Home To Take On Second Place Ontario: Game Preview
San Francisco Bulls v Ontario Reign, December 21, 2012 – Photos Courtesy of Mike Tkacheff via SF Bulls Homepage
The Bulls try to bounce back as they return to home ice as they take on the second place Ontario Reign. The Bulls (17-21-6) come into tonight’s game following a tough shoot out loss to the rival Stockton Thunder. The Ontario Reign (31-10-3) come to San Francisco during the midst of a seven game winning streak. The Reign also own the season series over the Bulls with a seven win and one loss record.
The Bulls had a weird game last night as they were dominated on the shot chart 46 to 26 by the Thunder, but they matched the Thunder goal for goal before dropping it in the shoot out. Christian Ouellet has the hot hand for the Bulls with six points in his last five games. Dean Ouellet scored his 20th goal of the season giving him sole possession of the leading rookie goal scorer and tied him for the team lead with Peter Sivak. Defensively, goalie Taylor Nelson has been crucial to the Bulls’ recent successes as he has a .937 save percentage and a 2.2 goals against average in the last six games he has played. Nelson is going to be needed again tonight as the Reign boast the goal scoring leader in Colton Yellow Horn.
The Reign boast the second best offense in the league with a 3.7 goals per game average. This is largely due to star player Colton Yellow Horn. Yellow Horn leads the league with 34 goals scored, while the next closest player has 24 goals. Yellow Horn also leads the league in points with 54. Not to be ignored is center C.J. Stretch. Stretch is fourth in the league in goals scored with 22 and eighth in the league in points with 47. The Reign also boast one of the best young players in the league in Mario Lamoureux. Lamoureux is second in points by a rookie with 39 and third in goals by a rookie with 18. The Reign are not just an offensively minded team as they are second in the league in goals allowed. They are led by goaltender Jean-Francois Berube, who ranks third in the league with 2.18 goals against percentage.
The Bulls are going to have their hands full tonight as they host of one the most dangerous teams in the league. They must also try to overcome the fact that the Reign seem to have their number as the hold a seven and one record over the Bulls. The Bulls are going to need Nelson to come up huge again if they want to have a chance to win this game.