Facing two road games this weekend, Men’s Hockey (3-3) will have to tighten up their power play to return home with a winning record. Having converted less than seven per cent-just six goals-the Blues aim to improve that power-play mark as they travel to Universite de Quebec at Trois-Rivieres Friday, and Concordia Saturday.

Losing streak snapped

The Blues were in tough this weekend to get their season back on track. They put an end to a three-game skid, defeating visiting Ottawa 2-1 Saturday.

Leading the way to a 2-1 victory over Ottawa was a Blues team much more aggressive on the power play and not flatfooted breaking out of their own zone. The Blues converted on 25 per cent of their power plays and applied good pressure on the Ottawa defence.

“Tonight we were much better on the power play,” said Coach Darren Lowe. “We worked hard in practice and that showed on the ice tonight.”

All the scoring was done in the first six minutes of the first period as Gee-Gees forward Nick Vernelli scored the first goal at 1:23 in. Scott Malcolm countered for the Blues, tying it up five seconds after the three-minute mark on a power play tally. Two minutes later the Blues effectively worked the puck on a two-man advantage until a slick pass from Mark Heatley found Joe Rand in the slot who slid it through the Ottawa keeper’s five-hole to give the Blues the 2-1 lead.

They held off Ottawa defensively for the reminder of the game, behind Blues goalie Ryan Grinnel’s 33 saves that brought his goals-against average to 2.68.

Penalty plight

U of T also stayed out of the penalty box, which shows improvement for a team that has logged 146 minutes in the sin bin through six games.

“We played the game well up and down the ice,” Lowe said. “We didn’t take as many penalties in the second and third, and that proved effective in the outcome.”

The Blues’ strong defence also led to breakouts on the wings. The quicker, more aggressive Blues simply out-played Ottawa in every way.

“We had more guys commit to shot-blocking,” Lowe said. “Instead of using only seven guys on defence, we went with a more overall defensive strategy that we look to use throughout the remainder of the season.”

Putrid power play

On Friday, the Blues were goose-egged 3-0 by visiting McGill. U of T went 0 for 9 on the power play and struggled to get any offence generated against a strong McGill team that proved too much for Blues. Under the new rules, power play success is imperative and the Blues’ failure to set up a decent power play, and their undisciplined penalties, were evident in the loss.

“We need to relax and work the puck around,” Lowe said. “A lot of our power plays were cut short on penalties of our own.”

The Blues opened the game strong and kept McGill to two shots in the first period despite having four penalties. McGill took the lead on their second shot at 6:56 into the first period on a power play goal that goaltender Ryan Grinnell made the initial save on, but whose rebound was not cleared by the Blues’ defence.

The Blues played hard most of the night, keeping McGill 1-10 on the power play and limiting them to 28 shots.

“We could’ve won that game,” Lowe said. “We were in tough until the third and competed well.”

After a big second-period check by Blues defenseman Ed Snetsinger along the boards in the Blues’ end, the physicality of the game picked up. U of T played the body strongly the rest of the game, but this increase in roughness led to a few missed checks that caused two quick McGill goals in the third period.

After starting the season 2-0, the Blues lost their next three, getting outscored 12-3. U of T dropped their last two on the road against York 2-0 on October 19 and Brock 7-3 on October 21.