After two gruellingly physical overtime games, Men’s Hockey returned home from the Ontario University Athletic semi-finals yesterday, defeated by Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières. Les Patriotes won both games 5-4.
The Blues (20-9-1-2), who swept McGill with two shutouts in the quarterfinals, had an extra three days of rest over UQTR, who needed three games to dispatch Ottawa. U of T also had gotten the better of their semi-final adversaries in two regular season games.
Quick start fizzles
But none of that mattered as the visiting UQTR (21-5-3-4) withstood an early 3-0 lead by the Blues in game one to win 5-4 Wednesday at the Varsity Arena.
U of T centre Joe Rand netted the first goal of the series at 8:12 in the first period, and defenceman Ed Snetsinger and left-winger Simon Barg would follow with power play goals early in the second.
But Patriotes centre Thiery Poudrier would not be denied, scoring his first goal of the game 17 seconds after Barg’s. Poudrier found teammate and defenceman Mathieu Simoneau at 17:54 to bring UQTR within one at the end of the second period.
Rand netted his second on the game 1:13 into the final period, spotting the Blues with a two-goal lead. But Patriote left-winger Yan Gaudette tallied his first of the match less than a minute later before Poudrier scored his second at 4:28, tying it all up at four. The teams would battle but stay clean, neither taking a penalty or a score as they went into overtime.
Poudrier was the third-best scorer in the OUA this season, with 42 points, and he was the difference in the two matches. At the 4:36 mark in the extra period, he flipped a rebound past U of T goalie Ryan Grinnell for his third of the match, sending Les Patriotes home with a one-game lead.
Grinnell made 36 saves in the loss, while his counterpart Danny Dallaire had 34 in the win.
Let’s get physical
In the second game Saturday, the Blues had as physical a first period as any they had seen all year. The referee called fifteen penalties, nearly doubling the nine handed out in game one. Back on home ice, UQTR got off to a quick start, as winger Samuel Beland scored 27 seconds after the puck-drop, bringing the crowd of 700 to its feet. The Blues would claw back thanks to their power play, with right-winger Anthony Pallotta tying it at 11:39, and centre Mark Heatley following up with another advantage goal at 16:03. The lead would be short lived, as Poudrier notched a short-handed score 30 seconds later to keep it at two all heading into the second period.
Les Patriotes’ second leading scorer Jonathan Boutin, sixth in the OUA with 41 points, would make his appearance on the scoresheet felt as he notched power play goals at 1:00 and at 6:17 to put UQTR ahead by two.
The Blues refused to fold, and behind power play goals by Rand at 14:10 and Barg four minutes later, they had once again drawn even at four-all.
Battle to the finish
What followed was impeccable defensive hockey, as the third period came and went with neither side giving an inch. The fourth period was all UQTR, however, as they flew past U of T, not allowing a single shot by the Blues while tallying 12 of their own.
It was perhaps Grinnell’s finest period of the year, as the U of T goaltender held down the fort, blocking every shot that came his way and squashing two power play opportunities for Les Patriotes. Because of his play, the game was forced into a second overtime.
Five minutes into the fifth period, Grinnell would be challenged again. Defenceman Andre Robichaud would be called for interference, and UQTR would have a penalty shot.
Grinnell kept his head up and his eyes on the puck, filling the net with every inch of his six-foot-two, 190-pound frame. The penalty came and went as Grinnell blocked the pivotal shot, one of his 46 saves on the night, to keep the Blues alive.
In the end, Poudrier would prove to be too much for U of T. The star centre scored his seventh point of the two-game series, a goal at 17:21 in the fifth period, sending the exhausted but courageous Blues home.
