The Varsity Blues men’s hockey team defeated the Ottawa Gee-Gees 4-1 on Friday night at Varsity Arena.
Only 55 seconds into the first period, Ontario University Athletics leading goal-scorer and Blues forward Byron Elliott landed in the penalty box, kicking off a game filled with penalty minutes for both teams.
Shortly after successfully killing their first penalty, second-year Blues forward David Mooney etched the game’s first goal at 4:12 into the period, past Gee-Gees goaltender Riley Whitlock’s left blocker, off passes from Sean Fontyn and Rob Kay.
Blues defenceman and assistant captain Eddie Snetsinger almost buried the lead on a Blues power play at 9:15 into the period, but his shot from the point nicked the goal post and the play continued.
It wouldn’t be until 12:06 into the game, that Toronto’s Claudio Cowdrey whipped the eventual game-winner into the opposing team’s net.
Both teams failed to take advantage of their respective power plays for the remainder of the period, and the Blues headed off the ice for the first intermission with a 2-0 lead.
After a successful first period, the Blues were pleased with their play and confident going into the second period.
“We played well on the offensive zone, we cycled the puck hard, we were hard on their defence, we took the puck to the net, and we also buried our chances,” said forward Rob Kay.
The Blues ended up in penalty trouble at the beginning of the second as defence Mark Delost ended up in the penalty box at 5:18, only 27 seconds after teammate Matt Walters.
Ottawa took advantage of their five-on-three power play as Gee-Gee’s forward Paul Forster buried a goal past Toronto goaltender Andrew Martin at 5:57.
The Ottawa goal gave the opposing team an extra burst of energy and the Gee-Gees amped up the intensity, but it wouldn’t be long until the Blues regained their two-point lead.
With Gee-Gee defenceman Scott Ashton in the penalty box, Blues forward Byron Elliott’s wrist-shot landed in the net off of passes from David Mooney and Eddie Snetsinger.
With power play goals being a strong point of the Blues’ usual game tactics, it was surprising to have to wait well into the second period to see them capitalize.
“It takes us a little bit to get going in the game. It helps when we get a couple power plays under our belt before we really get the confidence that we need on the power play to make good passes and make good plays to get the puck in the net,” said Rob Kay, who eventually scored his own power play goal two minutes into the third. Kay, who scored his own power play goal two minutes into the third off passes from Eddie Snetsinger and team captain Brendan Sherrard, ensuring a Blues victory.
Martin made 24 saves during the game, and forward Byron Elliott was named player of the game.
The Blues travel to Montreal on Sunday to face off against the unbeaten McGill Redmen for the first time since losing to them last year in the quarterfinals of the playoffs.
When asked if the team was nervous for the upcoming game in Montreal, Kay responded, “We’re pretty confident. We’re just going to do what we usually do before a game and play them like any other team and go in there looking for a win. We’re going to be confident on the ice and do what we need to do to win the game. We wouldn’t look at it any differently than any other game.”
The team remains in third place in the Ontario University Athletics East Division with their victory over the Gee-Gees.
