Hoping to put an end to their four-game losing streak, the Varsity Blues men’s hockey team played host to the McGill University Redmen on Friday at Varsity Arena, ultimately losing 2–1 in overtime.
With a boisterous crowd on hand to cheer them on, the Blues played a physical game in the opening 20 minutes with big hits delivered by Cassidy Preston, Robert Kay, Tim Halloran, and Kevin Deagle.
U of T had a number of good scoring chances in the first period, outshooting McGill 11–7, but the shots were ultimately unable to find the back of the net. Both goalies made some spectacular saves and it was clear from the very beginning that this would be a battle of the netminders.
The first goal of the game didn’t come until the end of the second period when McGill’s Benoit Levesque unleashed a quick snap shot from the slot and fired it past Blues goalie Brett Willows.
With two periods in the books, the Blues headed into the final period trailing by a goal.
Halfway through the third frame, McGill was called for roughing, sending Toronto on the power play which the Blues were able to capitalize on. The goal came from Tyler Liukkonen, who got hold of a point shot from team captain Matt Walters to deflect the puck past Redmen goaltender Andrew Flemming, and tied the game up at 1–1.
The Blues carried the momentum through most of the third and had several chances to take the lead, but all of them were denied by Flemming.
In the last minute of regulation Toronto was called for a costly hooking penalty, which sent the Blues into sudden-death overtime down a man.
The Redmen would go on to take advantage of this and score the game-winning goal just 10 seconds into overtime. Willows was able to make the initial pad save, but could not stop David Rose, who buried the rebound and gave McGill the 2–1 victory.
“I thought it was a really good hockey game,” said Blues assistant coach Steve Devine. “Both teams worked extremely hard and both goalies played great games. Brett [Willows] really kept us in the game and made some of the big saves. But unfortunately, we couldn’t get the win tonight.
“We got a couple of chances early, but we just couldn’t finish our chances. And against a team like that, you can’t let those opportunities pass you by. That really hurt us in the end.”
With the OT loss the Blues pick up a crucial point, but extend their losing streak to five games. They currently sit in sixth place in the competitive OUA East with a season record of 12–9–5.
