RECAP: Men’s hockey falls twice in Montreal road trip to close first half

The Gee-Gees men's hockey team dropped both their confrontations in Montreal over the weekend, losing 4-3 in overtime to McGill Friday evening and 8-2 to Concordia Sunday afternoon.

Ottawa showed good resolve to mount a breathless third period comeback Friday. Finding themselves trailing 3-1 with under two minutes to go, Tommy Bouchard and Charles-Antoine Roy tallied just 23 seconds apart to force overtime.

Scott Walford of the Redbirds ultimately ended the game in overtime, with Jean-Philippe Tourigny turning aside 33 shots in the contest. Second year forward Andrew Aboumossa scored in the first period – his first career goal in Garnet and Grey.

Sunday was a different story for Ottawa.

Despite hanging around into the third period, the Gee-Gees conceded six unanswered goals in the final frame to fall 8-2. Bradley Chenier and Roy did the goal scoring for Ottawa, with Jean-Robin Mantha earning assists on both goals.

Ottawa concludes the first half of the OUA regular season with a 9-7-1 record, good for fifth place in the OUA East. 

The division is incredibly tight this year. Although the defending National Champions from UQTR appear to be settling into first, only four points separate second place Concordia and sixth place Carleton. The Gee-Gees 59 goals scored are tied with Brock for second most on the Ontario circuit – UQTR leads with 64.

The Gee-Gees offence has been largely by committee this season, although Mathieu Desgagnés has moved himself to the top of the team's goal scoring race (10) and points race (18).

Anthony Poulin is also enjoying a nice offensive season. The captain is first on the team with 14 assists and one point behind Desgagnés for the team lead in points. Jean-Robin Mantha headlines Gee-Gees defensemen in scoring with one goal and eight assists, while rookie Tommy Bouchard has four points in his last five games heading into the holiday break.

Anand Oberoi, Christian Sbaraglia and Jean-Philippe Tourigny have all seen extended time between the pipes this season. Sbaraglia has the better numbers thus far. The first year out of the MJAHL's Fredericton Red Wings has four wins across four starts with a 2.21 goals against average and a .931 save percentage. 

Ottawa returns to the ice Friday, Jan. 6 at the Carleton Ice House, before finding themselves back at the Minto Sports Complex on Sunday, Jan. 8 for a 3:00 p.m. puck drop against Concordia. Tickets are on sale at tickets.geegees.ca.