RECAP: Men’s hockey falls to Patriotes at home

The Gee-Gees men's hockey team dropped their second straight game Saturday afternoon, losing by a 3-1 score to the defending National Champion-UQTR Patriotes. 

Justin McRae scored the lone goal for the Gee-Gees.

The matchup was fairly even throughout, with the visitors holding a slight 24-22 advantage in shots on goal. Jean-Philippe Tourigny made his third consecutive start for Ottawa, upping his save percentage to .887 on the year. 

Félix Lafrance scored twice on the powerplay for the Patriotes. Félix is now tied with elder brother Simon for the team lead in the goals with 12. Conor Frenette added an insurance marker into an empty net.

McRae's goal was an aesthetically pleasing one, with Nick Bowman showing poise on a two-on-one to slide the puck across to McRae who tapped it past UQTR netminder Alexis Gravel. Mathieu Desgagnés earned an assist on the play and is now on a team-high 22 points for the season.

Ottawa failed to capitalize on two trips to the powerplay, while the Patriotes netted twice on five opportunities.

Both teams were undermanned due to the ongoing FISU World University Games in Lake Placid, N.Y. 

Gee-Gees head coach Patrick Grandmaitre is serving as an assistant coach on the Canadian men's hockey team staff, while UQTR's Simon Lafrance, Justin Bergeron and Zachary Lavigne are donning the maple leaf. This left the Pats with just 17 players dressed (10 forwards, five defencemen, two goaltenders), while assistant coach Paul Stoykewych took charge of the game for Ottawa.

The Canadian men's team is currently 2-0 with wins over Ukraine and Sweden. The medal round concludes Jan. 22.

The Gee-Gees are back at the Minto Sports Complex on Friday, Jan. 20 for a meeting with the Nipissing Lakers before heading to The Arena at TD Place for the Colonel By Classic against the Carleton Ravens. Tickets for the former matchup are available at tickets.geegees.ca and the latter game at Ticketmaster.