RECAP: #5 men’s hockey advances to OUA quarterfinal with two OT wins over Ontario Tech
The Gee-Gees men's hockey team started their best of three opening round of the OUA East playoffs with a visit to Oshawa. After a long overtime period, Ottawa took the first game 3-2.
Charles-Antoine Roy only needed two minutes to find the net and put the Gee-Gees on the board in their series with the Ridgebacks.
Ontario Tech scored halfway through the opening period, but Mitch Martin was quick to respond for Ottawa, reclaiming the lead.
Gabriel Bernier got one past the Gee-Gees four minutes into the third period, evening the score at 2-2. No more goals were scored in regulation, sending the game to overtime.
The Gee-Gees controlled possession of the puck for the majority of the overtime period. It was only a matter of time before Vincent Maisonneuve slapped the puck into the mesh to call game.
On the other end of the ice, Zach Dietz, saved 38 of 40 shots for the Ottawa squad.
Maisonneuve's goal gave the Gee-Gees the 1-0 series lead heading back to Ottawa for Friday night's game two where the teams went the distance once more.
This time, Ontario Tech got on the board first, taking a 1-0 lead to the locker room. In the second, Peter Stratis tied things up with a rocket on the powerplay.
Only 18 seconds into the third period, the Ridgebacks reclaimed the lead but another powerplay opportunity allowed Zach Giroux to even the score and send the game to overtime.
Overtime didn't last quite as long in game two. Brad Chenier was hero for the Garnet and Grey, catching the Ontario Tech goaltender off guard, turning and firing off a shot into the net only 1:04 into the extra period.
"It's nice to get some adversity here at the start of playoffs," Chenier said. "We battled back. We didn't get all the bounces, but we worked for our bounces and it's nice to get rewarded the right way."
Taking the opening round of playoffs 2-0, the Gee-Gees advance to OUA East quarterfinal where they will face off against the #6 Queen's Gaels. The quarterfinal round will be played from Feb. 26-Mar. 2.