PLAYOFF PREVIEW: Carabins await women’s hockey in playoff opener

The Gee-Gees have at least one more game at CEPSUM, and they'll be hoping for many more than that.

With the RSEQ regular season wrapping up over the weekend, the playoff matchups are set. The third-seeded Gee-Gees (16-7-2, 34 points) will faceoff with the second-ranked Montreal Carabins (17-4-4, 38 points) in the opening round.

The winner will face the victor of the Concordia Stingers and Bishop's Gaiters series in the RSEQ Final. 

The best-of-three set begins Thursday, Feb. 23 in Montreal, with game two going in Ottawa on Saturday, Feb. 25. If necessary, game three will take place at CEPSUM on Sunday, Feb. 26. The Wednesday game starts at 7:00 p.m. and the puck drops at 2:00 p.m. for the weekend matchups. 

Tickets for game two are on sale at tickets.geegees.ca. 

The playoffs in the RSEQ take on a different tone this season. With Montreal hosting the U SPORTS National Championship, only one Nationals berth is up for grabs. If Montreal advances to the RSEQ Final, their opponent will gain the berth. Should Ottawa win, they'd then have to win the RSEQ Final to go to Nationals. 

Ottawa took the season series against the Carabins, but it was close. One of the Gee-Gees wins came via a shootout, while Montreal won the last two matchups. An extremely tight 1-0 Carabins win at the Minto Sports Complex on Feb. 3 all but clinched them second spot in the conference. 

The teams last squared off in the playoffs in 2018-19. Montreal swept the Gee-Gees with identical 4-0 scores. Ottawa and Montreal have faced off four times in the postseason since the Carabins program was established in 2009. The Gee-Gees have won just one game against Les Bleues in those series and haven't won a playoff series since the 2008-09 season. 

The series will feature two of the top goal scorers in the conference. Andrey-Anne Veillette's astonishing 26 goals in 22 games were the second-most all-time in the history of the RSEQ, trailing only Gabrielle Davidson's 28 in 2013-14. Abygail Moloughney finished second on the Quebec circuit with 16 goals, the third most ever by a Gee-Gee.

This year was the strongest regular season showing for Ottawa in 16 seasons. Their winning percentage of .640 was the third-best in the history of the program and the highest since 2006-07, a season in which the Gee-Gees qualified for the National Championship.

Games held in Montreal will be streamed on the Carabins YouTube channel and game two will be on the Gee-Gees YouTube. Tickets for game two are on sale at tickets.geegees.ca.