RECAP: #8 men’s hockey strings together big wins over #2 UQTR and #5 McGill

The University of Ottawa men's hockey team was at home to host the McGill Redbirds on Friday night before hitting the road to take on the three-time defending Queen's Cup champions, the UQTR Patriotes.

On home ice, the Gee-Gees put together a solid three periods against the Redbirds.

Anthony Poulin got things started by batting the puck away from McGill. Skating down the ice, a perfectly placed pass gave Mathieu Desgagnes a quick tap into the net for the opening goal.

Luka Verreault was next, getting McGill's defenders on his back and sending it to the top corner to give the Gee-Gees a 2-0 lead as the clock winded down to signal the end of the opening period.

The Redbirds scored the lone goal of the second period. Tensions rose, giving the Gee-Gees time on the powerplay and a penalty shot opportunity. Still, Ottawa was unable to answer.

In the third, the Gee-Gees piled on three goals for the win. Andrew Belchamber, Verreault, and Zach Giroux each found the net to put away the game.

At UQTR, a back-and-forth battle with the home team scoring first. The Gee-Gees responded quickly, Verreault hitting a one timer on the powerplay to even the score near the end of the first 20 minutes.

The game winning goal came within minutes of the second. A pass from Desgagnes to a lone Peter Stratis made it 2-1 for the Gee-Gees.

Picking up two wins over nationally ranked teams, the Gee-Gees will head back home and prepare for rematch with UQTR on Oct. 26. The next day, Queen's is in town for their first meeting with Ottawa. Both home games are set to get started at 3 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase at tickets.geegees.ca.