Ridgebacks fall 2–1 in marathon playoff opener
OSHAWA, Ont. – The Ontario Tech men's hockey team pushed Game 1 of the OUA Playoffs to the brink on Wednesday night, battling through double overtime before falling 2–1 to the Ottawa Gee-Gees at the Campus Ice Centre.
The Gee-Gees opened the scoring 6:40 into the first period before the Ridgebacks settled in and began to generate momentum. Ontario Tech found its equalizer at 13:31 of the second period when Nathan Poole converted off feeds from Gabriel Bernier and Justin Svenson to tie the game 1–1.
From there, it was a goaltending duel.
Edouard Gauthier was stellar between the pipes for the Ridgebacks, turning aside 50 shots as Ottawa pushed the pace, including 17 shots in the first overtime alone. At the other end, the Gee-Gees netminder stopped 27 of 28 shots to keep the game level.
Neither side capitalized on the power play in a physical matchup that featured 10 combined penalties. Ontario Tech pressed late, including a man advantage in the second overtime, but could not solve the Ottawa defence before William Provost scored at 8:12 of the second overtime to lift the visitors to the series lead after more than 88 minutes of tightly contested playoff hockey.
The series now shifts to Ottawa for Game 2 on Friday night, where the Ridgebacks will look to even the series and force a deciding Game 3.
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