The Varsity Blues men’s hockey team fell 3-2 to the McGill Redmen on Friday, November 4 at McConnell Arena.

The Blues drop to 4-3-1 this season, leaving them fifth in the OUA East. The Redmen improve to 7-0-2 and are first place in the East division.

Byron Elliott (Burlington, Ont.), Tyler von Engelbrechten (Markham, Ont.), and Paul Van De Velde (Mariapolis, Man.) accounted for all of Toronto’s points on the night, earning two each. Elliott now has seven goals and five assists in just eight games and leads all Blues players with 12 points.

Special teams played an important role on the night. After the Redmen’s Francis Verrault-Paul opened the scoring with an even strength goal early in the second period, Elliott converted on a powerplay opportunity with just 50 seconds remaining in the frame to make it 1-1 heading into the third.

McGill took the lead again at 4:36 of the third period when Hugo Laporte banged a rebound past Blues rookie goaltender Brett Willows (Rivers, Man.) on the powerplay. Then, with the Blues on the man advantage, Redmen forward Max Langelier-Parent stripped the puck from a Blues defender and raced in alone before beating Willows on the stick-side for his third short-handed goal of the season.

The Redmen looked to have the game in the bag, until Verrault-Paul took a double-minor for a retaliatory slash and cross-check on Blues forward Kyle Ventura (Scarborough, Ont.). Blues rookie von Engelbrechten scored on the ensuing powerplay, digging the puck out of a scrum along the end boards, and skating it out front before backhanding it past McGill’s Mark Segal to cut the Redmen’s lead to one.

But that’s as close as the Blues would come, as McGill hung on for the 3-2 victory.

Elliott earned the games third star, while Langelier-Parent and Nicolas Therrien of McGill were named stars one and two.

The Blues are back on the ice tomorrow as they travel to Ottawa to take on the Carleton Ravens. Puck drop is 3 p.m.

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