The University of Toronto Varsity Blues take on the York Lions in a best-of-three first-round OUA men's hockey playoffs series this week.

 

Date	Visitor	Home	Time	Location	Media
Wednesday, February 17	Toronto	York	7:00 p.m.	Canlan Ice Sports	Live Video Live Stats
Saturday, February 20	York	Toronto	3:30 p.m.	Varsity Arena	Live Video Live Stats Tickets
Sunday, February 21 *if necessary	Toronto	York	2:00 p.m.	Canlan Ice Sports	Live Video Live Stats

A Head-to-Head Look

Toronto finished the regular season with an 11-15-2 record in eighth place in the West, while the Lions finished 16-7-5 atop the standings.

The two teams went 1-1-0 during the regular season, with the Blues ending their regular season with a dominant 4-1 win over the Lions this past Saturday night. York topped U of T 4-2 early in the regular season (Oct. 31). Of note, the Blues and Lions also went 1-1-0 in the pre-season, with Toronto winning 4-1 at the York Invitational on Sept. 25 and the Lions coming away with a narrow 2-1 victory four days later.

U of T is 6-2-2 versus the Lions in post-season meetings, dating back to 1972. The GTA squads last met in the playoffs in the 1985-86 season.

Battling for the Blues

Third-year netminder Andrew Hunt is riding a hot streak heading into the playoffs. Hunt holds a .922 save percentage over 15 games played and helped the Blues to wins in five of their past eight games.

Fourth-year forward Christian Finch led the Blues and ranked among the top 20 players in the league with eight goals and 23 assists for 31 points in 28 regular season games. Fellow veteran Patrick Marsh tops the team with 14 goals scored, while Mathew Campagna has enjoyed a stellar rookie campaign, ranking second on the team with 10 goals and third with 28 points in 28 games.

Third-year forward Connor Cleverley has registered points in seven of U of T's last nine games, while a pair of veteran defencemen in Dylan Heide and Charlie Connell lead the attack from the blue line with 10 and 11 points, respectively this season.

Lions to Watch

The Lions boast three players who average at least a point per game. Second-year defenceman Derek Sheppard leads the team with 10 goals and 20 assists for 30 points, while sophomore forward tops the squad with 17 goals and ranks second with 29 points in 27 games played. Veteran Justin Larson has also scored seven goals and added 21 assists for 28 points this season. 

York is backstopped by Chris Perugini, who ranks fourth in the OUA with a 2.18 goals against average in 25 games played this season.

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