Box Score The University of Toronto Varsity Blues men's hockey team fell 6-3 to the McGill Redbirds on Saturday (Nov. 30) afternoon in Montreal, Que.

The Blues fell behind early, giving up three goals in a ten minute span in the first period. Thomas Belzile, Maxime Blanchard, and Alexis Morin all found the back of the net for the Redbirds in the initial frame. Julian Recine got the Blues into the game with a power play tally, setting up in the slot near the left-side hashmarks and receiving a pass from Mark Cooper, then firing a wrist shot off of the far side post and in for his sixth goal of the season.

U of T found their footing in the second period, putting up a stronger fight as the game progressed. After surrending an early goal by McGill's William Rouleau, the Blues bounced back when Recine netted his second goal of the game. The second-year forward was positioned to the right of Fabio Iacobo, the Redbirds goaltender, and deflected a hard pass from Cooper past the outstretched glove of Iacobo.

Just thirty seconds after Recine's second marker, the Blues cut the deficit to one goal with Aiden Reeves capitalizing on a 2-on-1 rush, firing a wrist shot past Iacobo for the defenseman's second goal of the season. The remainder of the period saw plenty of back-and-forth action, with both teams trading chances amid power play opportunities, but McGill held on to their one goal lead.

The Blues got into some penalty trouble in the third period, limiting their momentum, as they were outshot 13-7 in the final frame that saw a lot of physical play. The Redbirds pulled ahead on a goal by Brandon Frattaroli five minutes into the period and added an empty netter with thirty seconds remaining by Alexandre Gagnon.

Rayce Ramsay stopped nine of 13 shots in the first half of the game for the Blues, and was replaced by Jordan Fairlie, who turned aside 27 of 28 shots for the remainder of the game. Fabio Iacobo made 36 saves for the Redbirds.
The Blues enter the winter break with an 8-8 record. McGill improves to 10-6.

Toronto hits the ice in the new year on Sunday, January 5, when they host the RMC Paladins at Varsity Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tickets are available at varsityblues.ca/tickets, and the game can be streamed online via oua.tv.