On Wednesday night at Mattamy Athletic Centre in Toronto, the Blues lost 9-1 to Ryerson, who sit in the middle of the pack in the standings with a 9-9-0 record.
The Blues fell behind early in the contest; the Blues were staring as goaltender Michael Nishi allowed three goals in the first period.
The scoring continued early in the second period; Rams’ Mitch Gallant scored to open the period, then Daniel Clairmont gave the Rams a 6-0 lead with a power-play goal, defeating the Blues’ hopes of coming back.
Ryerson has been a shooting machine of late; against Waterloo they had 50 shots on net and still lost 3-0. It was only a matter of time before Ryerson put the puck in the back of the net, and unluckily for Toronto, Ryerson found their scoring touch in time for their game.
Max Flanagan scored the lone Blues goal late into the second period.
Nishi gave up the first four goals to Ryerson, stopping 17 of 20 shots until Brett Willows came in as replacement, faring even worse and giving up five goals on 20 shots. Willows is the Blues goaltender famously known for backing up Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Jonathan Bernier two years ago during an emergency situation.
Ryerson goaltender Taylor Dupuis stopped 32 of 33 shots.
The Blues fared much better against the Laurier Golden Hawks, who sit in sixth place with an 8-9-0 record, on Thursday.
Both teams fought hard throughout, exchanging goals until Laurier pulled ahead with 11 seconds left in the game, giving the Hawks a 3-2. With a handful of seconds left on the clock, the Blues couldn’t muster up any magic, falling victim in the dramatic ending of the game.
The Blues opened the scoring three minutes into the first period when first-year Max Lindsay scored his fourth goal of the season.
Laurier came back five minutes later when Derek Shoenmakers beat Blues goaltender Andrew Hunt.
Hunt was the third Toronto goaltender to play in two nights for the Blues. He fared better than his superiors, stopping 33 of 36 shots. Laurier goaltender Colin Furlong earned the win for the Hawks, stopping 30 of 32 shots.
With the game tied at two apiece, Toronto committed a penalty, giving their opponents a man advantage for the final moments of the game. Rookie forward Christian Mroczkowski scored, giving his team the victory and pushing them two points ahead of the Blues in the OUA standings.
With nine games remaining on the schedule, the Blues are only two points behind a playoff position. With a week to recuperate from the losses and organize themselves for the final stretch, they can surely make a push they’re capable of achieving. The Blues haven’t missed the playoffs this decade.
The Blues play next on January 15, when they host the Windsor Lancers at Varsity Arena at 7:30 p.m.
