TORONTO, Ont. — In their first of two meetings of the weekend against the crosstown rival University of Toronto Varsity Blues, the Rams men's hockey team stole a win on the road, coming up clutch in a 3-2 overtime victory. Despite getting outshot 40-27, the Rams hung in and beat their division rivals in a tough and physical affair.
In the first minute of play, the Varsity Blues got on the board thanks to Danny Katic, who cleaned up a rebound in front of Rams goaltender Garrett Forrest for his fourth goal of the season. The Blues continued to keep the Rams on their toes well into the middle portion of the frame, tallying eight shots on goal before the blue and gold registered their first.
"I didn't love our start, I thought it was slow," head coach Johnny Duco said of the team's start. "I thought as the game went on, we started to find our legs a bit."
Still, the Rams made their first shot count, with Jesse Barwell tipping a Mark Shoemaker knuckleball that fooled Blues netminder Alex Bishop. Though the rest of the period passed by without much excitement, both teams kept things physical, with several chippy skirmishes emerging after the whistle. Rams rookie Jackson Doherty, who was involved in one of the more heated post-whistle scrums after a hit to his head, had to be removed from the game for precautionary reasons.
In the second period, the Blues retook the lead when Billy Moskal squeaked a shot through the pads of Forrest. Later on in the frame, David Miller wired a screaming shot past Bishop for his fourth goal in three games. Though the Rams were marred in penalty trouble in the second half of the period, they managed to escape unscathed.
The third period was much of the same, with both sides exchanging big hits and thrilling scoring chances in rapid succession. Ultimately, regulation ended with the score knotted at 2-2.
In overtime, defender Zachary Shankar took a Kyle Bollers pass and broke away down the ice, leaving a trail of Blues defenders in his dust. Though his first shot was stopped by Bishop, the Rams blueliner tapped at the rebound and buried the overtime winner. For Shankar, the goal represented a bit of déjà vu, seeing as he also scored an overtime winner on a breakaway at Varsity Arena on January 9, 2020.
"They kinda caught us off guard at the start of the game," a relieved Shankar said of his heroic goal and the game at large. "They were on us pretty hard."
"Good teams find a way to win," Duco said in summary. "It was a lot of fun."
On Friday, the Rams will host the Blues at the Mattamy Athletic Centre in what will be their final regular season meeting. Puck drops at 6 p.m.
