By Harsh Kumar
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold’s men’s hockey team fell 5-1 to the Guelph Gryphons in a chippy affair at the Mattamy Athletic Centre (MAC) on Friday evening.
The Bold had a rough start to the season but came into their second home game of the season with back-to-back wins and looking to build on that momentum. They ran into a strong Gryphons squad, however, and as the game went on, a positive outcome slipped away in favour of a fiery conclusion.
“We flat out weren’t good tonight,” said Bold head coach Johnny Duco. “Top to bottom, our special teams weren’t good, our discipline wasn’t good, our goaltending wasn’t, our coaching obviously wasn’t good enough.”
The game started off fast, with both teams hungry to hit the back of the net first. The Bold were unable to capitalize on a breakaway for fourth-year forward Aleks Dimovski four minutes into the first, one of many odd-man rushes traded between the two teams.
A minute later, TMU went on a penalty kill due to a slashing by forward Kevin Gursoy. While Guelph generated some chances scrambling in front of the net, they were unable to capitalize past third-year Bold goaltender Ryan Dugas, who made his fourth start of the season.
The next big opportunity came with a two-on-one rush for the Gryphons, which hit the post by Dugas’ ear. While the Bold dominated in shots, Guelph kept the game and the shot count close with a few high danger shots late in the first, including on another power play after first-year forward Tyler Savard was called for cross-checking.
Savard redeemed himself with an important play shortly after his penalty ended. He broke up a chance for the Gryphons with a heavy backcheck, then sprung second-year Bold forward Daniil Grigorev with a two-line pass. Grigorev skated up the left side on a two-on-one, opting to shoot. His snapshot beat third-year Gryphons goaltender Cal Schell’s blocker and gave the Bold a 1-0 lead.
Though they scored first and looked competitive through the first period, the intermission saw the tide turn. The second started off fast-paced with plenty more end-to-end action, eventually favouring the more advantageous Gryphons.
Seven minutes into the second period, third-year Guelph forward Griffin Wilson evened up the score with a quick shot right in front of the net following a pass from third-year forward Nolan Degurse.
A minute later, the Bold defence fell behind on a quick play up the ice and Gryphons fourth-year forward Luke Bignell scored bar down from the right wing.
“Its self-inflicted. I think that’s what hurts, you make mistakes and it ends up in the back of your net,” said Duco.
The Bold came back the other way looking to tie the game but the Gryphons kept their lead with solid goaltending from Schell, highlighted by a robbery of a glove save on third-year Bold forward William Portokalis after a centring pass from second-year defenceman Jaden Raad gave him a chance in the slot. Schell had 20 of his 45 saves in the game in the second period.
Fourth-year forward and Bold captain Chris Playfair said the Bold needed to be tougher on rebound chances to capitalize against the Gryphons’ tough goaltending.
“It’s good to get lots of shots but quality of shots also matters,” said Playfair.
While the Bold couldn’t find a way through, the Gryphons continued to be advantageous. With less than a minute left in the second period, the Gryphons extended their lead to 3-1 with a wrist shot by first-year defenceman Thomas Darcy that went off the glove of Dimovski and beat Dugas five-hole.
The period ended with the Gryphons ahead by two and the Bold reeling. However, the second opened with opportunity for the blue-and-gold, who got their first power play of the night due to a high-sticking call against Bignell.
While the Bold moved the puck around well, Schell turned away everything, including a huge save on Savard in the dying seconds of the power play.
The Gryphons increased the gap to 4-1 with Degurse’s fourth goal of the season two minutes later.
From there, physicality and penalties became the story of the night.
Halfway through the third period, a big hit by first-year Gryphons defender Ethan Casper on third-year Bold forward Ian Martin led to a two-minute penalty and 10-minute misconduct for Casper for head contact.
Halfway through the power play, a high-sticking call against Darcy gave the Bold their best chance at a comeback with a five-on-three power play. However, an interference penalty against Grigorev in the offensive zone shut the door.
More penalties from Grigorev, Martin and Savard, often going after third-year Gryphons forward Ethan Doyle, took time away from the Bold to mount offence.
“Emotions ran a little hot. We have a competitive locker room,” said Playfair. “Guys don’t like to lose and take things personally.”
With tempers flaring, every whistle was followed by fights and physicality continued. Savard was kicked out of the game after taking a 10-minute misconduct for inciting with four minutes remaining. Fourth-year defender and Gryphons captain Tristan De Jong scored on the ensuing man advantage to bring the score to 5-1, bringing more fire out of the Bold.
With just over 2 minutes left in the third period, first-year Bold forward Julian Fantino was kicked out of the game for another inciting call. At the final buzzer, a series of scraps led to more misconducts, including one for Doyle and two for the Bold.
In the end, the Bold left with a loss and a 3-6 record for the season, as well as a sour taste in their mouths.
“The way we conducted ourselves was unacceptable,” said Duco.
UP NEXT: The Bold will look for redemption on the road against the Waterloo Warriors on Nov. 2 at the Columbia Ice Field. Puck-drop is at 4 p.m.
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