Bell Varsity Cup Day 2 action began with a dominating performance by the No. 5 Manitoba Bisons at they stampeded over the Ottawa Gee Gees by a 6-0 score in the afternoon game at the Fort William Gardens. Kevin Saurette led the Bisons with two goals and two assists. This was his second two-goal game of the tournament in two nights. Warren McCutcheon also had two goals. Other Manitoba scoring came from Michael Young and Chris Falloon. Ottawa goaltender Mathieu Blanchard played a strong game; although he let in five goals, he kept the score as low as it was with many excellent acrobatic saves. Manitoba outshot Ottawa 53-20 in the game.
The Bisons came out very fast to start the game and took the play to the Gee Gees for the first six minutes. Manitoba went on the powerplay and Ottawa netminder made three great saves in a row; including a point blank shot by the Bisons' Chris Falloon. Ottawa then went on the powerplay but it was Blanchard again saving the day; making a great splits glove save off a rocket fired by Manitoba's Kevin
Saurette. Blanchard followed with another save off Saurette from the slot. The teams traded minors and were playing four-on-four when Manitoba's Rob Smith passed the puck into Saurette who neatly redirected it between Blanchard's pads at 12:58. The other assist went to Jordan Little. Play went back to four-on-four and Ottawa's Chris Large just missed with a tip that went wide of Manitoba goalie Krister Toews. Ottawa had some late pressure and came close with a couple shots but couldn't beat Toews. Manitoba outshot Ottawa 16-7 in the first.
The Bisons stampeded out of the gate in the early going of the second; and Saurette came close again. However, Manitoba took two minors and gave the Gee Gees a golden opportunity to tie up the game. Ottawa just missed when a low shot deflected off Toews' pad. But the Bisons killed off both minors and the play went back into the Ottawa end. Blanchard made another good stop off Everett Bear from the slot. Blanchard followed with a quick reaction save off Manitoba's Saurette. Blanchard then robbed Manitoba's Aaron Starr with another lighting -fast, splits, glove save. The dam finally broke when Starr gave a lead pass to Michael Young and Young lunged and poked it with his stick between Blanchard's pads at 9:49. The other assist went to Jared Lang. Ottawa went on the powerplay but the Bisons played tough D and killed it off. Manitoba then went on the powerplay and Kevin Saurette scored the goal of the game at 15:18. He came down the right side, faked the shot to drop the Ottawa dman, did a drag move around the fallen dman and then fired a wicked wrist shot between Blanchard's pads. The assist went to Neil Gidney. Manitoba continued to attack, firing pucks at will on the Gee Gees' Blanchard. Ottawa's Chris Large then had a good shot from the slot but was stopped by Manitoba's Toews. Manitoba outshot Ottawa 17-9 in the second.
Manitoba's Warren McCutcheon opened the third with a lovely backhander that beat Blanchard over the left shoulder at 1:03, assisted by David Cameron and Gidney. Manitoba's Jordan Little then blasted a shot that Blanchard just deflected over the Ottawa goal. Blanchard then made two incredible stick saves in succession while lying down on the ice; first off Manitoba's Michael Young and then off Aaron Starr who jumped in for the rebound. Chris Falloon made it 5-0 Manitoba at 10:55 when he cut past the Ottawa dman and fired through Blanchard's pads from the slot. The assists went to Paul Deniset and Saurette. Both teams changed goaltenders at this point; Ottawa putting in Martin Bricault and Manitoba putting in Billy Flett. Manitoba pretty much kept the play in the Ottawa end for the rest of the period and were rewarded by a Warren McCutcheon goal at 18:44; assisted by Saurette and Rob Smith