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By Earl Zukerman

TORONTO – Centre Guillaume Doucet scored one goal, added a helper and netted the lone decisive marker in a post-overtime shootout as McGill toppled Toronto 5-4 in a men’s OUA hockey game at Varsity Arena, Friday.

The win avenged last week’s 6-3 home ice loss to Toronto and improved McGill’s recent performance to 6-2-1, after opening league play with an uncharacteristic 0-4 start.

The Varsity Blues jumped into an early 2-0 lead but that was reduced to 2-1 after Toronto native Sam Bloom’s power play goal at 9:47 of the opening period. The teams were tied at 3-3 after two.

Doucet, a 5-foot-9, 179-pound physical education sophomore from Montreal, knotted the score at 2-2 only 39 seconds into the middle period. He then set up Eric L’Italien midway through the final stanza to give the Redmen their first lead -- at 4-3 -- but U of T left-winger Byron Elliott forced overtime with his 10th of the season and the Blues fourth power play goal of the night, at 15:06 of third period.

U of T went 4-for-6 on the power play, connecting twice with a two-man advantage. Including last week’s 6-3 win at McConnell Arena, the Blues have connected on 9-of-16 power-play chances against McGill this season.

Also scoring for the Redmen was right-winger Marc-Andre Daneau, a freshman from St. Hubert, Que., who made it 3-3 at 10:52 of the middle stanza.

Surprise starter Hubert Morin made 38 saves for the victory as Toronto outshot the Redmen 42-33. It was the inaugural regular season victory for the native of St. Georges de Beauce, Que., and his first appearance in five games, since suffering a shoulder injury in Kingston on Nov. 15. Blues’ netminder Andrew Martin made 28 saves and was saddled with the loss.

McGill players blocked 14 shots in the contest, including nine in the third period.

The Redmen are tied with Ottawa (5-4-3) for fourth place in the five-team division. McGill will play at Ryerson (3-9-1) on Saturday afternoon. McGill has a 32-6-1 lifetime mark against the Rams and haven’t lost at Ryerson since Jan. 13, 1989 when they suffered a 3-2 setback at St. Mike’s Arena. Since then, the Redmen have posted 16 consecutive road victories at Ryerson. However, they shocked the Redmen 3-0 at McConnell Arena last weekend, snapping a 13-game losing streak to the Redmen, dating back to Ryerson’s last win, a 5-2 decision on Feb.9, 2001.

REDMEN RAP: Doucet, who shot second and has only three goals on the season, was the sole player to score in the shootout, which last five shots… The other McGill to miss a chance at fame was senior Marko Kovacevic (4 goals)… The hired guns for U of T included Kyle Ventura (9 goals), Byron Elliott (10 goals) and Claudio Cowdrey (3 goals)… McGill sophomore Evan Vossen of Swift Current, Sask., had a goal disallowed in overtime as the on-ice officials ruled that there was a Redmen player in the crease… McGill is the fifth-highest penalized team in the league with 339 PIMs and rank second-to-last among the OUA’s 18 teams in penalty-killing with a 73.8 success rate… Of the 42 goals allowed by McGill in 13 games played, 21 have come on the power play.


SCORING SUMMARY

McGill 5 (OTS) at Toronto 4

(@ Varsity Arena)


FIRST PERIOD:
Scoring -
1. Toronto, Eddie Snetsinger (4) (B. Sherrard, B. Elliott) 1:52 (2PP)
2. Toronto, Claudio Cowdrey (3) (C. McDonald, E. Snetsinger) 3:03 (PP)
3. McGill, Sam Bloom (4) (A. Picard-Hooper, M. Kovacevic) 9:47 (PP)

Penalties -
G. Doucet Mcg (slashing) 1:20,
K. Morin Mcg (slashing) 1:36,
B. Teich Tor (tripping) 3:52,
M. Delost Tor (tripping) 9:04,
M. Daneau Mcg (boarding) 16:40

SECOND PERIOD:
Scoring -
4. McGill, Guillaume Doucet (3) (V. Lambert, M. Dorion) 0:39
5. Toronto, Joe Rand (7) (S. Kliewer, B. Elliott) 9:24 (PP)
6. McGill, Marc-Andre Daneau (1) (Y. Turcotte, S. Marcotte-Legare) 10:52

Penalties -
K. Morin Mcg (cross checking) 9:11,
B. Elliott Tor (slashing) 11:07,
S. Kliewer Tor (interference) 14:06

THIRD PERIOD:
Scoring -
7. McGill, Eric L Italien (4) (G. Doucet, E. Stilling) 12:34
8. Toronto, Byron Elliott (10) (E. Snetsinger, B. Sherrard) 15:17 (2PP)

Penalties -
K. Morin Mcg (high sticking) 13:24,
K. Morin Mcg (GE56 ejection for 3 stick infractions) 13:24,
E. L Italien Mcg (tripping) 15:06,
C. Cowdrey Tor (interference) 15:34

OVERTIME (5-mins.)
Scoring -
(none)

Penalties -
(none)

SHOOTOUT
Round 1 - TOR - Kyle Ventura - No
Round 1 - MCG - Guillaume Doucet - Yes
Round 2 - TOR - Byron Elliott - No
Round 2 - MCG - Marko Kovacevic - No
Round 3 - TOR - Claudio Cowdrey - No

SHOTS ON GOAL:
MCG: 8 - 12 - 7 - 5 - 1 (33)
TOR: 10 - 7 - 17 - 8 - 0 (42)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
MCG: 1 - 2 - 1 - 0 - 1 -- 5
TOR: 2 - 1 - 1 - 0 - 0 -- 4

POWER PLAY CONVERSIONS:
McGill 1-5.
Toronto 4-6.

PENALTIES:
McGill 6/12.
Toronto 5/10.


GOALTENDERS:
McGill
Hubert Morin [W, 1-2-0; 65:00, SV: 38, GA: 4]

Toronto
Andrew Martin [L, 4-3-0; 65:00, SV: 28, GA: 4]


Start : 7:31 PM

End : 9:52 PM

Attendance : 150

Referee: Ed Munroe


MOLSON CUP THREE STARS
-----------------------------------
1. Guillaume Doucet, McGill
2. Hubert Morin, McGill
3. Eddie Snetsinger, Toronto


McGILL LINEUP SCRATCHES:
----------------------------------
G: Danny Mireault (dressed but DNP)
G: Jake Jarvis
D: Spencer Brennan
D: Glenn Tindle
F: Benoit Arsenault (eye)
F: Timothy Drager
F: Andrew Wright
F: Maxime Langelier-Parent (injd)