No.4-Pats snooze but Redmen lose in OT thriller
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PHOTO CAPTION: Fans are already clamoring for tickets to the annual
Queen's-McGill matchup at McConnell Arena on Saturday. It is
strongly advised to purchase advance tickets at the Redbird Sport
Shop inside the Currie Gym. PHOTO BY ANDREW DOBROWOLSKYJ.
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TROIS-RIVIERES, Que. – Jonathan Boutin scored a power play goal at
3:54 of sudden-death overtime as No.4-ranked UQTR edged McGill 3-2
in Trois-Rivières, Wednesday.
It was the second win over McGill in five nights for the
division-leading Patriotes, who improved to 7-1. The Redmen fell to
0-5, the team’s poorest start since 1982-83 when they dropped their
first eight contests en route to posting an 11-19-0 regular season
record.
Nontheless, the Redmen came away with their first point of the
season and the realization that they could outskate and outhustle
the snoozing giants who had beaten McGill handily, 7-3, at
McConnell Arena last Friday.
McGill, which iced a depleted lineup, were missing the services of
senior sniper Sam Bloom (flu) and super sophomore Simon
Marcotte-Légaré (groin), among others.
Despite the absence of key offensive players, McGill managed to
outshoot a potent Pats team 32-31, including a 12-5 margin in the
third stanza.
Boutin, a former Shawinigan star in the QMJHL, was in on all three
UQTR markers, assisting on Mathieu Gravel’s goal that evened the
score at 1-1 early in the second period. Boutin then put the Pats
ahead 2-1 with a shorthanded tally midway through the third
frame.
After a scoreless first period, Eric L’Italien, a fifth-year senior
from Quebec City, had given the Redmen a 1-0 advantage just 26
seconds into the middle stanza. It was the 100th career point for
L’Italien, in his second year of law school after graduating with a
psychology degree. The speedy right winger now sports a career
record of 45-55-100 in 156 career contests over his McGill career.
His next targeted milestone is slated to occur in the playoffs. He
needs to dress in 32 more games to break the all-time school record
of 187 held since 1986 by Paul Barber.
McGill’s other marker was scored by freshman Francis Verrault-Paul
of Mashteviatsh, Que., who forced overtime at 12:42 of the third
period.
The Redmen will now turn their attention on facing Royal Military
College (3-5-0) and Queen’s (4-4-1), to celebrate the annual
Friends of McGill Hockey alumni homecoming weekend.
The RMC contest, slated for Friday at 7 p.m., will feature a couple
of former Redmen defencemen behind their bench. The Paladins are
led by head coach Adam Shell (BCom ’03), who played for and coached
with Martin Raymond. Shell, who has a 1-1 lifetime coaching record
against his former mentor, will be joined behind the bench by Chad
Blundy, who played five seasons for the Red and White, graduating
with a kinesiology degree in 2005.
The Queen’s contest, scheduled for Saturday () at 7
p.m., is expected to be a sellout so fans are encouraged to
purchase tickets in advance at the Redbird Sports Shop, located
inside the Currie Gym at 475 Pine Avenue West.
It will mark the first meeting between these long-time rivals since
McGill swept a two-game OUA Eastern semifinal series last february,
which avenged their only previous playoff rendez-vous versus
Queen’s, an 8-2 setback for the league championship on March 7,
1910.
McGill has won 11 consecutive games over the Gaels and 51 of the
last 56 meetings. The Redmen lead their all-time series versus
Queen’s with a 104-50-2 record, dating back 1895. As part of the
festivities, a Redmen “oldtimers” game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
on Saturday, followed by the Gaels-Redmen affair and a post-game
meet-the-players mixer in the Alumni Lounge at McConnell
Arena.
REDMEN RAP: Centres Guillaume Doucet and Maxime Langelier-Parent
posted impressive numbers in the faceoff circle against UQTR…
Doucet, a sophomore from Montreal, was 18-8-2 on his draws, while
Langelier-Parent won 11 of 13… Former Redmen All-Canadian rearguard
Bryan Larkin was visiting from England, and dropped by McConnell
Arena earlier in the week to visit with Martin Raymond, his
ex-teammate at McGill, who is now in his 14th season as head coach…
Larkin patrolled the Redmen blueline from 1988 to 1991…Â
Centre Benoit Arsenault, a management junior from Rimouski, Que.,
missed his seventh consecutive game since suffering a detached
retina after being struck in the eye by an errant high stick, on a
play that went unpenalized, in a preseason contest at Waterloo,
Sept. 27. Arsenault was not expected back in the lineup before
January but he reports that his latest medical evaluationÂ
indicates he may miss the remainder of the season… Forward Jeremy
Burgess, a junior from Toronto, has left the team to focus on his
studies.
SCORING SUMMARY
McGill 2 at UQTR 3 (OT)
FIRST PERIOD:
Scoring -
(No Scoring)
Penalties -
N. Desilets UQTR (hooking) 0:55,
S. Bellefleur UQTR (boarding) 3:50,
M. Langelier-Parent MCG (interference) 6:10,
A. Joanisse UQTR (interference) 17:24
SECOND PERIOD:
Scoring -
1. McGill, Eric Litalien (1) (unassisted)Â 0:26Â
2. UQTR, Mathieu Gravel (3) (A. Demers, J. Boutin) 4:16Â
Penalties -
A. Joanisse UQTR (tripping) 7:49,
J. Breton UQTR (slashing) 15:53
THIRD PERIOD:
Scoring -
3. UQTR, Jonathan Boutin (8)Â Â 10:00 SH
4. McGill, Francis Verrault-Paul (2) (A. Picard-Hooper, B. Morse)
12:42Â
Penalties -
E. Beaudin UQTR (checking from behind, game misconduct) 9:01,
L. Verrilli MCG (tripping) 13:57,
A. Demers UQTR (hooking) 18:21
OVERTIME (5-min. sudden-death)
Scoring -
5. UQTR, Jonathan Boutin (9) (T. Lafontaine, G. Chicoine) 3:54
PP
Penalties -
M.A. Dorion MCG (slashing) 3:13
SHOTS BY PERIOD:
MCG: 13 - 7 - 12 - 0 -- 32
UQTR: 7 - 16 - 5 - 3 -- 31
GOALS BY PERIOD:
McGill 0-1-1-0 (2)
UQTR 0-1-1-1 (3)
POWER PLAY CONVERSIONS:
McGill 0-7.
UQTR 1-3.
PENALTIES (No./Mins.):
McGill 3-6
UQTR 8-24
GOALTENDERS:
McGill
Danny Mireault [L] 0-3-0, 63:54 SV: 28 GA: 3
UQTR
Jean-Christophe Blanchard [W] 6-0-0, 63:54, SV: 30 GA: 2
Start : 7:06 PM
End : 9:16 PM
Attendance : 432
Referee: Pascal St-Jacques
MOLSON CUP THREE STARS:
1. Jonathan Boutin, UQTR
2. Eric L’Italien, McGill
3. Jean-Christophe Blanchard, UQTR
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McGILL LINEUP SCRATCHES:
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G: *Hubert Morin (dressed but DNP)
G:Â Â Jake Jarvis
D: *Spencer Brennan
D: *Glenn Tindle
F:Â Â Benoit Arsenault (eye injury)
F:Â Â Sam Bloom (flu)
F: *Tim Drager
F:Â Â Simon Marcotte (injd)
F:Â Â Jeremy Burgess (has left the team)
*freshman