Picard-Hooper sparks Redmen win over Gee-Gees
[ANDREW WRIGHT'S APPARENT POWER PLAY GOAL WAS DISALLOWED AS THE REFEREE RULED THAT THE NET WAS OFF ITS MOORINGS. PHOTO BY DEREK DRUMMOND]
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MONTREAL - Alexandre Picard-Hooper of Boucherville, Que., scored the insurance goal and added an assist as No.2-ranked McGill tripled the Ottawa Gee-Gees 3-1 in OUA men's hockey action at McConnell Arena, Friday.
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It snapped Ottawa's seven game-win streak and marked the 14th consecutive Redmen victory over the Gee-Gees since a 3-2 playoff loss in the nation's capital on Feb. 20, 2009. McGill is now 91-77-10 lifetime against Ottawa.
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McGill, which had a 36-22 margin in shots, broke open a scoreless game with a pair of goals during the first three minutes of the second period.
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They clicked of a 5-on-3 power-play at the 46-second mark when Christophe Longpre-Poirier of Longueuil, Que., converted passes from Picard-Hooper and point-man Marc-Andre Dorion of St. Hubert, Que.
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Team captain Evan Vossen, a fifth-year senior from Swift Current, Sask., then beat Ottawa netminder Russell Abbott to complete a nifty three-way passing play at the 3:10 mark. Blueliners Hubert Genest of Quebec City and Dorion each drew assists on the goal.
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Picard-Hooper gave McGill some breathing room with his fourth goal of the season at 4:25 of the final stanza. The goal was set up by Andrew Wright of Toronto and Ryan McKiernan of White Plains, N.Y.
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The Redmen maintained their slim perch atop the OUA East with a 14-1-2 record, one point ahead of UQTR (14-5-1), which defeated Careleton 7-5.
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The third-place Gee-Gees, coached by former Redmen defenceman and assistant coach Real Paiement, fell to 11-7-1.
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"Ottawa is a big, physical, well-coached team," said McGill head coach Kelly Nobes. "Considering that, I thought we played a complete game tonight. We were solid for 60 minutes, our penalty-killing unit was not scored upon (in five shorthanded situations) and our PP scored twice."
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The Redmen were officially 1-for-8 with the man-advantage as an apparent power-play marker by Wright was disallowed by referee Alexandre Cote.
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Senior goaltender Hubert Morin registered 21 saves for the victory, improving his record to 8-2. He now ranks second among all OUA goalies with a stingy 1.98 goals-against average and sits fourth with a .922 save percentage. He owns a 42-9 lifetime record in league play and is a dozen victories shy of the school's all-time record of 54 regular season wins by Mathieu Poitras, who played from 2004 to 2008.
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Dorion improved his team-leading total to 27 points in 17 games, tops among all CIS defencemen. The 5-foot-11, 185-pound senior, who has had tryouts with three NHL teams, was voted as the most outstanding CIS defenceman as a sophomore and looks to be the leading candidate to win the award again this season.
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McGill will complete their back-to-back home-stand then they host much-improved Ryerson on Saturday night at 7 p.m. The Rams are 7-7-3 and expected to arrive at McConnell Arena in ill humour, in the wake of a 3-2 overtime loss at RMC on Friday.
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REDMEN RAP: Missing from the McGill lineup was sniper Francis Verreault-Paul, who made the 6.5 hour trek home to Mashteuiatsh, Que., on Tuesday to attend the funeral of a cousin. He is expected back in time for the Ryerson game... While he was missing, the Redmen welcomed back Marc-Andre Daneau, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound senior winger from Daveluyville, Que., who was making his season debut after suffering a knee injury in the season opener at Lakehead. "It was great to get Marc back in the lineup," said Nobes. "His energy and PK skill were missed and it makes us a better team to finally have him healthy."
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SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
McGill Athletics & Recreation
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
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SCORING SUMMARY
Ottawa 1 at McGill 3
(Friday, January 6, 2012 - McConnell Arena)
GOALS BY PERIOD:
Ottawa 0-1-0 -- 1
McGill 0-2-1 -- 3
1st Period-
(No Scoring).
Penalties-
Foucher Ott (hooking), 0:44;
Longpre-Poirier Mcg (inter. on goaltender), 5:51;
Picard-Hooper Mcg (roughing), 8:12;
Krahenbil Ott (cross checking), 16:11;
Chamberland Ott (high sticking), 18:49;
Donovan Ott (slashing), 18:49.
2nd Period-
1, McGill, Christophe
Longpre-Poirier 4 (A. Picard-Hooper, M.A. Dorion), 0:46
(PP).
2, McGill, Evan Vossen 9 (M.A. Dorion, H. Genest),
3:10.
3, Ottawa, Kyle Ireland 3 (M. White, J.B. Voyer),
16:59.
Penalties-
Laporte Mcg (cross checking), 1:33;
Ireland Ott (tripping), 1:41;
Blain Ott (hooking), 4:12;
Forster Ott (roughing), 8:42;
Laporte Mcg (holding), 8:42;
Vossen Mcg (roughing), 8:42;
Blunden Ott (holding), 9:34;
Bourgeois Mcg (holding opp. stick), 12:48.
3rd Period-
4, McGill, Alex
Picard-Hooper 4 (A. Wright, R. McKiernan), 4:25.
Penalties-
Burns Ott (interference), 6:52;
Blunden Ott (roughing), 19:13;
White Ott (10-minute misconduct), 19:13;
Vossen Mcg (roughing), 19:13.
Shots on Goal-
Ottawa 9-9-4 -- 22.
McGill 13-15-8 -- 36.
Power Play Opportunities-
Ottawa 0 / 5;
McGill 1 / 8.
Penalties-
Ottawa 11 / 30;
McGill 7 / 14.
Goalies-
Ottawa, Russell
Abbott (L, 7-7-0; 36 shots-33 saves; 59:12).
McGill, Hubert Morin (W, 8-2-0; 22 shots-21 saves;
60:00).
Start: 7:04 PM
End: 9:19 PM
Length: 2:15
Att-312
Referee-Alexandre Cote.
Linesmen-Jeremy Noreau, Francois Clermont.
MOLSON CUP THREE STARS:
1. MCG - 9
Alex Picard-Hooper
2. MCG - 10 Marc-Andre Dorion
3. MCG - 26 Christophe Longpre-Poirier