Final Results
Jan 20, 07 - 19:00

Redmen 2 - Ottawa 5

Game Report by JOHN MEAGHER, The Gazette

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Gee-Gees 5, Redmen 2.
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Gee-Gees take full advantage as power play deserts Redmen; McGill has yet to connect with the man advantage in its past two games

By JOHN MEAGHER,
(reprinted from The Gazette)

The Ottawa Gee-Gees surprised the McGill Redmen last night with a 5-2 win in men’s university hockey action at McConnell Arena.

Ottawa’s Pierre-Andre Leblanc scored the winning goal at 14:51 of the third period when he whacked a bouncing puck past McGill goalie Jean-Michel Filiatrault, snapping a 2-2 deadlock.

The Gee-Gees then potted two empty-net goals to salt away the win.

"Give Ottawa credit, they played a good game tonight," Redmen head coach Martin Raymond said. "We had a few good scoring chances, but we couldn’t get our power play working."

The Redmen, who were 0-for-4 on the power play last night, fell to 11-6-3-1 in the Far East Division standings.

Raymond is not worried about his team’s lack of power-play scoring, despite also going 0-for-8 in Friday’s 4-2 win over Concordia.

"All the teams in this division are playing us good defensively. Ottawa shut us down and a couple of bounces didn’t go our way," he said.

The third-place Gee-Gees (6-13-3-2) trail the second-place Redmen by seven points in the standings. The Redmen lead the lifetime series 72-71-10 against the Gee-Gees.

"We always have close games with Ottawa," Raymond noted.

Ottawa right-winger Troy Duncan opened the scoring at 4:06 of the first period when he unleashed a wrist shot that beat goalie Filiatrault and went in off the cross bar.

McGill’s Marko Kovacevic, the Serbian sophomore, evened it up a couple of minutes later when he snapped a shot past Ottawa goalie Jordan Watt. McGill rookie Leonard Verrilli put the Redmen ahead 2-1 only 51 seconds later.

Filiatrault had to make some key stops early. But the Gee-Gees continued pressing and Keven Gagne tied the score at 2-2 at 18:20 of the first when he burst past the McGill defence and slipped the puck under Filiatrault.

The Gee-Gees had the best scoring chances of the second period, but Filiatrault was up to the task. He made a nice glove save on Dan McDonald’s backhand and later got a pad on a low shot by Paul Gauthier, who skated away shaking his head.

McGill’s Benoit Martin nearly scored a shorthanded marker in the period’s final minute, but he couldn’t control a bouncing puck.

Filiatrault, backup to Mathieu Poitras, has a 4-2-1 record with two shutouts. He went into last night’s game with a CIS-leading 1.81 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage, second-best in the country.

Ottawa’s two empty-net goals were scored by Ben McLeod, at 19:09 of the third, and Rob Jarvis at 19:21, a short-handed effort.

Today, the first-place UQTR Patriotes (13-5-2-3) visit the fourth-place Concordia Stingers (4-14-2-0). The puck drops at 3 p.m. at Ed Meagher Arena.

NOTES- Redmen players, coaches and alumni were saddened to hear that former McGill defenceman Martin Trudel has been re-admitted to the Montreal Neurological Institute with a brain tumour for the second time.

Trudel, a 32-year-old chiropractor from LaSarre, played three seasons for the Redmen from 1994-97, while earning Academic All-Canadian honours. He also made the Principal’s Student-Athlete Honour Roll and graduated with a physical-education degree. He and his wife, Manon, have a 3-year-old daughter....

Redmen centre Benoit Arsenault crawled off the ice in the second period after colliding with an opponent, and did not return.

© The Gazette (Montreal) 2007

SCORING SUMMARY

Ottawa 5, Redmen 2 (2 ENGS)

FIRST PERIOD:
1. Ottawa - Troy Duncan (unassisted) - 4:06
2. McGill - Marko Kovacevic (unassisted) - 6:16
3. McGill - Leonard Verrilli (B. Arsenault) - 7:07
4. Ottawa - Kevin Gagne (J.C. Milot) - 18:20

Penalties:
McGill - L. Verrilli (Interference), 15:18

SECOND PERIOD:
No Scoring

Penalties:
Ottawa - P. Gauthier (Hook), 5:54
McGill - S. Pearce (Hook), 19:50

THIRD PERIOD:
5. Ottawa - Pierre-Andre LeBlanc (C. MacDonald) - 14:51
6. Ottawa - Ben McLeod (unassisted ) - 19:06 (ENG)
7. Ottawa - Rob Jervis (C. MacDonald ) - 19:29 (ENG & SH)

Penalties:
Ottawa - M. Curadeau (Slash), 04:31
Ottawa - N. Vernelli (Hook), 10:57
Ottawa - B. McLeod (Hook), 19:13

GOALTENDERS:
McGill:
Jean-Michel Filiatrault (L, 4-2-1, 3GA, 27 Saves, 59:17)
Empty Net (2GA, 00:43)

Concordia:
Jordan Watt (W, 2-5-0, 2GA, 24 Saves, 60:00)

SHOTS BY PERIOD
Team 1 2 3 -- Total
McGill 10 7 9 -- 26
Ottawa 12 11 9 -- 32

GOALS BY PERIOD
Team 1 2 3 -- Total
McGill 2 0 0 -- 2
Ottawa 2 0 3 -- 5

PENALTIES (No./Mins)
Ottawa (4/8)
McGill (2/4)

POWERPLAYS (Goals/Chances)
Ottawa (0/2) + 1SHG
McGill (0/4)

ATTENDANCE: 497

REFEREE: Nicolas Dutil

MOLSON CUP 3 GAME STARS
(selected by John Meagher of The Gazette):

1. Jordan Watt, Ottawa
2. Jean-Michel Filiatrault, McGill
3. Pierre-Andre Leblanc, Ottawa