Final Results
Feb 09, 07 - 19:30

Final Results
Feb 11, 07 - 19:00

Redmen 2 - UQTR 2 (OT)

Game Report by Earl Zukerman

MONTREAL – Team captain Benoit Martin scored with 2.9 seconds remaining in regulation time as ninth-ranked McGill pulled their goalie for an extra attacker and rallied to earn a 2-2 overtime tie with No.8 UQTR in the OUA men’s hockey season finale, at McConnell Arena, Sunday night.

The Patriotes, who haven’t won a regular season game at McGill in their last seven tries dating back to 2003, finished atop the OUA East Conference with a 17-8-3 record and earned a first-round playoff bye. McGill (15-8-5), which ended up second in the division and third in the conference, will open their best-of-three quarterfinal playoff series at home to Concordia on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Game 2 is slated for Friday at Concordia’s Ed Meagher Arena. If a third game is needed, it will be play at McGill next Sunday night.

Martin, a fifth-year centre from Gaspe, Que., who had seven shots on net and also set up Louis-Simon Allaire’s opening goal at 7:41 of the first period, has a knack for scoring dramatic goals. He tallied an overtime winner against the Pats in McGill’s 1-0 victory last October. He also scored in double OT last spring when McGill eliminated UQTR in the conference final and advanced to the CIS national championship for the first time in McGill history.

Allaire, a sophomore rearguard from Sherbrooke, also posted a pair of points, including his 10th marker of the season, which ranks second among OUA defencemen and tied him for the fourth-best offensive output ever by a McGill blueliner. The 5-foot-10, 195-pounder has scored points in six of McGill’s last seven contests with a 4-7-11 total during that span.

The Patriotes tied the game on a 5-on-3 power play goal by Nicolas Caouette at 15:25 of the opening period and then took a 2-1 lead at 7:25 of the third when Christian Laroche found himself all alone in the slot and then deked McGill netminder Mathieu Poitras, who has a 9-6-3 record in 18 starts.

The Redmen outshot UQTR 33-27, including a 16-5 edge in the third period. Fifth-year senior Dany Dallaire started in nets for the Patriotes and turned aside 15 of 16 shots before giving way to understudy Sylvain Michaud after two periods. Michaud was credited with the tie and has a 7-3-1 record.

REDMEN RAP: Shawn Shewchuk, who had two assists in the contest, extended his point-scoring streak to eight consecutive games and has compiled a 5-11-16 record during that span… McGill head coach Martin Raymond dressed only 18 players, two below the norm, as the Redmen have been saddled by a rash of injuries… Among the newest scratches were forwards Eric L’Italien and Sam Bloom, the team’s second and fourth-leading scorers, respectively, plus D Steven Pearce… Excluding goaltenders, the eight roster players who did not play were all injured…Referee Nicolas Dutil had to leave the game for stitches midway through the opening period after suffered a facial laceration in a collision near the penalty box. He returned to start the second period but not before his linesmen had called two minor penalties, both against the Redmen, minutes after Dutil left the ice surface… McGill ended up taking 24 of the 38 penalty minutes assessed in the game… It marked the third straight contest – but only the ninth time in 28 games -- that the normally disciplined Redmen had more penalty minutes than their opponents… The Redmen will meet Concordia in post-season play for the 10th time overall but the first time since 2001… McGill has a 5-4 edge in playoff series won against the Stingers but has won only nine of 18 playoff games…The Redmen are 12-1-3 in their last 16 meetings with Concordia, including a current 9-0-1 undefeated streak and haven’t lost since a 3-1 setback on Jan. 22, 2005 at McConnell Arena.

SCORING SUMMARY

UQTE 2, McGill 2
(@ McConnell Arena)

FIRST PERIOD:
1. McGill - L.ouis-Simon Allaire (B. Martin, S. Shewchuk) - 07:41
2. UQTR - Nicolas Caouette (C. Laroche, N. Desilets) - PP 15:25

Penalties:
McGill - Y. Turcotte (Misconduct) , 10 min , 12:05
McGill - L.S. Allaire (Cross-check) , 2 min , 13:55
McGill - D. Urquhart (Hold) , 2 min , 14:46

SECOND PERIOD:
(no scoring)

Penalties:
McGill - K. Morin (Interfere) , 2 min , 01:20
McGill - D. Urquhart (Board) , 2 min , 02:58
UQTR - T. Poudrier (Interfere) , 2 min , 03:18
UQTR - . Blanchette (Rough) , 2 min , 06:05
McGill - Y. Turcotte (Interfere) , 2 min , 18:32

THIRD PERIOD:
3. UQTR - Christian Laroche (F. Lavoie, V. Blanchette) - 07:25
4. McGill - Benoit Martin (L.S. Allaire, S. Shewchuk) - PP 19:51

Penalties:
UQTR - F. Lavoie (Hold) , 2 min , 02:20
UQTR - . Blanchette (High-stick) , 2 min , 05:02
UQTR - M. Simoneau (Cross-check) , 2 min , 08:23
McGill - D. Pharand (Hook) , 2 min , 11:26
UQTR - N. Desilets (Hook) , 2 min , 15:17
UQTR - C. Laroche (Hold) , 2 min , 19:07

OVERTIME PERIOD:
(no scoring)

Penalties:
McGill - D. Pharand (High-stick) , 2 min , 01:02

GOALTENDERS:

UQTR:
Dany Dallaire (Start, ND; 1GA, 15 saves, 40:00)
Sylvain Michaud (T; 7-3-1; 1GA, 16 saves, 25:00)

McGill:
Mathieu Poitras (T, 9-6-3; 2GA, 25 saves, 59:10)
Emty-net: (0GA; 0:50)

GOALS BY PERIOD
TEAM: 1 2 3 4 Total
UQTR 1 0 1 0 2
McGill 1 0 1 0 2

SHOTS BY PERIOD
TEAM: 1 2 3 4 Total
UQTR 12 9 5 1 27
McGill 8 8 16 1 33

PENALTIES (No./ Mins.):
UQTR: 7/14
McG: 8/24

POWER PLAY (No./ Mins.):
UQTR: 1/7
McG: 1/7

REFEREE: Nicolas Dutil

ATTENDANCE: 513

MOLSON CUP THREE GAME STARS:
1. Benoit Martin, McGill
2. Christian Laroche, UQTR
3. Teddy Kyres, McGill

McGILL LINEUP SCRATCHES:
----------------------------------
G Jean-Michel Filiatrault (dressed but DNP)
G Jake Jarvis
D Erik Stilling (injd)
D Steve Pearce (injd)
C Benoit Arsenault (injd)
F Charles Gauthier (injd)
F Chris Churchill-Smith (injd)
F Eric L’Italien (injd)
F Sam Bloom (injd)
F Marko Kovacevic (injd)

------------------------------

Redmen to face archrival Stingers in playoffs Feb 12, 07 Ice Hockey (M)

By RANDY PHILLIPS, The Gazette

Redmen face archrival Stingers in playoffs
-------------------------------------------------
OUA quarterfinals: First postseason matchup since 2001 for local schools

RANDY PHILLIPS
(reprinted from The Gazette)

McGill and Concordia are set to go toe-to-toe during the playoffs in men's university hockey.

The ninth-ranked Redmen will host the Concordia Stingers in the first game of an OUA East Conference best-of-three quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at McConnell Arena.

It will be the first meeting in the postseason between the crosstown rivals since 2001.

Both teams concluded the 28-game regular season yesterday. McGill played to a 2-2 tie with the No. 8 Trois Rivieres Patriotes at McConnell Arena a few hours after the Stingers lost 5-1 to the Ottawa Gee-Gees at Concordia's Ed Meagher Arena.

McGill faced the Patriotes with no chance to unseat the first-place Pats in the Far East Division, but both teams were in playoff mode throughout, keenly aware of the possibility of meeting deep in the postseason.

"We tried hard to play well with three lines because of so many injuries and, except for the second period tonight, I think we did a pretty good job," said McGill captain Benoit Martin, who scored the tying goal with 2.9 seconds left in regulation with the Redmen on the power play and goaltender Mathieu Poitras out for an extra attacker.

"We played tough against a tough team. That's the way it's going to be every game from now on," said Martin, who also had an assist in the game.

The Pats took a 2-1 lead on a goal by Christian Laroche at 7:25 of the third period. He also drew an assist on a power-play goal by Nicolas Caouette at 15:25 of the first as the Patriotes erased a 1-0 deficit after defenceman Louis-Simon Allaire's 10th of the season at 7:41 the period.

McGill outshot Trois Rivieres 33-27, 16-5 in the third period.

The story was different at Concordia, where the Stingers played a lacklustre game after learning Saturday night that they clinched a playoff berth because of a 4-4 tie between Ryerson and Royal Military College, which Concordia had battled for the last of six spots.

"What you saw today were some tired kids," Concordia head coach Kevin Figsby said. "When you play five games in seven days and know that going into today, we had our playoff berth locked up, what you saw was an expression of the guys just letting off some fatigue out there."

Troy Duncan scored on a second-period penalty shot and added an assist in the Gee-Gees' win. Keven Gagne and Billy Triantafilos each had a goal and an assist, and Colin Keith also had a goal, opening the scoring for Ottawa at 2:57 of the first period.

Left-wing Trevor Blanchard scored Concordia's lone goal in the second period.

The Stingers outshot Ottawa 43-29, including 18-9 in the third.

"Mentally and physically, we were tired and once we fell behind today, we started making some basic mistakes," Figsby said. "But the guys are elated."

Third-place Ottawa faces the fourth-place Queen's Golden Gaels in the other conference quarterfinal.

Trois Rivieres and the Toronto Varsity Blues enjoy first-round byes for finishing first in the Far East and East Divisions, respectively, and third and second overall in the conference.

Martlets rebound: Olympian Charline Labonte made 18 saves as the No. 1-ranked McGill Martlets rebounded from their first loss in 27 games against CIS opponents with a 2-0 over the Carleton Ravens in a women's hockey game in Ottawa.

McGill got goals from rookie Amy Soberano on a first-period power play and Christine Hartnoll in the third period.

The Martlets lost 2-1 to the Gee-Gees in Ottawa Saturday.

rphillips@thegazette.canwest.com

© The Gazette (Montreal) 2007