Final Results
Mar 04, 09 - 19:00

Redmen 3 - UQTR (Eastern Conference finals, Game 1) 1
OUA East Best-of-three Finals -- Non-conference Game

Game Report by Earl Zukerman

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Verrilli he rolls along, nets winner, stuns Pats
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TROIS-RIVIERES – Leonard Verrilli of Dollard des Ormeaux, Que., scored the game-winner as McGill clicked their heels three times on the power-play and shocked fifth-ranked UQTR 3-1 to take the opener of the OUA East Conference best-of-three final series at Le Colisée in Trois-Rivières, Wednesday.

It was only McGill’s fifth ever win in 19 lifetime playoff encounters on UQTR ice, a venue often considered a death trap for visiting teams.

McGill netminder Kevin Desfossés, a freshman from Beauport, Que., made 32 saves for the win and weathered a first-period onslaught in which the Patriotes outshot McGill 19-9. Desfossés, an all-star with the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts last year, stopped three breakaways in the game. He improved to 5-1 in post-season play and 11-3 overall since joining the Redmen in January.

Marko Kovacevic, a senior from Belgrade, Serbia, converted a rebound at 10:16 of the opening period and eight minutes later, Verrilli deflected a point shot to make it 2-0.

After a scoreless second period, rookie Francis Verreault-Paul gave the Redmen a commanding 3-0 at 3:25 of the final stanza. Etienne Bellavance-Martin replied three minutes later but it was too little, too late.

“I was happy that we were able to bounce back from a rough start to the game,” said head coach Martin Raymond, who collected his 290th career victory behind the McGill bench. “We seemed nervous at the start, handled the puck poorly and rushed our plays which resulted in a lot of turnovers. Desfossés came up with some key saves and kept us in the game until we gained our composure after that power play goal by Kovacevic. The second power play goal gave us momentum and we came out with a strong second period. We made better decisions and executed better plays after that.”

McGill, which owns a 24-13-2 record overall, is one victory away from qualifying for the CIS national championships. They could wrap up the series in their final home game of the season on Friday at 7 p.m. and a capacity crowd is expected at McConnell Arena, which seats 950, plus standing room.

“This series isn’t over by any stretch,” warned Raymond. “Carleton won their opening game in Trois-Rivières last week and we know what happened to them (a 2-1 series loss).”

REDMEN RAP: The McGill penalty-kill unit snuffed out all four UQTR power plays against a team that led the OUA with a 27.1 per cent success rate with the man-advantage… The Redmen power play went 3-for-7 despite the absence of senior Sam Bloom, who was second on the team in scoring during the regular season and was serving his second of a two-game suspension imposed last week on a disputed checking-from-behind call… A survey conducted by Redmen stats guru In-Ting Ho indicated that Quebec-based referees called 17 CFB penalties this season in games played at the three arenas used by Quebec university teams compared to 36 CFB infractions called by Ontario referees in the remaining 15 Ontario-based arenas… That averages out to 5.7 CFB penalties per Quebec ice surface and 2.4 CFB calls per Ontario arena.

SCORING SUMMARY

McGill 3 at UQTR 1

OUA EAST BEST-OF-THREE FINAL, Game 1)
(Mar 4, 2009 at Le Colisee)

FIRST PERIOD:
1, McGill, Marko Kovacevic 2 (Picard-Hooper, Dorion), 10:16 (pp).
2, McGill, Leonard Verrilli 1 (Turcotte, Picard-Hooper), 18:04 (pp).

Penalties

Doucet Mcg (tripping), 1:31;
Beaudin Uqtr (holding), 10:05;
Desilets Uqtr (interference), 10:41;
Boutin Uqtr (roughing), 16:08;
Litalien Mcg (slashing), 19:08.

SECOND PERIOD:
(no scoring)

Penalties
Richard Uqtr (hooking), 10:54;
Morin Mcg (roughing), 14:38;
Verrilli Mcg (tripping), 15:59;
Breton Uqtr (hooking), 18:29.

THIRD PERIOD:
3, McGill, Francis Verreault-Paul 2 (Kovacevic, Gazdic), 3:25 (pp).
4, UQTR, Etienne Bellavance-Martin 1 (Breton), 6:42.

Penalties
Leblanc Uqtr (holding), 2:20;
Demers Uqtr (high sticking), 14:38;
Boutin Uqtr (slashing), 20:00.

SHOTS BY PERIOD:
McGill 9-14-5 -- 28.
UQTR 19-6-8 -- 33.

GOALS BY PERIOD:
McGill 2-0-1 -- 3
UQTR 0-0-1 -- 1

POWER-PLAY OPPORTUNITIES:
McGill 3 of 7;
UQTR 0 of 4.

PENALTIES (No./Mins.):
McGill 4/8;
UQTR 8/16.

GOALTENDERS:

McGill:
Kevin Desfosses [W, 5-1, 33 shots-32 saves; 60:00].

UQTR:
Michael Dupont [L, 2-1, 28 shots-25 saves; 58:46].
Empty-net [1:14, 0 GA].

Referee - Dominic Bedard.

MOLSON CUP THREE STARS:
1. Kevin Desfosses, McGill
2. Marko Kovacevic, McGill
3. Yan Turcotte, McGill

McGILL LINEUP:
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FORWARD:
Lambert, Verreault-Paul, L’Italien
Kovacevic, Picard-Hooper, Doucet
Wright, Marcotte, Daneau
Vossen, Langelier-Parent, Verrilli

DEFENCE:
Morin, Stilling
Turcotte, Dorion
Valente , Gazdic

GOAL:
Desfosses

McGILL LINEUP SCRATCHES:
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G: Danny Mireault (dressed but DNP)
G: Hubert Morin
G: Jake Jarvis
D: Spencer Brennan (injd)
D: Ben Morse
D: Glenn Tindle
F: Benoit Arsenault (injd)
F: Sam Bloom (serving two-game suspension)
F: Tim Drager