TROIS-RIVIERES - Francis Verreault-Paul of Mashteuiatsh, Que., scored once and added a pair of helpers but it was all in vain as No.2-ranked McGill fell 4-3 in a post-overtime shootout against UQTR in men's university hockey at Le Colisee, Wednesday.

 

Francis Charland scored the only marker in the six-player shootout - on UQTR's last shot - to give the Patriotes the victory, their first in five meetings with the Redmen, dating back to last February.

 

The Redmen had a 33-26 edge in shots, including an 11-5 margin in the opening period.

 

The Pats, who have into overtime in four of their last five contests, jumped into an early 2-0 lead on goals by Pierre-Alexandre Joncas at 5:03 and Guillaume Chicoine (shorthanded) at 7:30 but the Redmen rallied with three consecutive markers before the period was over.

 

Toronto native Andrew Wright tallied his first of two, on the power-play, at 8:44 and Verreault-Paul netted the equalizer 43 seconds later. Wright scored the go-ahead goal at 18:05.

 

After a scoreless middle frame, the Pats forced overtime when Alexandre Demers knotted the score at 3-3 with 5:25 remaining in regulation time.

 

McGill had a chance to win the game late in the five-minute overtime period when Charland was assessed a hooking penalty with 25 seconds remaining.

 

In the shootout, Redmen snipers Guillaume Doucet, Alexandre Picard-Hooper and Verreault-Paul were all thwarted by goaltender Jean-Christophe Blanchard who was credited with 30 saves to register the victory and improved his record to 8-4. Redmen rookie Antoine Tardif, who was making his first start against the Pats, posted 22 saves and saw his unblemished record fall to 5-1.

 

McGill (14-0-2) will close out the first semester with back-to-back home games against Ottawa (9-4-2) Dec. 3-4. Both contests are slated for 7 p.m.

 

The Patriotes (11-5) close out their first half with home games against Carleton (10-4-2) and Queen's (5-8-2) on the same dates.

 

REDMEN RAP: The three-point performance by Verreault-Paul moved him back atop the OUA scoring race with 22 goals and 33 points in 14 league games... Breathing down his collar are two rookies from the Ottawa Gee-Gees: Kyle Ireland (15-18-33) and Luc Bain (10-22-32)... McGill's Picard-Hooper set up a pair of goals. He now leads the nation in assists and sits fourth in the OUA scoring race with 4-26-30 in 16 games... Redmen rearguard Marc-Andre Dorion is seventh among OUA scoring leaders and the top-scoring blueliner in the nations with 6-20-26 in 16 games... Goaltenders Tardif (2.16) and Hubert Morin (2.27) are ranked third and fourth among OUA leaders in goals-against average.

 

SCORING SUMMARY

McGill 3 at UQTR 4 (OTS)

(Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - Le Colisee)

1st Period-

1, UQTR, Pierre-Alexandre Joncas 1 (Jeff Desjardins, Guillaume Chicoine), 5:03.

2, UQTR, Guillaume Chicoine 6 (Joncas, Maxime Robichaud), 7:30 (SH).

3, McGill, Andrew Wright 7 (Francis Verreault-Paul, Marc-Andre Dorion), 8:44 (PP).

4, McGill, Francis Verreault-Paul 22 (Stephen Valente, Alex Picard-Hooper), 9:27.

5, McGill, Andrew Wright 8 (Francis Verreault-Paul, Alex Picard-Hooper), 18:05.

 

Penalties-

Lessard UQTR (interference), 6:22;

Boudreau UQTR (hooking), 8:26;

Verreault-Paul Mcg (holding), 11:49;

Demers UQTR (roughing), 11:49.

 

2nd Period-

No Scoring.

 

Penalties-

Wright Mcg (tripping), 4:02;

Robichaud UQTR (roughing), 11:33;

Langelier-Parent Mcg (interference), 14:12;

Levesque Mcg (tripping), 16:59.

 

3rd Period-

6, UQTR, Alexandre Demers 5 (Guillaume Chicoine, Pierre-Luc Lessard), 14:35.

 

Penalties-

Doucet Mcg (high-sticking dble minor), 0:14;

Chicoine UQTR (hooking), 9:14.

 

 

OVERTIME-

No Scoring.

 

Penalties-

Charland UQTR (hooking), 4:35;

Demers UQTR (10-minute misconduct), 4:35.

 

SHOOTOUT (McGill shoots first):

McGill 0

(Guillaume Doucet NG, Alex Picard-Hooper NG, Francis Verreault-Paul NG),

 

UQTR 1

(Felis Petit NG, Jean-Sebastien Breton NG, Francis Charland GOAL).

 

GOALS BY PERIOD:

McGill 3-0-0-0-0 -- 3

UQTR 2-0-1-0-1 -- 4

 

Shots on Goal-

McGill 11-5-13-4-0 -- 33.

UQTR 5-9-8-3-1 -- 26.

 

Power Play Opportunities-

McGill 1 / 5 (+1 SHG against);

UQTR 0 / 5.

 

Penalties-

McGill 6 / 12;

UQTR 7 / 22.

 

Goalies-

McGill, Antoine Tardif (L, 5-1, 25 shots-22 saves; 65:00).

UQTR, Jean-Christophe Blanchard (W, 8-4, 33 shots-30 saves, 65:00).

 

Attendance: 264

Start: 7:06 PM

End: 9:27 PM

Length: 2:21

 

Referee-Jean-Philippe Sylvain.

 

MOLSON CUP THREE STARS:

1. UQTR - 26 Francis Charland
2. MCG - 18 Francis Verreault-Paul
3. UQTR - 58 Guillaume Chicoine