(PHOTO OF ANDREW WRIGHT BY ANDREW DOBROWOLSKYJ)

 

OTTAWA - Andrew Wright of Toronto tallied twice and added four helpers as McGill cruised to a 10-5 playoff victory over the Ottawa Gee-Gees, Friday, sweeping their OUA East best-of-three men's hockey quarter-final series in two games.

The 10 goals scored by the Redmen broke a 23-year-old single-game school record for post-season play, surpassing the previous standard set in a 9-6 win over Concordia on Feb. 24, 1988.

McGill took a stranglehold 6-0 lead in the opening period, tying the team playoff record for most goals in a period, set on Feb. 28, 1988 in an 8-5 win over Concordia. Five of the goals came on the power-play as the undisciplined Gee-Gees found themselves shorthanded four times, including a cross-checking major. It took the Redmen less than 30 seconds to score on each of their first three power-plays.

The Redmen also had two-goal efforts from veterans Francis Verreault-Paul of Mashteuiatsh, Que., Guillaume Doucet of Anjou, Que., and Simon Marcotte-Légaré of Longueuil, Que. Rounding out the scoring for McGill was Alex Picard-Hooper, who finished with five points, and defenceman Stephen Valente whose empty-netter shot from well behind his own blueline, was scored while the Redmen were shorthanded two men in addition to an extra attacker when the goaltender was pulled.

Wright's six-point soiree was one shy of the school record for a playoff contest. He notched the first marker, then set up the second, fourth, fifth and seventh goals before the game was half over. The 6-foot-2, 185-pound junior capped off the evening with his second of the game midway through the final period to halt a spirited Ottawa comeback that saw the Gee-Gees net three consecutive markers.

"Wrighty really clicked with his linemates (Picard-Hooper and Verreault-Paul) and they finally found their chemistry again after the line was dismantled by injuries for most of the past month," said Redmen head coach Kelly Nobes.

"Our power-play was very efficient and that was a product of the extra work we put into it during practice this week. We worked on some key fundamentals that we had gotten away from... moving to open spaces and getting pucks to the net. In the end of the day, our execution was much better than it had been for a while."

Despite the lopsided score, McGill had a slight 30-28 edge in shots as netminder Hubert Morin of St. Georges de Beauce, Que., picked up the win, improving his career playoff record to 9-3 in two seasons with the Redmen. Harrison May, who had a solid 34-save outing in the series opener, took the loss. He was beaten six times on 13 shots before being relieved after one period by understudy Aaron Barton, who turned aside 13 of 17 shots faced.

The Redmen will get a couple days off before hitting the ice for practice on Monday. Their next opponent for the OUA East best-of-three semifinal is not yet known. They would play Concordia, which finished seventh in the standings with a 12-14-2 record, on Wednesday if the Stingers upset UQTR in their quarter-final series. Should Concordia lose to the Patriotes, McGill would play the lowest remaining team, either sixth-seeded Toronto (10-11-7) or fourth-seeded Nipissing (17-8-3), with Game 1 opening on the road, followed by Games 2 and 3 at McConnell Arena next weekend.

 

REDMEN RAP: Ottawa agreed to delay the start the game by 30 minutes as McGill had bus issues and were an hour late leaving Montreal... The National Hockey League game between Detroit and Tampa Bay on Thursday featured the NHL's first-ever matchup between head coaches who were former Redmen players. Mike Babcock of the Red Wings wore his famous red McGill silk tie and came away with a 6-2 win over Guy Boucher, who wore a blue McGill silk tie... Also on the Tampa bench was assistant coach Martin Raymond, who both played and coached at McGill... No word yet as to whether he wore his school cravat!

 

OUA EAST BEST-OF-THREE QUARTER-FINAL, Game 2

 

SCORING SUMMARY:
McGill 10 at Ottawa 5

(Friday, February 18, 2011 - uOttawa Sports Complex)

 

1st Period-

1, McGill, Andrew Wright 1 (Francis Verreault-Paul, Marc-Andre Dorion), 4:48 (PP).

2, McGill, Guillaume Doucet 1 (Andrew Wright, Marc-Andre Dorion), 5:12 (PP).

3, McGill, Guillaume Doucet 2 (Alex Picard-Hooper, Marc-Andre Dorion), 12:34 (PP).

4, McGill, Alex Picard-Hooper 1 (Andrew Wright, Francis Verreault-Paul), 14:03.

5, McGill, Francis Verreault-Paul 2 (Andrew Wright, Alex Picard-Hooper), 14:45 (PP).

6, McGill, Simon Marcotte-Legare 1 (Marc-Andre Dorion), 18:24 (PP).

 

Penalties-

Picard-Hooper Mcg (roughing), 4:24;

Hayes Ott (spearing dble minor), 4:24;

Houde Ott (roughing), 4:24;

Ireland Ott (interference), 12:06;

Houde Ott (major-cross checking, game misconduct), 14:29;

Langelier-Parent Mcg (cross checking), 20:00.

 

2nd Period-

7, McGill, Francis Verreault-Paul 3 (Alex Picard-Hooper, Andrew Wright), 6:40.

8, Ottawa, Scott Ashton 1 (Matt White, Steve Blunden), 8:39.

9, Ottawa, Dominic Jalbert 2 (Matthieu Methot, David Foucher), 11:51 (PP).

10, McGill, Simon Marcotte-Legare 2 (Maxime Langelier-Parent, Nicolas Biniek), 12:49.

11, Ottawa, Kyle Ireland 1 (Luc Blain, Matthieu Methot), 15:10.

 

Penalties-

Morse Mcg (holding), 3:06;

Doucet Mcg (roughing), 11:12;

Verreault-Paul Mcg (slashing), 11:12;

Krahenbil Ott (roughing), 11:12;

Jalbert Ott (slashing), 19:24.

 

3rd Period-

12, Ottawa, Kyle Ireland 2 (Dominic Jalbert, Simren Sandhu), 7:33 (PP).

13, Ottawa, Kyle Ireland 3 (Matthieu Methot, Dominic Jalbert), 8:43 (PP).

14, McGill, Andrew Wright 2 (Alex Picard-Hooper, Ryan McKiernan), 9:21.

15, McGill, Stephen Valente 1 (Ben Morse, Christophe Longpre-Poirier), 19:28 (SH/EN).

 

Penalties-

Sandhu Ott (slashing), 3:55;

McKiernan Mcg (high sticking), 6:03;

Langelier-Parent Mcg (slashing), 6:43;

Hayes Ott (roughing), 17:03;

Doucet Mcg (roughing), 17:24;

Dorion Mcg (high sticking), 17:45;

Langelier-Parent Mcg (tripping), 18:25.

 

GOALS BY PERIOD:

McGill 6-2-2 -- 10

Ottawa 0-3-2 -- 5

 

Shots on Goal-

McGill 13-8-9 -- 30.

Ottawa 5-9-14 -- 28.

 

Power Play Opportunities-

McGill 5 / 7;

Ottawa 3 / 8 (+1SHG against).

 

Penalties (No/Mins)-

McGill 10 / 20;

Ottawa 10 / 31.

 

Goalies-

McGill,

Hubert Morin (W, 2-0, 28 shots-23 saves; 60:00).

 

Ottawa,

Harrison May (start, L, 0-2, 13 shots-7 saves; 20:00);

Aaron Barton (ND, 16 shots-13 saves; 38:47);

Empty-net (1 shot-1goal; 1:13).

 

Attendance-250

Referee-Sean Reid.

Linesmen: Pat Smith, Tim Leblanc

Start: 7:30 PM

End: 9:55 PM

Length: 2:25

 

MOLSON CUP THREE STARS

1. MCG - 19 Andrew Wright
2. MCG - 18 Francis Verreault-Paul
3. OTT - 77 Kyle Ireland