Box Score
MONTREAL -- Rookie defenceman Samuel Carrier of Varennes, Que., tallied twice and added a pair of helpers as No.6-ranked McGill skated to a 4-1 victory over the Laurentian University Voyageurs in men's hockey at McConnell Arena, Saturday.

The Redmen were not very hospitable to their visitors from Sudbury, Ont., outshooting them 44-26, including a 19-8 margin in the first period. McGill led 2-0 after one frame and 3-1 after two.

Carrier, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound freshman, set up Marc-Olivier Vachon of Thetford Mines, Que., on the power-play at 9:17 to give the Redmen a 1-0 lead. Less than seven minutes later, the 21-year-old elementary education major scored what proved to be the game-winner. Carrier struck again with his fourth of the season, on the power-play at 2:20 of the middle stanza, then sprung team captain Benoit Levesque loose on a breakaway for a shorthanded marker at 1:34 of the final period.

Marc-Alain Begin of Hearst, Ont., scored the lone Laurentian goal, on the power-play midway through the second period.

Rookie goaltender Jacob Gervais-Chouinard of Sherbrooke, Que., made 25 saves for the victory, improving his record to 7-2. He lowered his CIS-leading goals-against average to 1.53. A 20-year-old education freshman who had an American Hockey League tryout with Hamilton last year, Gervais-Chouinard also leads the nation with a .943 save percentage.

Alain Valiquette of Sudbury registered 40 saves in a losing cause for the Voyageurs.

McGill was 2-for-7 on the power-play, while Laurentian was 1-for-5 and coughed up one shorthand goal. It was the final game of the semester for the Voyageurs (4-11-0), who will host Western (8-5-0) and Guelph (7-6-2), Jan. 3-4.

The Redmen improved to 10-4-2 lifetime versus Laurentian, which returned to hockey this year since folding up operations in 1999.

McGill, which improved to 11-3-1 and sits second in the OUA East division, will now have a month off for the December exam break. They sit two points back of an upstart squad from Queen's (10-0-5). The Redmen and Gaels are slated for a much-awaited showdown with back-to-back games in mid-January. They will meet for the first time on Jan. 11 in Kingston, with the rematch slated back in Montreal on Jan. 17 in the annual Management Carnival Game.

Over the next month, the Redmen are scheduled to have two regular practices and two optionals, per week before resuming play at Carleton (9-5-1) on Jan. 3.

REDMEN RAP: It was the 150th game overall behind the bench for McGill head coach Kelly Nobes, who owns a 104-42-4 record behind in four seasons the Redmen bench and a lifetime 244-219-15 record in 13 seasons at the CIS level, including stops at RMC and Laurier... Defenceman Ryan McKiernan continues to lead the Redmen scoring race and ranks second among OUA blueliners with an 8-9-17 record in 15 contests... The last rearguard to lead the Redmen in scoring was Marc-Andre Dorion in 2011-12... Forwards Patrick Delisle-Houde (4-10-14) and newcomer Neal Prokop (3-11-14) are next in line...McGill's power-play has slowly made it's way up from near the bottom of the 20-team OUA conference, With 18 goals in 84 chances, they are now ranked fifth overall, operating at 21.4 per cent.. The Redmen are ranked fourth in penalty-killing, erasing 66 of 76 shorthanded situations for an 86.8 per cent efficiency.


SCORING SUMMARY
Laurentian 1 at McGill 4
(Saturday, November 30, 2013 - McConnell Arena)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
Laurentian 0-1-0 -- 1
McGill 2-1-1 -- 4

1st Period-
1, McGill, Marc-Olivier Vachon 2 (Carrier, Mathieu), 9:17 (PP).
2, McGill, Samuel Carrier 3 (Pompei, Delisle-Houde), 16:01.

Penalties-Howes Lu (interference), 0:14; Leroux Lu (hooking), 7:40; McKiernan Mcg (cross checking), 13:37.

2nd Period-
3, McGill, Samuel Carrier 4 (Comtois, Laporte), 2:20 (PP).
4, Laurentian, Marc-Alain Begin 4 (Esposto, MacDonald), 11:44 (PP).

Penalties-Gliebe Lu (interference), 0:22; Fitze Lu (high sticking), 7:59; Lemieux Mcg (slashing), 10:08; Levesque Mcg (holding), 12:37; Fitze Lu (slashing), 13:44; Prokop Mcg (checking from behind, 10-minute misconduct), 17:43; Langelier-Parent Mcg (checking from behind, 10-minute misconduct), 20:00.

3rd Period-
5, McGill, Benoit Levesque 2 (Carrier), 1:34 (SH).

Penalties-Fitze Lu (high sticking, game ejection (3rd stick infr.)), 7:59; Begin Lu (cross checking, roughing), 13:26; Soligo Mcg (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 13:26.

Shots on Goal-
Laurentian 8-10-8 -- 26.
McGill 19-8-17 -- 44.

Power Play Opportunities-
Laurentian 1 / 5;
McGill 2 / 7.

Goalies-
Laurentian, Alain Valiquette (L, 2-4-0, 44 shots-40 saves; 60:00).
McGill, Jacob Gervais-Chouinard (W, 7-2-0, 26 shots-25 saves; 60:00).

Attendance: 304
Start: 7:02 PM
End: 9:22 PM
Length: 2:20

Referees-Alexandre Cote, Rémi Gibeau.
Linesmen-Jean-Francois Losier, Maxime Mongeon.

MOLSON CUP THREE STARS:
1. MCG - 5 Samuel Carrier
2. MCG - 27 Benoit Levesque
3. MCG - 30 Jacob Gervais-Chouinard