Box Score
MONTREAL -- Patrick Delisle-Houde scored the game-winner on the power-play and set up another as ninth-ranked McGill skated like a hot knife through cold butter, defeating the visiting Toronto Varsity Blues 4-1 in men's university hockey at McConnell Arena, Saturday.

The end result was the fourth straight Redmen victory and their ninth in the past 10 outings. It marked the 222nd confrontation with the Varsity Blues in a long-standing rivalry that began way back on Feb. 20, 1899. McGill is  86-121-15 lifetime against Toronto, including a 28-10-4 mark in the last 42 confrontations.

The score was flattering to Toronto as the game wasn't that close, with McGill holding a 36-21 edge in shots and spending much of the even-strength time looking like they were on a power-play.

The Redmen led 2-0 after one period on markers by Jonathan Brunelle, his seventh, and Delisle-Houde, at 10:02 and 15:10, respectively.

"The guys were really excited to get back on our ice to play a couple of games after that long road trip," said Cedric McNicoll, who converted a rebound only 92 seconds into the third period to give McGill a three-goal cushion. "We're a tough team to beat at home and the guys really showed that this weekend by getting off to a good start, taking a lead in both games and getting stronger as the game went on."

The only thing in question appeared to be whether goaltender Karel St-Laurent would merit a shutout. Alas, that question was answered for the home team when Toronto's Kevin Deagle spoiled the bid at 15:46 of the final stanza. Max Le Sieur iced the contest with an empty-netter and had chances to score two more into the vacated cage. He missed the open net on one occasion and unselfishly passed the puck away to a trailing teammate on the other instance.

St-Laurent turned aside 20 of 21 shots for the win, improving to 5-1 on the season. He leads all OUA goalies in both, goals-against average (1.67) and save percentage (.939). Teammate Jacob Gervais-Chouinard (6-2) ranks second and third in both categories, with 1.88 and .937, respectively.

Toronto 'keeper Michael Nishi was nailed with the loss, dropping to 2-6 with a 32-save outing.

The Redmen continued to shine on special teams, going 1-for-4 on the power-play and neutralizing all six Toronto manpower advantages.McGill is ranked sixth of the 19 OUA teams with a power-play that is operating at 20.0 per cent. The PK unit is ranked second behind Western at 87.8 per cent efficiency.

Despite the victory and a sparkling 11-3-0 record, McGill still sits behind division-leading UQTR (11-2-1) but is now tied with Carleton (11-3-0) for second place in the nine-team OUA East Division. The Redmen have two home games left before closing up shop for the December exam break. The will host Concordia (5-11-0), a team they lost to in the preseason, on Thursday morning (Nov. 27) at 10:30 am in the annual "Score With School" promotion. Some 918 tickets have been sold for that event in a venue that seats 950. After that game, McGill will host a much-anticipated showdown with Carleton on Nov. 29 at 7 p.m.

Toronto, which dropped to 4-8-1,will host Guelph (3-9-2) and Laurier (5-8-0), Nov. 28-29, respectively.

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SCORING SUMMARY
Toronto 1 at McGill 4 (ENG)
(Saturday, November 22, 2014 - McConnell Arena)

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

1st Period-
1, McGill, Jonathan Brunelle 7 (Vachon, Bonneau), 10:02.
2, McGill, Patrick Delisle-Houde 6 (Brunelle, Labrecque), 15:10 (PP).

Penalties-Brown Tor (butt ending, dble minor), 13:55; Le Sieur Mcg (cross checking), 16:47; Delisle-Houde Mcg (slashing), 17:45.

2nd Period-
3, McGill, Cedric McNicoll 5 (Labrecque, Delisle-Houde), 1:32.

Penalties-Bonneau Mcg (checking from behind minor, 10-minute misconduct), 6:54; Lambert-Lemay Mcg (cross checking), 12:34; Marsh Tor (slashing), 17:35; Chenevert Mcg (slashing), 17:35.

3rd Period-
4, Toronto, Kevin Deagle 1 (Turner), 15:46.
5, McGill, Max Le Sieur 5 (Langelier-Parent, Boutet), 18:31 (ENG).

Penalties-Knight Tor (tripping), 5:03; Liukkonen Tor (boarding), 11:17; Boutet Mcg (interference), 11:26; Barnard Mcg (slashing), 18:44.

Shots on Goal-
Toronto 5-12-4 -- 21.
McGill 12-14-10 -- 36.

Power Play Opportunities-
Toronto 0 / 6;
McGill 1 / 4.

Goalies-
Toronto, Michael Nishi (L, 2-6-0, 35 shots-32 saves; 58:26).
McGill, Karel St-Laurent (W, 5-1-0, 21 shots-20 saves; 60:00).

Attendance-213
Start: 7:02 PM
End: 9:10 PM
Length: 2:08

Referees-Jason Pyke, Antoine Leblanc.
Linesmen-Maxime Mongeon, Guillaume Brunelle.

MOLSON CUP THREE STARS:
1. MCG - 28 Patrick Delisle-Houde
2. MCG - 6 Samuel Labrecque
3. MCG - 18 Jonathan Brunelle