MONTREAL -- Defenceman Samuel Labrecque broke a tie at 17:17 of the third period as No.2-ranked McGill skated to a 3-1 victory over visiting Royal Military College before a capacity crowd in the 14th annual McGill Management Winter Carnival game at McConnell Arena, Friday.

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The Redmen are 14-0 lifetime in their annual carnival game and the result improved McGill's lifetime record to 65-8-4 overall against the Paladins.

John Livingston had given the visitors a surprisng 1-0 lead on the power-play at 7:08 of the opening period but vetaran Liam Heelis evened the score with his ninth at the 46-second mark of the middle period.  Heelis was also in on Labrecque's deciding marker, which came on a 5-on-3 power play and was a one-timer to the top-right corner.

It was the third winning tally of the season for Labrecque, who also netted half a dozen winners last year to share the CIS lead in that department. The senior rearguard from Granby, Que.,  leads the CIS scoring race with 14-22-36, one goal shy of the team's single-season record for blueliners. That standard was accomplished in 1981-82 when Gilles Hudon tallied 15 in 24 games for the Redmen.

"I thought that the guys did a good job of sticking to the game plan," said acting head coach David Urquhart, handling the bench instead of Kelly Nobes, who was home serving a suspension from the league after incurring a game misconduct  in last week's 5-1 victory at Nipissing. "We were playing well on 5-on-5 and told the guys in the intermission that we would just wear them down and take advantage of any penalties. We finally got our chance late in the game and the guys capitalized."

Earning the victory between the pipes for McGill was freshman Joe Fleschler of Summit, N.J., who made 22 saves and collected his second career win. RMC's Matt Murphy made 35 saves in a losing cause and dropped to 3-9.

"It was nice to see Joe get the win," said Urquhart, who has guided the Redmen to a 4-1 record over the last two years when replacing Nobes behind the bench. "It was only his second career start and he didn't get rattled despite giving up an early goal and playing in front of our largest crowd of the season. As a rookie, it was a challenging situation for him and he shut the door and showed a lot of composure, especially with all the power-plays that they had."

McGill, which had a 38-23 edge in shots, erased six of seven shorthanded scenarios and went 2-for-5 with the man-advantage.

McGill leads the 19-team OUA with an impressive 18-2-1 record but only sit two points ahead of second-place UQTR (17-3-1). With seven games remaining before playoffs, the Redmen are in contention to break the school's single-season record for wins, accomplished in the 2010-11 campaign when they posted a 24-2-2 dossier. They will travel to the nation's capital on Saturday for a key encounter against third-place Carleton (13-5), which sits 11 points back with three games in hand.

RMC, which had their two-game win streak snapped, dropped to 3-16-3. They will play at UOIT (11-7-1) in Oshawa on Jan. 29.

LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE

LINK TO CIS SCORING LEADERS

LINK TO CIS STANDINGS

SCORING SUMMARY
RMC 1 at McGill 3
(Friday, January 15, 2016 - McConnell Arena)

GOALS BY PERIOD
RMC 1-0-0 -- 1
McGill 0-1-2 -- 3

1st Period-
1, RMC, John Livingston 5 (Boudreau, Domenico), 7:08 (PP).

Penalties-Curcuruto Mcg (checking to the head, 10-minute misconduct), 1:03; Gamelin Mcg (high sticking, high sticking), 6:08; Louis-Seize Rmc (tripping), 15:01; Kaminsky Mcg (high sticking), 17:53.

2nd Period-
2, McGill, Liam Heelis 9 (Gamelin, Delisle-Houde), 0:46.

Penalties-Keenan Rmc (roughing), 7:57; Savery Rmc (interference), 7:57; Milne Mcg (roughing), 7:57.

3rd Period-
3, McGill, Samuel Labrecque 14 (Heelis, Talbot-Tassi), 17:17 (PP).
4, McGill, Daniel Milne 11 (Rose, Barnard), 18:26 (PP).

Penalties-Heelis Mcg (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 2:08; Lalonde Mcg (slashing), 5:04; Durgy Rmc (tripping), 5:32; Giberson Rmc (hooking), 15:52; McBain Rmc (high sticking), 16:35; Bonneau Mcg (boarding), 18:37.

Shots on Goal-
RMC 11-4-8 -- 23.
McGill 12-16-10 -- 38.

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

Goalies-
RMC, Matt Murphy (L, 3-9-0, 38 shots-35 saves; 60:00).
McGill, Joe Fleschler (W, 2-0-0, 23 shots-22 saves; 60:00).

Attendance: 1,663 (Management Winter Carnival Game RECORD)
Start: 7:04 PM
End: 9:25 PM
Length: 2:21

Referees-Alexandre Garon, Olivier Gouin.
Linesmen-Guillaume Brunelle, Christopher Provost.

MOLSON CUP THREE STARS:
1. MCG - 10 Liam Heelis
2. MCG - 6 Samuel Labrecque
3. MCG - 1 Joe Fleschler


SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgill athletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)
 
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