MONTREAL -- Perhaps not quite the infamous 1881 gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone, Arizona, but it's pretty darn close whenever the McGill Redmen and UQTR Patriotes confront each other in OUA men's hockey. Word on the street is that a capacity crowd is expected for the latest installment between these bitter rivals, which will be a first-place showdown at Le Colisée in Trois-Rivieres on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

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Both teams enter the game tied atop the OUA East division standings with 39 points apiece but the Patriotes hold a game in hand. With four games remaining before playoffs, McGill is ranked No.7 in the CIS Top 10 with a 19-4-1 record. The Pats are 19-3-1 and ranked No.4 in the weekly national poll.

This will be the final regular season confrontation between these fierce foes who split their two previous league meetings, both at McConnell Arena, with McGill winning 5-4 in overtime (Oct. 23) and UQTR winning 5-4 in a marathon eight-round overtime shootout (Dec. 2). UQTR leads the all-time head-to-head series with a 155-76-17 record in 248 games but the Redmen have the upperhand in the last 40 matchups where they are 23-17.

The current edition of the Redmen features the fourth-best offensive output in the country (4.29 goals per game) and the ninth-best goals-against average (2.43), in addition to the top power-play (30.2%) and the 25th-best penalty-kill success rate (78.5%).
 
The Patriotes have the most prolific offence (4.57), the 10th-best defence (2.46), the second-best power-play (30.0) and are ranked 19th in penalty-killing (80.7%).
 
McGill tops all 35 CIS teams with 29 goals from their blueline, while UQTR ranks second with 22. Two of the top three scorers in the country are Redmen defencemen, led by Samuel Labrecque who is on pace to become the first rearguard ever to lead the CIS in scoring. He currently has 15 goals and 40 points in 24 games. He need one goal to break a 34-year-old single-season McGill record set by Gilles Hudon, who tallied 15 times in 24 games during the 1981-82 season. Labrecque also needs three points to break the school mark of 42 held since 1988-89 by Alain Cusson.
 
Sitting at No.3 in the national scoring race is McGill rookie blueliner Dominic Talbot-Tassi with 10-25-35 in 24 contests.
 
The Pats have the fourth and fifth-best point-getters in the CIS scoring race, with forwards Tommy Giroux (14-20-34) and Guillaume Asselin (20-13-33).

Let the games begin!

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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www.mcgillathletics.ca/calendar.aspx