MONTREAL -- Jonathan Bonneau scored twice and added an assist, while Samuel Labrecque broke two school records as No.5 ranked McGill skated to a 7-3 triumph over Concordia in OUA men's hockey at McConnell Arena, Friday.

It has taken 41 years but the Redmen finally surpassed the .500 mark against the Stingers, improving to 96-95-14 in 205 lifetime meetings, dating back to when the series started in 1975. Concordia had a remarkable 36-1-1 record in the first 38 confrontations but the Redmen have rebounded to register a stellar 95-59-13 mark in all head-to-head meetings since then.

McGill, which led 3-1 after one period and 5-2 after two, clinched at least second-place in the OUA East standings with a 21-5-1 record. With one game left to play, the Redmen remain tied with UQTR (21-3-1) atop the standings but the Pats have two games in hand and hold the head-to-head tie-breaker.

Bonneau, a sophomore from Sherbrooke who registered single-game career highs in both goals and points, gave McGill a 4-1 lead at 6:38 of the second period, added a helper on Rock Regimbald's goal at 5:11 of the third and scored again just 47 seconds later to put the Redmen ahead 7-2.

Labrecque, a native of Granby, Que., scored his 16th of the campaign on a power-play at 15:45 of the second period to make it 5-2 and assisted on Bonneau's last marker. The 5-foot-6, 182-pound economics major upped his CIS-leading points total to 16-28-44 in 27 games, breaking the long-standing single-season McGill records for most goals and points by a defenceman. The previous marks were 15 and 42, respectively, by Gilles Hudon (1981-82) and Alain Cusson (1988-89). Labrecque, who is bidding to become the first defenceman to lead the CIS in scoring, has a four-point lead on UQTR teammates Guillaume Asselin and Tommy Giroux.

Other marksmen for McGill were Mathieu Pompei (18th), Christophe Lalonde (5th) and Liam Heelis (11th), who also added an assist and extended his point-scoring streak to 13 games.

Replying with a hat-trick for Concordia was team captain Olivier Hinse, who leads the Stingers in scoring with a 15-16-31 record in 25 games.

Concordia actually outshot the Redmen 43-38, marking only the seventh time in 27 games this season that McGill had been outshot and just the fourth time that they had surrendered 40 or more shots. Rookie goaltender Joe Fleschler, making his fourth consecutive appearance filling in for injured junior Jacob Gervais-Chouinard, posted a career-high 40 saves for the victory and improved his record to 4-2.

Robin Billingham started between the pipes for Concordia and was beaten three times on 14 shots. He was replaced over the final two periods by Miguel Sullivan who took the loss (6-6), conceding four goals on 24 shots.

With the game well in hand early in the third period, McGill head coach Kelly Nobes opted to sit many of his front line players to limit further injuries. The team currently has at least six players out with various ailments.

In the final minute of play, Concordia forward Dany Potvin was assessed a major and game misconduct for a checking-to-the-head infraction on McGill sophomore Alexis Millette. The penalty comes with a minimum one-game suspension.

Concordia (8-12-5), which currently sits seventh in the nine-team OUA East, can finish anywhere from sixth to eighth. The top eight teams qualify for post-season play, so if McGill remains second and Concordia stays seventh, the archrivals will cross paths in the best-of-three quarterfinals for the second straight season in a series slated to begin on Feb. 17. Should Concordia finish sixth or eighth, McGill would open on the road against either Nipissing in North Bay, Ont., or Laurentian in Sudbury, with Games 2 and 3 back at McConnell Arena.

The Stingers have three games remaining at RMC (Feb. 7), followed by visits from UQTR and McGill.

The Redmen have a lighter schedule and will close out the regular season at Concordia on Friday, Feb. 12 in the 29th annual Ronald Corey Cup game for local collegiate hockey supremacy. McGill is 16-7-3 in Corey Cup play, while the Stingers are 8-17-3 and UQTR is 1-1-0.

REDMEN RAP: Among the McGill players kept out of the lineup with injury was: G Jacob Gervais-Chouinard, F David Rose, F Simon Tardif-Richard, F Alexandre Tremblay, D Alex Chenevert and F Samuel Hodhod... With the Edmonton Oilers in town to play the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, Ian Herbers and Jay Woodcroft, two members of the Oilers coaching staff decided to scout the McGill-Concordia game. Rumour has it that they were looking for a defenceman for their AHL farm team in Bakersfield, Calif.

LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE

LINK TO CIS SCORING LEADERS

LINK TO CIS STANDINGS

SCORING SUMMARY
Concordia 3 at McGill 7
(Friday, February 5, 2016 - McConnell Arena)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
Concordia 1-1-1 -- 3
McGill 3-2-2 -- 7

1st Period-
1, McGill, Mathieu Pompei 18 (Talbot-Tassi, Heelis), 11:02 (PP).
2, McGill, Christophe Lalonde 5 (unassisted), 13:34.
3, Concordia, Olivier Hinse 13 (Roy, Bernard), 16:39 (PP).
4, McGill, Liam Heelis 11 (Lalonde, Millette), 17:19.

Penalties-Hinse Con (tripping), 1:15; Bernard Con (goaltender interference), 9:40; Pompei Mcg (hooking), 15:24.

2nd Period-
5, McGill, Jonathan Bonneau 6 (Regimbald, Boutet), 6:38.
6, Concordia, Olivier Hinse 14 (Bernard), 12:34 (SH).
7, McGill, Samuel Labrecque 16 (Delisle-Houde, Gamelin), 15:45 (PP).

Penalties-Bois Mcg (tripping), 0:23; Delisle-Houde Mcg (goaltender interference), 8:32; Masson Con (high sticking, high sticking), 12:26; Boutet Mcg (tripping), 18:50.

3rd Period-
8, McGill, Rock Regimbald 4 (Gamelin, Bonneau), 5:11.
9, McGill, Jonathan Bonneau 7 (Regimbald, Labrecque), 5:58.
10, Concordia, Olivier Hinse 15 (Roy, Bernard), 11:19 (PP).

Penalties-Storto Mcg (hooking), 8:26; Milne Mcg (tripping), 9:37; Bois Mcg (high sticking), 11:12; Potvin Con (major-checking to the head, game misconduct), 19:02.

Shots on Goal-
Concordia 13-17-13 -- 43.
McGill 14-14-10 -- 38.

Power Play Opportunities-
Concordia 2 / 7;
McGill 2 / 5.

Goalies-
Concordia,
Robin Billingham (Start, ND, 14 shots-11 saves; 20:00);
Miguel Sullivan (L, 6-6-0, 24 shots-20 saves; 40:00).

McGill,
Joe Fleschler (W, 4-2-0, 43 shots-40 saves; 60:00).

Attendance: 625
Start: 7:02 PM
End: 9:12 PM
Length: 2:10

Referees-Jean-Philippe Sylvain, Benoit Lessard.
Linesmen-Philippe Pilon, Jean-Francois Losier.

MOLSON CUP THREE STARS
1. MCG - 6 Samuel Labrecque
2. CON - 11 Olivier Hinse
3. MCG - 10 Liam Heelis

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman,
Communications Officer,
McGill Athletics & Recreation
(514) 398-7012