MONTREAL -- McGill showed up to play a matinee a couple of minutes earlier than the visitors did and Louis-Philip Guindon, their under-study goaltender, performed a near-perfect audition as the Redmen edged UQTR 2-1 in a CIS men's preseason hockey thriller at McConnell Arena, Sunday.

McGill jumped into an early 2-0 lead before the game was barely two minutes old then played kitty-bar-the-door as the Redmen knocked off their long-time archrivals for the second time in five days and served notice that they should be considered a serious contender for the CIS banner. Playing less than 24 hours after a hard-fought 1-0 setback to defending national champion UNB, the Redmen showed whose the boss against a team on fresh legs, that hadn't played since a 6-2 whipping at the hands of the Redmen in Trois-Rivieres on Sept. 28.

Sophomore defenceman Redgie Bois of Rouyn-Noranda, Que., hit paydirt just 102 seconds after the puck drop, converting passes from forwards Mathieu Pompei and Daniel Milne. Then, oops, they did it again, just 28 seconds later when centre Simon Tardif-Richard, a junior from Gatineau, Que., received a pass from rookie Guillaume Gauthier and beat beleagured Patriotes netminder Charles-Etienne Martin.

Then it was Guindon's turn on stage. The 6-foot-1, 183-pound rookie from St. Joseph-du-Lac, Que., looked like a veteran, making 28 saves -- including a number of spectacular ones -- en route to collecting his third career victory in as many appearances with his new-found teammates at McGill. A 21-year-old science freshman majoring in kinesiology, Guindon is a product of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he stopped pucks for both Drummondville and Rimouski. So far, he's made a quick adapation to the university circuit, saving 72 of 76 shots faced for a .947 save percentage and a 1.52 goals-against average.

His shutout bid was spoiled at 18:53 of the second period when defenceman Raphael Boudreau connected from the point on a power-play. The third period was scoreless.

"LP had a very good game tonight and has played well in all three of his outings so far," said Redmen head coach Kelly Nobes, who owns a 178-81-3 overall record in seven seasons behind the McGill bench. "He was real solid, had a lot of penalties to kill, found the puck well and his rebound control was good. We're certainly looking strong in the net this year."

McGill, which held a 29-22 edge in shots, went 0-for-6 with the extra attacker and erased seven of eight shorthanded scenarios.

UQTR leads the all-time series with a 156-78-17 record against the Redmen since the rivalry began in 1969 but McGill is 25-18 in the last 43 matchups. The Redmen, now 3-2-0 in exhibition play, are coming off a challenging week that included two wins against UQTR, plus one-goal losses to both Carleton and UNB, each of whom are legitimate contenders for a CIS title.

"We try to design our exhibition schedule to be tough," said Nobes. "We want to provide our players with some real good teams and some adversity. We've played four games in the last week against Top 10 teams and we got our money's worth."

Next weekend, both UQTR and the Redmen will head across the border to wrap up their preseason schedule against NCAA programs. The Pats will play at Clarkson and St. Lawrence, Oct. 1-2, while McGill plays the Quinnipiac University Bobcats in Hamden, Conn., (Oct. 1) and Rensselaer Polytechic Institute Engineers in Troy, N.Y., (Oct. 2). The Bobcats have qualified for the NCAA Tournament in each of the past four seasons and reached the Frozen Four gold medal game twice, losing 4-0 to Yale in 2013 and 5-1 to North Dakota last spring. Meanwhile, RPI is a school that has produced 62 NHL draft picks and they currently have six of their former players on NHL training camp rosters.

REDMEN RAP: Five legendary figures from McGill are among the latest crop of inductees headed for the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame during an induction ceremony slated for Sept. 28, 2016. Heading the list of laureates are Jean-Philippe Darche and Kim St-Pierre. Darche, was an All-Canadian linebacker with the University's football Redmen and went on to a lengthy pro career in the CFL and NFL. St-Pierre, an All-Canadian goaltender with the hockey Martlets, was a three-time Olympic gold medalist and had an extensive career with the Canadian national team. Rounding out the McGillians are track, hockey and football star Percival Molson and swimmer George Vernot, both former Olympians, as well as legendary football and hockey coach Frank Shaughnessy, Sr. All five were previously inducted to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame.

LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE

SCORING SUMMARY
UQTR 1 at McGill 2
(Sunday, September 25, 2016 - EXHIBITION; at McConnell Arena)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
UQTR 0-1-0 -- 1
McGill 2-0-0 -- 2

1st Period-
1, McGill, Redgie Bois 1 (Pompei, Milne), 1:42.
2, McGill, Simon Tardif-Richard 1 (Gauthier), 2:10.

Penalties-Chenevert Mcg (tripping), 4:42; Mimar Uqtr (slashing), 14:55.

2nd Period-
3, UQTR, Raphael Boudreau 1 (Poudrier, Giroux), 18:53 (PP).

Penalties-Kaminsky Mcg (high sticking), 0:47; Slight Uqtr (high sticking), 4:28; Delisle Uqtr (charging), 5:31; Halbert Mcg (roughing), 5:31; Kaminsky Mcg (roughing), 7:08; Boudreau Uqtr (roughing), 10:34; Delisle Uqtr (roughing, slashing), 10:34; Bois Mcg (roughing), 10:34; Chenevert Mcg (roughing), 10:34; Lambert-Lemay Mcg (cross checking), 15:58; Chenevert Mcg (tripping), 17:24.

3rd Period-
(No Scoring).

Penalties-Bois Mcg (roughing), 1:32; Orr Mcg (tripping), 5:31; Lemay Uqtr (high sticking), 5:41; UQTR BENCH (too many men), served by Mimar 12:06; Beaudoin Uqtr (tripping), 15:38; Chenevert Mcg (checking from behind, 10-minute misconduct), 19:24.

Shots on Goal-
UQTR 6-16-7 -- 29.
McGill 9-5-8 -- 22.

Power Play Opportunities-
UQTR 1 / 8;
McGill 0 / 6.

Goalies-
UQTR, Charles-Etienne Martin (L, 0-1-0, 22 shots-20 saves; 58:00).
McGill, Louis-Philip Guindon (W, 3-0-0, 29 shots-28 saves; 60:00).

Attendance: 76
Start: 2:01 PM
End: 4:10 PM
Length: 2:09

Referees-Samuel Bernier, Simon Tartre.
Linesmen-Marc-Antoine Beaulieu, Jonathan Paradis.

THREE STARS:
1. MCG - 35 Louis-Philip Guindon
2. MCG - 8 Simon Tardif-Richard
3. UQTR - 31 Charles-Etienne Martin


SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
(514) 398-7012