MONTREAL -- Team captain Patrick Delisle-Houde and rookie Guillaume Gauthier each tallied twice as the McGill men's hockey team cruised to a 7-2 victory over Laurentian University at McConnell Arena, Saturday. The result, combined with a 2-1 overtime road win last Wednesday, handed the Voyageurs a sweep in the OUA East best-of-three quarter-final and sent them on a portage back to Sudbury. It also extended the Redmen win streak to five, including two in post-season play.

McGill, the No.3 ranked team in the nation, will host Game 1 of their divisional semifinal series on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. against the winner of the UQTR-Carleton series, which is deadlocked at 1-1 and will be decided in Ottawa on Sunday evening.

The seven-goal outburst was the most for McGill in a playoff game since a 9-2 decision over Concordia on Feb. 17, 1916.

"It's always fun to play at home and easier to play here because we don't have to deal with travel," said Delisle-Houde, a master's student in kinesiology and physical education, who was attempting to explain why Game 2 was so different from the 2-1 opener in Sudbury. "It's our home ice, we're more familiar with our pre-game routine in our rink and in front of our fans, friends and family. Laurentian works pretty hard and can be a tough team to play against, so we didn't expect to crush them. But we knew that we had to work them hard and put the puck in behind their D. That's what we did and when you do the right things, usually good things happen."

Delisle-Houde and Gauthier traded goals back-and-forth around a Voyageur strike from Graham Yeo as McGill constructed a 4-1 lead after two periods, then outscored the Voyageurs 3-1 in a wild final six minutes of the game.

Gauthier, who scored just six times in 27 regular season games, has gotten hot in the post-season with three markers in two contests. one shy of the league lead.

In the final period, sophomore Jerome Verrier made it 5-1 on the power-play at 14:06 and 51 seconds later, senior Jan Kaminsky added an empty-netter, while McGill was shorthanded, to give the Redmen a five-goal cushion. Kaminsky's goal was the 600th playoff goal for McGill in school history...

But the Dylan Fitze replied for the Voyageurs 27 seconds after that and then it was McGill's turn, 33 seconds later, when Simon Tardif-Richard tallied the final marker. When the dust cleared, four goals were scored in two minutes and 51 seconds.

McGill, which had a 31-27 edge in shots, went 1-for-8 on the power-play, while their visitors went 2-for-4.

Veteran Redmen netminder Jacob Gervais-Chouinard, who didn't play in the series opener, merited the start between the pipes and kicked aside 19 of 21 shots for his seventh consecutive victory. It was the 70th career win for the economics senior, who owns a 70-32 lifetime record in 112 contests overall, including a 14-9 mark in post-season play.

Laurentian's Joel Vienneau kicked out 30 of 36 shots in a losing cause.

The victory was McGill's seventh consecutive over Laurentian, since their last loss, a 5-2 decision at McConnell Arena on Oct. 18, 2014. The Redmen now own an 18-5-2 lifetime record in 25 meetings overall with the Voyageurs.

REDMEN RAP: The Redmen own an 88-84 record in 172 playoff games, outscoring opponents 601-570 since their first post-season encounter more than a century ago, in 1910... McGill could play either UQTR or Carleton in the next round. Their record against Carleton was 2-1, losing a preseason road game 4-3 in an overtime shootout, followed by 4-3 and 2-1 regular season wins on home ice... . The Redmen were 3-1 against the Pats, winning 6-2 and 2-1 in the preseason, followed by a 3-1 loss and a 6-5 win in regular season play.

LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE

SCORING SUMMARY
Laurentian 2 at McGill 7
(Saturday, February 18, 2017 - McConnell Arena)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
Laurentian 1-0-1 -- 2
McGill 1-3-3 -- 7

1st Period-
1, McGill, Guillaume Gauthier 2 (Delisle-Houde, Chiarlitti), 3:35.
2, Laurentian, Graham Yeo 1 (Therrien, Fitze), 15:31 (PP).

Penalties-Richardson Lu (roughing), 0:26; Smith Lu (elbowing), 4:47; Bois Mcg (holding), 14:11; Tessier Lu (tripping), 19:24.

2nd Period-
3, McGill, Patrick Delisle-Houde 1 (Gamelin, Gauthier), 1:47.
4, McGill, Guillaume Gauthier 3 (Talbot-Tassi), 10:40.
5, McGill, Patrick Delisle-Houde 2 (Gamelin, Curcuruto), 14:46.

Penalties-Tardif-Richard Mcg (tripping), 2:49; Boutet Mcg (checking to the head, 10-minute misconduct), 14:54; Smith Lu (interference), 15:38.

3rd Period-
6, McGill, Jerome Verrier 1 (Tardif-Richard, Bois), 14:06 (PP).
7, McGill, Jan Kaminsky 1 (Sills, Lambert-Lemay), 14:57 (SHG/ENG).
8, Laurentian, Dylan Fitze 1 (Yeo, Llorca), 16:24 (PP).
9, McGill, Simon Tardif-Richard 1 (Bois), 16:57.

Penalties-Thommen Lu (elbowing), 12:14; Boutet Mcg (high sticking), 14:50; Smith Lu (slashing), 18:07; MacDonald Lu (slashing), 18:16; Forslund Lu (slashing, slashing), 19:33.

Shots on Goal-
Laurentian 8-5-8 -- 21.
McGill 9-15-13 -- 37.

Power Play Opportunities-
Laurentian 2 / 4; (1 SHG against)
McGill 1 / 8.

Goalies-
Laurentian, Joel Vienneau (L, 0-2, 36 shots-30 saves; 58:47).
McGill, Jacob Gervais-Chouinard (W, 1-0, 21 shots-19 saves; 60:00).

Attendance: 382
Start: 7:01 PM
End: 9:10 PM
Length: 2:09

Referees-Marc-Antoine Chagnon, Jonathan Girard.
Linesmen-Marc-Antoine Beaulieu, Christopher Provost.

MOLSON CUP THREE STARS:
1. MCG - 28 Patrick Delisle-Houde
2. MCG - 10 Guillaume Gauthier
3. MCG - 9 Frederic Gamelin

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U SPORTS MEN'S ICE HOCKEY PLAYOFF SCOREBOARD (Saturday, Feb. 18/17)
Waterloo 1 at Ryerson 3
Lakehead 1 at York 3
Windsor 3 at Wilfrid Laurier 2 (OT)
Laurentian 2 at McGill 7
UOIT 2 at Concordia 3
Ottawa 0 at Queen's 2
Carleton 2 at Trois-Rivieres 4
UBC 2 at Calgary 5
Manitoba 3 at Mount Royal 2

ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY SPORT QUARTER-FINALS
(Best of Three; 3rd Place vs 6th Place & 4th Place vs 5th Place)

SERIES A
Game 1 - Wednesday, February 15: Moncton 2 at St. Francis Xavier 6
Game 2 - Friday, February 17: St. Francis Xavier 4 at Moncton 3
(St. Francis Xavier wins best-of-three series 2-0.)

SERIES B
Game 1 - Wednesday, February 15: Prince Edward Island 1 at Saint Mary's 5
Game 2 - Friday, February 17: Saint Mary's 2 at Prince Edward Island 7
Game 3 - Sunday, February 19: Prince Edward Island at Saint Mary's - 7:00 pm
(Best of three series tied 1-1.)

ONTARIO UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS CONFERENCE QUARTER-FINALS
(Best of Three; 1st Place vs 8th Place, 2nd Place vs 7th Place, 3rd Place vs 6th Place & 4th Place vs 5th Place)

SERIES A
Game 1 - Wednesday, February 15: Waterloo 1 at Ryerson 2
Game 2 - Friday, February 17: Ryerson 4 at Waterloo 5 (OT)
Game 3 - Saturday, February 18: Waterloo 1 at Ryerson 3
(Ryerson wins best-of-three series 2-1.)

SERIES B
Game 1 - Wednesday, February 15: York 3 at Lakehead 2
Game 2 - Saturday, February 18: Lakehead 1 at York 3
(York wins best-of-three series 2-0.)

SERIES C
Game 1 - Wednesday, February 15: Windsor 3 at Wilfrid Laurier 4 (OT)
Game 2 - Friday, February 17: Wilfrid Laurier 0 at Windsor 1
Game 3 - Saturday, February 18: Windsor 3 at Wilfrid Laurier 2 (OT)
(Windsor wins best-of-three series 2-1.)

SERIES D
Game 1 - Thursday, February 16: Brock 1 at Guelph 5
Game 2 - Friday, February 17: Guelph 4 at Brock 3 (OT)
(Guelph wins best-of-three series 2-0.)

SERIES E
Game 1 - Wednesday, February 15: McGill 2 at Laurentian 1 (OT)
Game 2 - Saturday, February 18: Laurentian 2 at McGill 7
(McGill wins best-of-three series 2-0.)

SERIES F
Game 1 - Wednesday, February 15: Concordia 0 at UOIT 4
Game 2 - Friday, February 17: UOIT 2 at Concordia 5
Game 3 - Saturday, February 18 - UOIT 2 at Concordia 3
(Concordia wins best-of-three series 2-1.)

SERIES G
Game 1 - Wednesday, February 15: Ottawa 2 at Queen's 3 (2 OT)
Game 2 - Friday, February 17: Queen's 2 at Ottawa 3 (2 OT)
Game 3 - Saturday, February 18: Ottawa 0 at Queen's 2
(Queen's wins best-of-three series 2-1.)

SERIES H
Game 1 - Wednesday, February 15: Trois-Rivieres 2 at Carleton 5
Game 2 - Saturday, February 18: Carleton 2 at Trois-Rivieres 4
Game 3 - Sunday, February 19: Trois-Rivieres at Carleton - 7:00 pm
(Best-of-three series tied at 1-1.)

CANADA WEST HOCKEY QUARTER-FINALS
(Best of Three; 6th Place at 3rd Place & 5th Place at 4th Place)

SERIES A
Game 1 - Friday, February 17: UBC 4 at Calgary 5 (3 OT)
Game 2 - Saturday, February 18: UBC 2 at Calgary 5
(Calgary wins best-of-three series 2-0.)

SERIES B
Game 1 - Friday, February 17: Manitoba 1 at Mount Royal 6
Game 2 - Saturday, February 18: Manitoba 3 at Mount Royal 2
Game 3 - Sunday, February 19: Manitoba at Mount Royal - 7:00 pm
(Best-of-three series tied 1-1.)