OSHAWA, ONT -- Goaltender Louis-Philip Guindon posted a 36-save shutout as ninth-ranked McGill blanked the University of Ontario Institute of Technology Ridgebacks 3-0 in OUA men's hockey at the Campus Ice Centre in a Sunday matinee.

The result marked McGill's first back-to-back shutouts since Guindon blanked Queen's (Jan 10/18) and Carleton (Jan. 12/18), a year ago. It also clinched a playoff berth for the Redmen and moved them into sole possession of second place in the OUA East division with a 14-5-4 record and just five games remaining before post-season play.

"We played a really mature game, the boys are having fun. It was clear on the bench that they are playing for each other and it reflected in our results (this weekend)," said Redmen bench boss Kelly Nobes, who improved his career coaching record to 393-284-14 in 691 games overall behind the bench with RMC, Laurier and McGill. "Whether it's a goal or a shot-block, even a good puck placement, the guys are just dialed in, supporting each other and that's fun to be a part of. The enthusiasm was very good on the bench today, right from the start."

Guindon, a 6-foot-1, 188-pound science junior from St. Joseph du Lac, Que., now has eight career goose eggs in 88 career contests with the Redmen. He improved to 14-8 on the season and currently ranks first among all OUA netminders in wins and shutouts (3), fifth in goals-against average (2.24) and eighth in save percentage (.921).
 
Frederic Gamelin, a senior from St.Polycarpe, Que., opened the scoring with a short-handed marker at 8:28 of the first period. It was his fourth of the season and second shorty. McGill now has six SHGs and is tied with both UQTR and Carleton for the league lead in that department.

"Gammer is playing great hockey and good for him," said Nobes. "He's in his last season and a key part of our penalty-kill, along with Sam (Tremblay). Both are a threat offensively and he scored a nice goal today."

Junior Guillaume Gauthier, who hails from Ste. Marthe-sur-le-Lac, Que., potted at 8:36 of the middle-period and now leads the team in scoring with an 8-14-22 record in 23 contests. Samuel Tremblay, a junior from from St. Hubert, Que., put the game out of reach at 16:37 of the final stanza. It was his seventh marker of the season.
 
"I am really pleased with the way we are playing in terms of our puck management, our offensive zone play, and just our overall team play," added Nobes.
 
The Redmen were 0-for-2 on the power play and perfect on three penalty kills, all of them in the first period. McGill's PP unit is ranked 12th in the 20-team OUA with a success rate of 17.1 per cent. The PK unit is ranked third at 87.8 per cent, behind Guelph (90.5) and Western (88.5).
 
Ridgebacks goaltender Michael Bullion blocked 32 of 35 shots taken and was credited with the loss. His record dropped to 10-3.
 
With only three weeks left before playoffs, the OUA East standings are all bunched up. Only five points separate second place from seventh.

UOIT (12-7-4) sits fifth in the division, four points behind second-place McGill. The Ridgebacks will host third-place Queens (15-6-0) on Jan. 23. McGill (14-5-4) travels to the nation's capital next weekend to play fourth-place Carleton (13-5-4) on Jan. 26 in a 7 p.m. start.

REDMEN RAP: Senior defenceman Dominic Talbot-Tassi, who has not missed a game since joining the Redmen, has now dressed in 154 consecutive contests overall, four shy of the school ironman record of 157, held by Yves Beaucage (1980-84).
 
SCORING SUMMARY


2018-19 OUA Men's Hockey Standings
 

Pos.	OUA West	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	STRK	P10	PIM
1	x-Brock	22	15	5	2	32	0.727	66	48	5-0-2	6-2-2	266
2	x-Ryerson	22	15	5	2	32	0.727	108	79	3-0-1	5-4-1	307
3	Western	22	13	8	1	27	0.614	64	59	0-1-0	8-2-0	389
4	York	22	11	9	2	24	0.545	76	73	0-3-0	2-7-1	313
5	Laurier	22	10	11	1	21	0.477	63	59	2-0-0	5-4-1	318
6	Lakehead	22	10	11	1	21	0.477	64	83	0-2-0	2-7-1	376
7	Guelph	22	9	10	3	21	0.477	63	58	2-0-0	6-3-1	256
8	Waterloo	23	8	10	5	21	0.457	64	92	3-0-1	6-2-2	452
9	Windsor	22	10	12	0	20	0.455	66	70	0-3-0	3-7-0	364
10	Toronto	23	8	11	4	20	0.435	53	68	3-0-0	6-3-1	245
Rank	OUA East	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	STRK	P10	PIM
1	x-Ottawa	22	17	1	4	38	0.864	89	55	7-0-2	7-1-2	307
2	x-McGill	23	14	5	4	32	0.696	85	59	4-0-1	7-2-1	335
3	x-Queen's	21	15	6	0	30	0.714	75	52	0-1-0	7-3-0	250
4	x-Carleton	22	13	5	4	30	0.682	77	65	1-0-0	6-3-1	465
5	x-UOIT	23	12	7	4	28	0.609	69	65	0-1-0	4-3-3	335
6	x-Concordia	22	13	8	1	27	0.614	77	77	0-1-0	8-2-0	388
7	x-UQTR	23	12	8	3	27	0.587	83	73	3-0-1	5-3-2	353
8	Laurentian	21	6	14	1	13	0.310	51	76	1-0-0	2-7-1	361
9	Nipissing	21	6	15	0	12	0.286	59	91	0-3-0	3-7-0	355
10	RMC	22	4	17	1	9	0.205	44	94	0-7-0	1-9-0	429

x- clinched playoff berth
NOTES: 28-game season; top eight teams in each division qualify for playoffs