OTTAWA – Goaltender Louis-Philippe Guindon of St. Joseph du Lac, Que., made a career-high 56 saves as McGill skated to a gritty 4-2 road victory over No.4 ranked Ottawa in OUA men's hockey at the Minto Sports Complex, Friday.
 
The result avenged a 3-2 season-opening loss to the Gee-Gees at McConnell Arena on Oct. 3. McGill, which improved to 3-3-1 on the season, now holds a 106-85-10 lifetime record against Ottawa, which dropped to 3-2-1.
 
The scintillating performance from Guindon, a 6-foot-1, 188-pound senior, was the third-highest save total in school history and the most ever in a victory. The team record is 63 saves set almost a century ago when reserve netminder Jerry Reid accomplished that feat in a 4-4 triple overtime tie against the Montreal Carabins at the Mt. Royal Arena on Jan. 24, 1924. Ranked second on that list is Bruce Glencross who once registered 60 saves in a 17-5 loss to Toronto on Dec. 11, 1964. Guindon becomes the sixth goalie in the McGill record book to reach the 50-save plateau in a game, joining a select group that also includes Maurice Powers (55 in a 2-1 loss to Toronto, Feb. 4, 1928), Patrick Jeanson (53 in a 2-2 OT tie at York, Jan. 18, 1992) and Jamie Reeve (52 in an 8-3 loss vs RPI, Nov. 28, 1987).

Guindon faced a veritable shooting gallery from Ottawa, which took advantage of five power-play chances to outgun McGill 58-21 in the game, including 21-4 and 22-3 margins in the second and third periods, respectively. The 25-year-old kinesiology major, improved his record to 3-2 on the season and 47-24 in league play over his four years with McGill. He is currently ranked third among all OUA goaltenders with a .949 save percentage and sits sixth in goals-against average at 1.99.

"As a team, we competed hard for a full 60 minutes which was one of our goals for tonight's game," said head coach Liam Heelis. "From our first line all the way through, we showed our depth with contributions including our fourth line.
 
"Our guys were eating pucks," added Heelis of his team's grit and a plethora of blocked shots in the face of Ottawa's offensive onslaught. "We were not shy. From our defenceman to our forwards up at the point, we did a good job in shooting lanes and showing our will to do whatever it took to land the win."

Three juniors struck for McGill, including Quinn Syrydiuk from Vancouver and local Ottawan Alex Renaud in the first period, in addition to Keanu Yamamoto from Spokane, Wash., in the second stanza. Senior Christophe Lalonde of Mirabel, Que., added an empty net insurance goal at 19:04 of the third period.

Renaud, who also assisted on Syrydiuk's marker at 3:58, doubled McGill's lead to 2-0 at 8:04. However, the 6-foot-5, 235-pound forward was shaken up late in the second period after a hard collision along the boards. He was helped off the ice and did not return.

Ottawa mounted a short-lived comeback, tying the score at 2-2, courtesy of forward Marc Beckstead and defenceman Dominic Cormier. Beckstead scored five minutes before the first intermission and Cormier netted a power-play equalizer at 6:58 while McGill's Anthony Boucher served a tripping penalty.

That snapped McGill's penalty-killing streak at 20 consecutive successful situations since allowing their last PP goal, in overtime at Concordia on Oct. 5.
 
That score held for all of 122 seconds before Yamamoto made it 3-2 with the game-winner at 9:01 of the middle frame, with his second goal of the season.
 
In a wide-open game that had only eight penalties, McGill was called for six of them. On the power-play, Ottawa went 1-for-5 while McGill failed to score on its only occasion.
 
Gee-Gees goalie Domenic Graham was beaten three times on 20 shots for his first loss of the season. He dropped to 4-1.

Both teams will return to action in less than 24 hours. McGill (3-3-1) battles Concordia (3-2-1) on Saturday (Oct. 26, 7:30 pm) in the 33nd annual Ronald Corey Cup hockey classic at the Ed Meagher Arena. Meanwhile, Ottawa (4-2-0) will be on the road against ninth place Ontario Tech (3-4-0), formerly known as UOIT.
 
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