KINGSTON, ONT -- Goaltender Louis-Philip Guindon posted a 38-save shutout and forward Jasmin Boutet scored the game-winner early in the third period as McGill skated to a 1-0 triumph over Queen's in OUA men's hockey, Saturday, to dampen a Teddy Bear Toss promotion at the Kingston Memorial Centre.

It was McGill's third consecutive win and their fourth straight over Queen's since a 2-1 loss on Oct. 5, 2018. McGill improved its lifetime record against the Gaels to 130-55-2 in 187 confrontations since the teams first met all the way back in 1895. Excluding forfeits, it was the McGill's only 1-0 win ever versus Queen's and the first such decision over any team since a 1-0 overtime shootout against visiting Carleton on Jan. 20, 2012.
 
The shots were 38-31 in Queen's favour but the 6-foot-1, 188-pound Guindon was unsolvable, especially on a spectacular, behind-the-back, diving stop off the stick of Josh Curtis with 12:15 left in the middle stanza. It was a play similar to one made famous by Habs netminder Carey Price.

Guindon, a 25-year-old kinesiology senior from St. Joseph du Lac, Que., earned his ninth career goose egg in 134 games and improved to 71-63 overall, including a 7-4 regular season record this season.

"The guys played well within the team structure but they competed hard for each other," said head coach Liam Heelis. "The expectation is the guys are supporting each other when others make mistakes. And I thought they did an excellent job taking care of each other in instances where mistakes were made. And that's a huge difference maker in terms of winning hockey games."
 
Boutet, who hails from Quebec City, combined with linemates Antoine Dufort-Plante from Montreal and Jordan-Ty Fournier of Dorval, Que., as the lead architects on the game-winning tally.
 
After two scoreless periods, the trio established a cycle in the offensive zone. Fournier jumped on a loose puck and drove hard to the net, it bounced to a waiting Boutet who scored with a blistering slapshot from the slot at the 4:16 mark. Dufour-Plante and Fournier both collected assists on the play.
 
"Boutet played an excellent game tonight," added Heelis of his 6-foot-1, 195-pound centreman. "He's a big power forward who is great in the face-off circle for us and does an excellent job on the penalty-kill."
 
It was Boutet's second goal of the season and seventh career goal. The economics senior has a 7-15-22 record in 113 games overall with McGill.
 
Queen's netminder Luke Richardson took the loss as his record dropped to 6-9.
 
The game featured only three minor penalties, two of them to McGill. Both sides were blanked on the power-play as the visitors went 0-for-1 and Queen's was 0-for-2.
 
The "Teddy Bear Toss", more commonly seen in junior hockey, is normally reserved for celebrating the home team's first goal of the game. When they score, that triggers the fans to toss the plush toys, which are collected by a group of skaters and then donated to a local children's hospital. However, McGill's defensive effort, combined with Guindon's goaltending, kept the hometown Gaels off the scoresheet. So during a whistle with 9:01 remaining in the third period, a spontaneous decision was made by organizers to ask fans to throw their stuffed animals onto the ice. Over 300 bears were collected to be donated. The cleanup delayed proceedings for close to four minutes and broke the rhythm of the game but the McGillians were unfazed.
 
"Our guys were very focused tonight and during the delay they did a great job huddling together and communicating what we needed to do in the last nine minutes of play," Heelis noted. "They were dialed in mindset-wise."

It was McGill's 16th shutout lifetime over Queen's and the first since an 18-save effort by Guindon in a 3-0 win at McConnell Arena on Jan. 12, 2018. Previously, McGill's last whitewash on the road in Kingston was a 3-0 decision on Nov. 15, 2008.
 
Queen's (6-9-0) will visit fourth-place Ottawa (7-4-1) on Nov. 27, while McGill (8-5-1) hosts first-place Carleton (14-2) on Nov. 29 at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES: Rivalries aside, the Gaels paid a classy tribute to the late Kelly Nobes, the former McGill player and coach who passed away unexpectedly on Sept. 4. They displayed a red McGill jersey with the name "NOBES and his old No.17 across the back... McGill's PK unit is ranked third among OUA teams at 89.1 per cent efficiency, while the PP is now ranked eighth with a 19.1 per cent success rate.

SCORING SUMMARY

OUA STANDINGS & STATS

OUA SCOREBOARD