OSHAWA -- A near-record snowfall of about 40 centimetres failed to hinder the visiting McGill men's hockey team from arriving on time as six different players scored en route to a 6-2 victory over the University of Ontario Institute of Technology in the opener of an OUA best-of-three quarter-final series at the Campus Ice Centre, Wednesday.

It was the first-ever post-season meeting between these clubs as McGill improved their lifetime head-to-head record to 15-2 overall. The series now shifts to Montreal, where the Redmen can advance to the next round with a victory in Game 2 on Saturday at McConnell Arena. If a rubber match is needed, it will also be at McConnell, on Sunday. The opening faceoff for both games is slated for 7 p.m.

McGill, which finished fourth in the OUA East with a 16-8-4 record, had to open the series on the road against the fifth-place Ridgebacks (14-9-5) because of a league travel regulation that stipulates the lower-seeded team hosts the first game in playoff scenarios where more than 350 kilometres separate the schools.

McGill, which outshot the Ridgebacks 39-29, trailed 1-0 after the opening period, but then produced a plethora of goals from a number of unlikely sources.

Linemates Keanu Yamamoto and Michael Cramarossa, both sophomores, sparked the offence with each scoring a goal and two assists. The Redmen took a 4-1 lead after two, while exploding for six consecutive goals before UOIT replied again.

Brett Harasymuk gave the Ridgebacks a 1-0 lead at 7:24 of the first period but McGill roared back in the middle frame with goals from Frederic Gamelin (1:44), Jordan Fournier (11:37), Antoine Dufort-Plante (17:10) and Cramarossa (17:51).

Gamelin, a senior from St. Polycarpe, Que., had tallied only four regular season goals, while Fournier, a freshman from Dorval, Que., had only four career markers in 26 games overall. Dufort-Plante, a sophomore from Montreal, was credited with the game-winner, his first career post-season goal at the collegiate level.

Samuel Tremblay made is 5-1 at 4:27 of the third and Yamamoto upped the count to 6-1 at 9:06. The Ridgebacks rounded out the scoring at 14:35 when centre Keaton Holinaty connected on a mid-torso baseball-like swing.

Just seven penalties were called in the fast-paced game, which took only an hour and 56 minutes to play. McGill was 0-for-1 on the power-play, while UOIT was 0-for-2.

Winning goaltender Louis-Philip Guindon, a 6-foot-1, 183-pound junior who recently became the first McGill goalie to see duty in all 28 regular season season games, kicked aside 27 of 29 shots. The 23-year-old kinesiology major from St. Joseph du Lac, Que., improved his lifetime playoff record to 10-3 in 13 starts.

At the other end of the ice, fifth-year veteran Brendan O'Neill conceded six goals on 39 shots and was saddled with the loss.

The six goals scored was McGill's highest single-game total over their last 19 playoff road contests since an 8-4 win at Concordia on Feb. 21, 2014. McGill, the defending Queen's Cup league champions, is now 99-90 in 189 lifetime post-season games since their first one way back in 1910.

FACES IN THE CROWD: Among the McGill supporters and family members spotted in the crowd were three McGill hockey grads from the mid-1980s, including Paul Barber (BEng '86), Doug Harrison (BA '86) and Marek Nesvadba (BA '85) and longtime McGill fan John Patitsas (BEng '87)... There was also a large cheering section from the family of head coach Kelly Nobes, whose two brothers and nephews were on hand along with their minor hockey teams.

SCORING SUMMARY

OUA PLAYOFF SCOREBOARD