HALIFAX, NS –  Bronson Beaton of Springhill, N.S., snapped a 2-2 tie at 15:03 of the final period and collected a pair of assists as Saint Mary's University defeated the visiting McGill men's hockey team 3-2 in a hard-fought 3-2 preseason contest at the Halifax Forum, Friday.
 
It was McGill's first encounter against SMU since a 7-1 preseason loss on Sept. 19, 2015 and the result dropped their lifetime record to 0-6 against the Huskies. 
 
Saint Mary's, which had a 35-30 edge in shots, trailed 1-0 after the opening period and the teams were knotted at 1-1 after two.

The visitors drew first blood just 98 seconds after the opening faceoff when veteran centre Antoine Dufort-Plante of Mascouche, Que., gave McGill its only lead of the game.
 
Saint Mary's rallied with back-to-back goals. Forward Stephen Johnson made it 1-1 at 19:46 of the middle stanza and Keith Getson gave them a 2-1 lead at 7:49 of the final period.
 
McGill senior Guillaume Gauthier's third period power-play tally at 14:03 made things nervy for Saint Mary's. But it took just 60 seconds for Beaton to recover and deliver the game-winning blow.
 
The game featured 17 penalties and McGill was 1-for-8 on the power-play while erasing all seven shorthanded situations.
 
Huskies' goaltender Eric Brassard allowed two goals on 30 shots for the win, while Louis-Philip Guindon of St. Joseph  du Lac, Que., made his second preseason start for McGill and made 32 saves in a losing effort.
 
Saint Mary's (3-0) begins regular season play against UNB on Sept. 27.
 
McGill, which dropped to 1-2 in exhibition play, continues their maritime road-trip with a visit to Wolfville, NS, on Saturday where they confront the Acadia University Axemen in a 4 p.m. EDT puck-drop that will be streamed live on AUS-TV. Acadia has a 2-0 preseason record including a 2-1 overtime victory over Dalhousie and an 8-2 win over Moncton.

SCORING SUMMARY