MONTREAL – Left winger Anthony Beauchamp of Gatineau, Que., scored twice, including the overtime winner and added an assist as the Concordia Stingers bought a lifeline, rallying for a 5-4 victory in a playoff thriller over 10th-ranked McGill to even their OUA East best-of-three men's hockey quarter-final series at 1-1, Saturday, at the Ed Meagher Arena.
 
The battleground now shifts back to McConnell Arena as the cross-town foes play a third and deciding game on Sunday at 7 p.m. The victor advances to the divisional semifinals and will likely face top-seeded Carleton.
 
McGill led 2-1 after the first period and 4-2 after two. The Stingers then opened a shooting gallery in the final frame, directing 17 pucks at McGill netminder Louis-Philip Guindon before finally converting twice to tie it up at 4-4.
 
Concordia outshot McGill 55-27. Rookie Stingers goaltender Kyle Jessiman was credited with 23 saves, while Guindon took the loss despite making 50 stops, his third game this season with at least 50 saves.
 
Beauchamp, an applied human sciences sophomore who previously played in the QMJHL for the Gatineau Olympiques, sent the home crowd into a frenzy at 5:09 of the 20-minute sudden-death period, converting a pass from fellow Gatineau teammate Gabriel Bilodeau, who also collected an assist earlier in the game.
 
Keanu Yamamoto of Spokane, Wash., had opened the scoring early on for McGill, just 113 seconds after the opening face-off. That lead was doubled by Guillaume Gauthier on a power-play some nine minutes later. But Tyler Hylland then closed the gap to one for the Stingers with a power-play marker at 13:49.
 
McGill regained their two-goal cushion just 49 seconds after the second period began, when Gauthier struck for his second of the game. That held up until the 16:16 mark when Concordia stormed back with an impressive solo effort down the wing by Alexandre Katerinakis proved fruitful.

The game featured everything one could imagine, with 13 penalties called, including seven by McGill. Goal-posts were hit, sticks were flung into the crowd, blood was drawn (McGill's Christophe Lalonde suffered a facial laceration after an unpenalized hit and had to switch jerseys from No. 12 to No. 10) and tensions were high throughout the game between these bitter rivals.

But it all appeared to come to a head at 18:10 of the second period when McGill forward Michael Cramarossa was impeded from behind on a clear goal-scoring opportunity. Officials awarded the industrial relations junior a penalty shot. Cramarossa opted for a slick forehand-backhand-forehand manoeuvre, reminiscent of Habs' legendary captain Saku Koivu.
 
The attempt fooled Jessiman but appeared to hit the post before getting lost underneath the chaos of sticks, shaved ice and goalie pads. Jessiman promptly flung the puck across ice, convinced he had made the save. Cramarossa raised his hands in celebration and was promptly issued a 10-minute misconduct penalty for excessive celebration.
 
Confusion ensued on the ice as officials deliberated before finally confirming the goal, making it 4-2 for the visitors.
 
But Concordia ramped it up a gear, scoring three unanswered markers. Hylland added his second at the 6:00 minute mark of the third period, followed by Beauchamp at 9:05 after slapping home a loose puck that had taken a fortuitous bounce to his stick in a goal-mouth scramble.
 
Concordia was 1-for-4 on the power-play while McGill finished 1-for-3 , in addition to Cramarossa's penalty-shot goal.

McGill now holds a 108-104-14 lifetime record in 226 games overall against the Stingers, including a 19-13 record in playoffs and an 11-14-11 record in overtime. In post-season elimination games against Concordia, McGill has a -4 record. But when the Stingers are facing elimination, they are 1-10 against McGill, producing their lone victory in 1998.

McGILL MURMURS: Cramarossa's penalty shot marker was the second of the OUA playoffs this season, joining Toronto's Scott Kirton, who tallied against Western on Feb. 12. Both were scored in the 18th minute of the second period... There were no penalty shots in the post season last year and the last one involving McGill was in the 2018 playoffs when LP Guindon stopped Ottawa's Kevin Domingue... The last time that McGill was awarded a penalty shot in the playoffs was on Feb. 19, 2016 when David Rose was stopped at Concordia by Miguel Sullivan.... Former McGill hockey captain Todd Marcellus, who skated for the team from 1992 to 1996, was spotted at the game along with ex-McGill football player Nick Longval. Both were visiting from Ottawa and in town to coach a bantam hockey team at a tournament in nearby Chambly, Que.
 
SCORING SUMMARY

OUA PLAYOFF SCOREBOARD

OUA STANDINGS & STATS

2019-20 OUA M.Hockey Playoff Tracker

FIRST ROUND

E1
CARLETON vs. RMC
Carleton wins series 2 - 0
Game 1 - Wed Feb 12 7:00 PM CARLETON 7, RMC 3
Game 2 - Thu Feb 13 7:00 PM Carleton 5, RMC 4

E2
UQTR vs. QUEEN'S
UQTR wins series 2 - 0
Game 1 - Wed Feb 12 7:30 PM UQTR 3, QUEEN'S 1
Game 2 - Sat Feb 15 7:00 PM UQTR 4, Queen's 3

E3
OTTAWA vs. ONTARIO TECH
series tied 1 - 1
Game 1 - Wed Feb 12 7:30 PM Ottawa 2, ONTARIO TECH 1 OT
Game 2 - Sat Feb 15 3:00 PM Ontario Tech 5, OTTAWA 3
Game 3 - Sun Feb 16 3:00 PM Ontario Tech at Ottawa

E4
MCGILL vs. CONCORDIA
series tied 1 - 1
Game 1 - Thu Feb 13 7:00 PM MCGILL 2, Concordia 1
Game 2 - Sat Feb 15 7:30 PM CONCORDIA 5, McGill 4 OT
Game 3 - Sun Feb 16 7:00 PM Concordia at McGill

W1
TORONTO vs. WESTERN
series tied 1 - 1
Game 1 - Wed Feb 12 7:00 PM TORONTO 6, Western 2
Game 2 - Sat Feb 15 3:00 PM WESTERN 3, Toronto 1
Game 3 - Sun Feb 16 7:00 PM Western at Toronto

W2
RYERSON vs. LAKEHEAD
Ryerson wins series 2 - 0
Game 1 - Wed Feb 12 7:00 PM Ryerson 4, LAKEHEAD 1
Game 2 - Sat Feb 15 7:15 PM RYERSON 2, Lakehead 1 OT

W3
GUELPH vs. LAURIER
series tied 1 - 1
Game 1 - Thu Feb 13 7:30 PM Laurier 3, GUELPH 1
Game 2 - Sat Feb 15 7:07 PM Guelph 6, LAURIER 3
Game 3 - Sun Feb 16 7:30 PM Laurier at Guelph

W4
WINDSOR vs. BROCK
Brock wins series 2 - 0
Game 1 - Wed Feb 12 7:30 PM Brock 6, WINDSOR 3
Game 2 - Fri Feb 14 7:15 PM BROCK 5, Windsor 4


(* if necessary)