MONTREAL -- Concordia capitalized on a plethora of power-plays and rallied for a 2-1 come-from-behind upset over fourth-seeded McGill at McConnell Arena, Sunday. 

The Stingers claimed the rubber match of the OUA East Division men's hockey best-of-three quarter-final. McGill had won the series opener 2-1 on Thursday but dropped Game 2 by a 5-4 score in overtime on Saturday.

The result catapulted fifth-seeded Concordia (13-10-5) into the divisional semifinal series against top-seeded Carleton (24-3-1) and put an end to a star-crossed 144th season of hockey on the McGill campus. It marked McGill's first opening-round playoff ouster since 2013.

Concordia, which had a 27-22 edge in shots, went 2-for-7 on the power-play, while McGill could only muster a 1-for-4 performance. Their league-leading penalty-killing unit -- which operated at 90.2 per cent efficiency during the regular season -- conceded more than one goal for only the third time in 31 league and playoff contests.

All the scoring took place in the second period, with each occurring on the power-play. Keanu Yamamoto put McGill ahead 1-0 at 6:09 but the Stingers countered with markers from centre Jean-Philippe Beaulieu and right-winger Chase Harwell, at 11:20 and 18:56, respectively.

Rookie goaltender Kyle Jessiman turned aside 21 of 22 shots for the win, while senior Louis-Philip Guindon kicked out 25 of 27 shots in a losing cause.

This season, the crosstown rivals split their six meetings 3-3, with McGill outscoring the Stingers 17-15. McGill now holds a 108-105-14 lifetime record in 227 games overall against the Stingers, including a 19-14 record in playoffs.

McGill, which had to overcome the loss of head coach Kelly Nobes who passed away on the first day of training camp, handed the coaching reins to full-time assistant Liam Heelis on an interim basis. Despite a multitude of first semester injuries -- which kept both co-captains out of the lineup for the entire first semester -- Heelis guided the troops to a respectable 16-10-2 fourth-place finish in the 10-team OUA East and 20-17 record overall.

The team could lose as many as five seniors to graduation, although a few of them are expected to return. Among the graduates are fifth-year veterans Christophe Lalonde and Dominic Talbot-Tassi.

Lalonde, a forward and industrial relations senior from Mirabel, Que., posted a 62-59-121 career record in 168 games overall with 163 penalty minutes.

Talbot-Tassi, a 5-foot-9 rearguard, led the team in points this season with a 4-20-24 mark in 28 games. It was the first time that a blue-liner paced the squad in scoring since Samuel Labrecque in 2015-16. Talbot-Tassi never missed a league game in his five years and set the team's iron-man record at 140 consecutive regular season contests. He became McGill's all-time top-scoring defenceman in regular-season play with 135 points, including 29 goals (which ranks second to Ryan McKiernan's 33 goals). Overall, Talbot-Tassi played a school record 201 contests, and sits second among rearguards in career points with 190, two shy of Marc-Andre Dorion's record.

Other seniors who may have skated for the last time in a McGill jersey but still have eligibility remaining include co-captains Samuel Tremblay and Nathanael Halbert, plus forwards Jasmin Boutet and Guillaume Gauthier.

The Friends of McGill Hockey alumni support group will pay tribute to the graduating seniors at their annual awards gala at La Brasserie Molson in April.

NOTES: The 2020 OUA quarter-finals also had two upsets in the West Division, where eighth-seeded Western shocked first-place Toronto 2-1. It marked eighth consecutive year that the top-seeded team in the OUA West was knocked off in the opening round. The other "surprise" was a two-game sweep for fifth-seeded Brock over fourth-place Windsor... McGill hockey grad Jerome Verrier, who served as team captain over his last two seasons, led the Amiens Gothiques of the Ligue Magnus, to the Coupe de France championship over the weekend... Amiens defeated Rouen 3-2 in the final, winning in an overtime shootout before a sold-out crowd of 13,500 in Paris... Verrier tallied a tourney-leading 14 points in four games, with seven goals and 36 penalty minutes... Over the regular season, Verrier posted an 8-17-25 record in 34 games with 101 PIMs... One of his teammates with Amiens is Michael Babcock, Jr. son of the famous McGill grad who went on to a prolific international and NHL coaching career.

SCORING SUMMARY

OUA STANDINGS & STATS

OUA SCOREBOARD
 

2019-20 U SPORTS Men's Hockey Playoff Tracker 

ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY SPORT (AUS) QUARTER-FINALS (Best-of-Three)
Wednesday, February 12 to Sunday, February 16

SERIES A
Game 1 - Wednesday, February 12: Prince Edward Island 4 at Saint Mary's 5
Game 2 - Friday, February 14: Saint Mary's 4 at Prince Edward Island 3 (2OT)
(Saint Mary's wins best-of-three series 2-0)

SERIES B
Game 1 - Wednesday, February 12: St. Francis Xavier 2 at Moncton 3
Game 2 - Friday, February 14: Moncton 4 at St. Francis Xavier 2
(Moncton wins best-of-three series 2-0)
 
ONTARIO UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS (OUA) QUARTER-FINALS (Best-of-Three)
Wednesday, February 12 to Sunday, February 16

SERIES A
Game 1 - Wednesday, February 12: Royal Military College 3 at Carleton 7
Game 2 - Thursday, February 13: Carleton 5 at Royal Military College 4
(Carleton wins best-of-three series 2-0)

SERIES B
Game 1 - Wednesday, February 12: Trois-Rivieres 3 at Queen's 1
Game 2 - Saturday, February 15: Queen's 3 at Trois-Rivieres 4
(Trois-Rivieres wins best-of three series 2-0)

SERIES C
Game 1 - Wednesday, February 12: Ottawa 2 at Ontario Tech 1 (OT)
Game 2 - Saturday, February 15: Ontario Tech 5 at Ottawa 3
Game 3 - Sunday, February 16: Ontario Tech 0 at Ottawa 5
(Ottawa wins best-of-three series 2-1)

SERIES D
Game 1 - Thursday, February 13: Concordia 1 at McGill 2
Game 2 - Saturday, February 15: McGill 4 at Concordia 5 (OT)
Game 3 - Sunday, February 16: Concordia 2 at McGill 1
(Concordia wins best-of-three series 2-1)

SERIES E
Game 1 - Wednesday, February 12: Western 2 at Toronto 6
Game 2 - Saturday, February 15: Toronto 1 at Western 3
Game 3 - Sunday, February 16: Western 3 at Toronto 1
(Western wins best-of-three series 2-1)

SERIES F
Game 1 - Wednesday, February 12: Ryerson 4 at Lakehead 1
Game 2 - Saturday, February 15: Lakehead 1 at Ryerson 2 (OT)
(Ryerson wins best-of-three series 2-0)

SERIES G
Game 1 - Thursday, February 13: Wilfrid Laurier 3 at Guelph 1
Game 2 - Saturday, February 15: Guelph 6 at Wilfrid Laurier 3
Game 3 - Sunday, February 16: Wilfrid Laurier 2 at Guelph 4
(Guelph wins best-of-three series 2-1)

SERIES H
Game 1 - Wednesday, February 12: Brock 6 at Windsor 3
Game 2 - Friday, February 14: Windsor 4 at Brock 5
(Brock wins best-of-three series 2-0)
 
CANADA WEST HOCKEY (CWH) QUARTER-FINALS (Best-of-Three)
Friday, February 14 to Sunday, February 16

SERIES A
Game 1 - Friday, February 14: Manitoba 2 at Calgary 6
Game 2 - Saturday, February 15: Manitoba 1 at Calgary 2
(Calgary wins best-of-three series 2-0)

SERIES B
Game 1 - Friday, February 14: UBC 4 at Mount Royal 2
Game 2 - Saturday, February 15: UBC 3 at Mount Royal 5
Game 3 - Sunday, February 16: UBC 5 at Mount Royal 4 (OT)
(UBC wins best-of-three series 2-1)