MONTREAL – Goaltender Alexis Gravel made 30 saves and four different players scored as the visiting UQTR Patriotes emerged from the lions den with a 4-1 victory over McGill at McConnell Arena, Saturday.

Trois-Rivieres led 1-0 after the first period and 2-0 after two, then added a pair in the final frame sandwiched around a Redbirds marker.

McGill, which had split their two preseason games with the Pats, had a 31-26 shots advantage but lacked finish around Gravel in the visitor's net. The 6-foot-4, 218-pound native of Asbestos, Que., lost his shutout bid with just 3:18 remaining in the game, when McGill rookie Eric Uba of Kitchener, Ont., scored with the goalie pulled for an extra attacker.

Forward Simon Lafrance had opened the scoring at 15:35 of the first period and defenceman Justin Bergeron made it 2-0 with the game-winner at 5:39 of the second. Zachary Lavigne upped the count to 3-0 at 9:39 of the final period. McGill pulled goaltender Emanuel Vella for an extra attacker with 6:43 remaining in the third – believed to be the earliest end-of-game "power pull"  in team history – and it paid off when Uba connected. But the Pats later added an empty-netter by William Leblanc.

Vella, a third-year netminder from Toronto, was making his first start of the regular season after seeing 80 minutes of duty over two preseason contests. He saved 22 of 25 shots and took the loss.

The Redbirds power-play woes continued to plague them as they went 0-2 in the game and are now 1-for-15 on the season. Their success rate is 6.7 per cent and ranks 16th in the 19-team Ontario-based conference.

Oddly, they have strange bedfellows, as four of the five teams in the highly-competitive OUA Far East division are ranked in the lower echelon of the league. UQTR is 13th at 9.5 per cent, along with Concordia in 15th (7.1) and Ottawa in 19th (0.0%).

On the bright side, the McGill penalty-killing unit erased all four Pats PP chances. The Redbirds lead the OUA in PK success killing off 18 of 19 shorthanded situations for a 94.7 efficiency.

McGill (1-3-0) will now turn its focus on righting the ship with a crucial home-and-home series against Concordia (2-0-1). The Redbirds will host the first confrontation on Friday (Nov. 19) at 7 p.m., then head to the west side of town to play the Stingers on Sunday (Nov. 21) in a 3 p.m. matinee.

After the bitter rivals split a pair of preseason meetings, McGill won the OUA regular season opener 3-2 in an overtime shootout before a capacity crowd at the Ed Meagher Arena. That game featured a wild 18-player shootout with McGill finally scoring the only goal to collect the win. Since the rivalry debuted in 1975, McGill leads the all-time head-to-head series with a 110-106-14 record.

REDBIRDS RAP: Alternate captain Jordan-Ty Fournier dressed and played a regular shift against UQTR after missing the previous game with an undisclosed injury... McGill is still awaiting a medical update on team captain Samuel Tremblay, a play-making centre whose skill, presence and leadership is the kind of sparkplug that the team could use right now. Tremblay has missed all four league games since he was injured in the first period of a preseason game against UQTR on Oct. 30.

SCORING SUMMARY

OUA STATS & STANDINGS

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Off.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca