MONTREAL – Jordan-Ty Fournier of Dorval, Que., scored once in regulation and added the only goal in a marathon nine-round overtime shootout as McGill skated to a 3-2 triumph over Concordia to open OUA men's hockey season, Wednesday, at the Ed Meagher Arena. It marked the official opening of the 145th year of men's hockey on the McGill campus.

The 18-player shootout was the longest in McGill or Concordia history and matched the fourth longest in the OUA record book.

"When I gave Fournier the tap on the bench to go (ninth) in the shootout, I saw the fire in his eyes and had a good feeling about that," said Redbirds head coach David Urquhart, who collected his first regular season win as bench boss of the program."He's a guy that contributes in a lot of different ways throughout the course of a game. He provides leadership, is great on the penalty-killing unit, plays on the power-play and although he's not known for being in a shootout, he took the opportunity and buried the first chance he got."

McGill had a 44-39 edge in shots, including an 8-2 margin in a scoreless seven-minute, 3-on-3 overtime. For some unknown reason, Concordia shot first in the shootout and 17 different snipers failed to connect until Fournier was tapped on the shoulder for his turn.

"I've never taken a shootout before, ever. That's one-for-one, so I'm at a 100 per cent success rate," laughed Fournier, a rugged 6-foot-1, 203-pound right-winger who fired a high snap shot for the deciding marker. "I knew what I was going to do as soon as I got off the bench. Just skate down the ice hard and see if I can shoot it in. Deking wasn't working for anyone (because of the ice conditions) so I just fired it. We've had two months now to prepare for this game... We came to the rink ready to work, we had a good contribution from every line and it was a good team win."

Fournier, a 24-year-old Canadian Studies senior, had tied the game at 1-1 in the first period, less than three minutes after Concordia's Isiah Campbell opened the scoring at 5:47. Linemates Blake Hayward of Vancouver, B.C., and Keanu Yamamoto of Spokane, Wash., drew assists on the Fournier goal.

Midway through the second period, it was McGill's turn to take the lead when Hayward converted passes from Yamamoto and rookie defenceman  Gabriel Villeneuve of Trois-Rivieres, Que.

But the Stingers forced overtime when defenceman Marcus Tesink tallied an unassisted marker from the point at 4:06 of the third period.

"It was a character win and we had contributions from all four lines," Urquhart said. "The thing that was really impressive was the way that we kept their shots to the outside and allowed our goalie to see pucks. That takes a team effort and sticking to the structure. With a young team like ours, it is very positive to see that this early in the season."

The goalies played a large role in why both teams failed to connect on the power-play, with McGill going 0-for-4 and Concordia 0-for-7.

Rookie netminder Alexis Shank of Laval, Que., saved 37 of 39 shots for his first-ever regular season victory in a McGill jersey. The former Habs prospect who played in the QMJHL with Chicoutimi, stoned the Stingers with seven saves during a lengthy 5-on-3 power-play around the 10-minute mark of the third period. An economics freshman, Shank was also a perfect 9-for-9 in the shootout, which doesn't officially count towards his save total.

"Shank was outstanding and he's started to build a reputation that he can do that every night, especially the 5-on-3 penalty-kill and in the shootout," added Urquhart. "He's a guy that allows our team to play with confidence because that builds from the back end out."

Concordia rookie Thomas Sigouin made 41 saves in a losing cause. He stopped eight of nine in the shootout. The Stingers (0-0-1) will host UQTR (0-0) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

Since the cross-town rivalry debuted  in 1975, over a span of 230 games, McGill holds a slim lead in the all-time head-to-head series with a 110-106-14 record. The series began ominously with Concordia posting a 36-1-1 record over the first 38 meetings.

McGill (1-0) will now prepare to host the Ottawa Gee-Gees (0-0) on Saturday in a 7 p.m. puck-drop at McConnell Arena, for the annual Friends of McGill Hockey Homecoming Game. Tickets are available online only.

GAME NOTES: McGill team captain Samuel Tremblay did not dress against Concordia after being injured early in the last preseason game versus UQTR... OUA men's hockey shootouts involving eight rounds or more include: 11 ROUNDS: with 22 shooters in Ottawa's 4-3 road victory (2-1 in OTS) at Nipissing, Dec. 1/12... 10 ROUNDS (twice): in Windsor's 5-4 home-ice win over Western (20 shooters, 2-1 in OTS; Jan. 21/11) and in Western's 4-3 win over Waterloo (20 shooters, 3-2 in OTS; Dec. 1/11)...  NINE ROUNDS (three): in a Queen's 3-2 home-ice win over York (18 shooters, 3-2 in OTS, Oct. 15/11) and in a Queen's 4-3 home-ice win over Ottawa (18 shooters, 2-1 in OTS, Nov. 30/13) and in a McGill 3-2 road win at Concordia (18 shooters, 1-0 in OTS, Nov. 3/21)...... EIGHT ROUNDS (twice): in a Queen's 5-4 home-ice win over Ottawa (16 shooters, 2-1 in OTS, Nov. 5/10) and UQTR's 5-4 road win at McGill (16 shooters, 1-0 in OTS, Dec. 2/15).

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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