BROSSARD, Que -- McGill's Samuel Tremblay scored once but five different players replied for the Montreal Canadiens rookie squad in a 5-3 victory over the Quebec University All-Stars in preseason play at the Bell Sports Complex on the south shore of Montreal, Tuesday.

The game was tied 1-1 after the opening period but the Habs rookies jumped into a 4-1 advantage after two. Both sides tallied once in the final frame.

The collegians narrowed the gap to 4-3 midway through the final period but Kaiden Guhle tallied an empty-netter to put the contest out of reach with 14 seconds remaining. The result proved much closer than the only previous meeting between these clubs, a 7-3 victory for the Canadiens rookies on Sept. 10, 2019.

Alexandre Katerinakis and Tyler Hylland, both members of the Concordia Stingers, scored for the all-stars, sandwiched around a marker from Samuel Tremblay of the McGill Redbirds.

"It went pretty well, considering that we had more than 18 months off and were unable to practice as a team before this game," said Tremblay, the McGill team captain from Saint-Basile-le-Grand, Que., who also wore the "C" for the all-star squad. "For me, I've only played about 10 games over the past two years because of injuries, so it was good to be out there. Our legs felt kind of weird in the first period because we weren't used to the body-checking. The energy was a bit low (early on) but then we scored and found some momentum. It was a fun game to play. Three of their five goals came on lucky bounces."

Other marksmen for the Habs side were Joshua Roy, captain Mika Cyr (shorthanded), Brenden Sinzzotti and Isiah Campbell.

Tremblay was one of eight McGill players named to the Quebec All-Stars roster, along with defencemen Scott Walford of Coquitlam, B.C., a third round draft pick of the Canadiens in 2017, sophomore Will Warm of West Vancouver, B.C., and fifth-round NHL draft pick Jacob Golden of Toronto, who was a late lineup scratch..
 
Joining Tremblay among the forwards from McGill was sophomore Eric Uba of Kitchener, Ont., Caiden Daley, a freshman from Winnipeg and senior Keanu Yamamoto of Spokane, Wash., who earned an assist on Tremblay's goal at 16:49 of the middle stanza, which halted a streak of four consecutive markers by the junior Habs and reduced the deficit to 4-2.

"It was a sick backhand pass from Yamamoto," said Tremblay, a 26-year-old master's student in kinesiology who graduated with a science degree last year.  "I broke my stick earlier in the game and was playing with a (replacement). When I got control of the puck at the net, I just tried to put it down low but the goalie shifted right, so I just shot to the other side, which was open."

Goaltender Joe Vrbetic made 25 saves and was credited with the win for the young Canadiens, who had a 43-28 edge in shots. Tristan Cole-Cazenave of the UQTR Patriotes started for the collegians and saved nine of 10 shots faced in 20 minutes of playing time. He was replaced by McGill freshman Alexis Shank, who kicked aside 29 of 32 shots over the final two periods and was charged with the loss. Shank, an NHL prospect who played for the Habs rookies in the 2019 game, is now 1-1 in this annual affair.

Both sides were 0-for-2 on the power-play.

McGill is scheduled to play six preseason contests, beginning with a visit from archrival Queen's on Oct. 13 in a 7 p.m. start at McConnell Arena. The Stingers will also be opening their preseason schedule on Oct. 13 when they confront UQTR in Trois-Rivieres. A few weeks later, McGill will be the guest at Concordia's regular OUA season opener on Nov. 3 at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The all-stars were composed of players from each of the three Quebec-based U SPORTS programs that compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference (OUA). Concordia had eight players named and seven others were from the UQTR Patriotes. All 23 players were products of the Canadian Hockey League, with 17 from the QMJHL, four from the WHL and two from the OHL. Behind the bench were a trio of associate coaches, with McGill's David Urquhart, Concordia's Marc-Andre Element and UQTR's Marc-Etienne Hubert.

SCORING SUMMARY


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