MONTREAL – Rookie rearguard Maxime Blanchard of Pelham, Ont., scored twice and added a pair of assists as McGill tripled the Queen's Gaels 6-2 in OUA men's hockey at McConnell Arena, Saturday.

It was the first rendezvous between these longtime gladiators since McGill pulled off a stunning 3-2 upset over top-seeded Queen's in the OUA sudden-death quarter-final in Kingston on March 16, 2022. The Red & White now own a 132-56-2 lifetime record against Queen's dating back to their first encounter way back in 1895.

Blanchard, a six-foot, 176-pound rearguard who played in the QMJHL with Sherbrooke, put McGill ahead 2-0 with an unassisted goal at the 53-second mark of the middle period. The 21-year-old finance freshman assisted on the goal that made it 3-0, then set up the marker  that made it 5-2 late in the second and added his second of the soiree and third of the season on a power-play in the final period. He now has five points in five league games with only four penalty minutes.

"He's a guy that puts in the work and gets results because of his dedication to improving the little details every day in practice and in the gym," said McGill bench boss David Urquhart. "He's playing with confidence and has done a good job in the defensive zone, bringing pucks out when under pressure and he shows good poise on the offensive side. He's been able to rip some pucks and has had a fantastic start to the season."

The game was a wide-open affair with the Redbirds holding a 40-39 advantage in shots. McGill, which led 1-0 after one period, exploded with four goals in the middle frame to take a 5-2 lead after two. The pace slowed down somewhat in the third period when the game was delayed for 17 minutes with 16:26 remaining due to a broken door on the Queen's bench.

"There was good enthusiasm out there tonight, we've talked about building that energy from doing little things," Urquhart noted. "Things like stopping at the net, winning a foot-race, coming back hard on pucks and blocking shots. Those little things add up to make a big difference. We came out with good energy, maintained that and wore them down."

Sophomore forward Olivier Mathieu of Drummondville, Que., was credited with the game-winner when he found the back of the net to put McGill ahead 3-0 on a power-play at 8:16 of the middle stanza.

Queen's narrowed the deficit to one with back-to-back goals midway through the second period, with Alex Robert of Ottawa and Nolan Hutcheson of Kingston connecting.

Other McGill marksmen were Brandon Skubel of Niagara Falls, Ont., Caiden Daley of Winnipeg, and Eric Uba of Kitchener, Ont.,with his team-leading fifth marker of the season. He now ranks fourth among OUA goal leaders.

Some 14 penalties were called with Queen's going 1-for-8 on the power-play while the Redbirds replied with a 2-for-6 performance.

Senior netminder Emanuel Vella of Toronto registered 37 saves for the victory, improving his unblemished record to 2-0. Luke Richardson started for the Gaels and took the loss, conceding five goals on 28 shots before being pulled after two periods. Anthony Popovich, his understudy, kicked aside 11 of 12 shots in the final frame.

McGill (3-1-1), which moved into a tie with Ontario Tech (3-1-1)  for third place in the OUA East, will host the winless Nipissing Lakers (0-4-1) on Sunday (Oct. 30) at 3 p.m.  A victory would catapult the Redbirds into second place.

Queen's (1-4-1) is off until Nov. 2 when they will make the short jaunt across Kingston to meet rival RMC (3-3-0).

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SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca