NORTH BAY, ONT – Eric Uba of Kitchener, Ont., scored twice and added a pair of helpers as visiting McGill cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Nipissing Lakers in OUA men's hockey, Saturday, at Memorial Gardens.
 
The result avenged a 4-2 loss at Nipissing on Friday and improved McGill's lifetime mark to 27-6 against the Lakers. More importantly, the victory improved McGill's record to 13-7-3. With three games remaining before playoffs, the Redbirds are now tied with Ontario Tech (13-8-3) for third place in the OUA East, three points behind Concordia (16-7-0) and two ahead of Carleton (12-8-3).
 
McGill, which potted six goals in a game for the fourth time this season, led 2-0 after one and 3-1 after two, then added three unanswered markers in the final stanza.

Uba, a management sophomore, scored what proved to be the game-winner at 13:44 of the first period as McGill took a 2-0 lead. At the 26-second mark of the third period, the six-foot, 200-pound forward set up Mathieu Gagnon to give the Redbirds a commanding 4-1 advantage, then he added another marker, his team-leading 14th of the season, at 3:57. His fourth point was an assist on defenceman Maxime Blanchard's goal at 9:39.
 
With 14 goals in 23 league games, Uba is now tied for fifth among OUA goal scorers, only one shy of second place.
 
Gagnon, a management freshman from Gatineau, Que., also had a four-point game, buttressed by three assists.
 
The other McGill marksmen were rookie Evan Patrician of Calgary, Alta., and co-captain Jordan-Ty Fournier, a senior from Dorval, Que.
 
Nipissing's lone goal was tallied by forward Kyle Foreman, who ruined Emanuel Vella's shutout bid at 9:01 of the second period. Vella, a senior from Toronto, made 25 saves and improved his record to 6-3. Rookie Zach Roy took the loss between the pipes for the Lakers and his record dropped to 2-13.
 
McGill, which had a 42-26 edge in shots, was 0-for-2 on the power-play, while Nipissing was 0-for-3.
 
With only the top six teams (instead of eight) qualifying for the post-season this year, both eighth-place RMC (7-14-1) and cellar-dwelling Nipissing (3-16-5), have been eliminated from the race.
 
The Redbirds could finish anywhere from second to seventh in the OUA East but can clinch a playoff berth with one more point in the standings. McGill will host Carleton (12-8-3) on Feb. 3 and Ottawa (11-10-2) on Feb. 9, then close out the regular season against Ontario Tech (13-8-3) on Feb. 11 in Oshawa.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
 
OUA STATS & STANDINGS
 
SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca