MONTREAL – Zach Gallant scored twice and added an assist as McGill handed the No.5-ranked Brock Badgers their first setback of the season with a convincing 4-1 victory in OUA men's hockey at McConnell Arena, Friday.
 
It was the first confrontation in five years between these teams, since McGill captured the Queen's Cup league championship game with a 5-1 decision in St. Catharines, Ont., on March 10, 2018.
 
The visitors had entered the game atop the OUA West Division standings with an unblemished 6-0 record. But they left with their seventh straight loss to McGill, which improved its lifetime record to 29-4-2 against the Badgers in a series that began in 1988.
 
McGill, which had a 25-22 edge in shots, never trailed in the contest. The Redbirds led 2-1 after the opening period and 3-1 after two, then added another to take the final stanza.
 
Gallant opened the scoring at 6:08 of the first period and closed it with an empty-netter after a selfless pass from rookie Xavier Fortin, who found himself with the puck on a 3-on-0 breakaway right in front of the empty net but displayed tremendous sportsmanship by passing to Gallant. Fortin, a native of Mirabel, Que., scored 72 career goals in the QMJHL but is still looking for his first regular season goal with the Redbirds. He was in on both of Gallant's goals and now has three assists in five games.
 
These were the first two goals in a McGill uniform for Gallant, a 24-year-old "rookie" from Oakville, Ont. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound centre enrolled at the University's Desautels school of management in 2021 and took some online courses while  playing two pro campaigns in the American Hockey League with the San Jose Barracuda. He had to sit out last season to gain back his eligibility. A star in junior who served as captain of the Peterborough Petes, he was a third-round selection by Detroit in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
 
Rounding out the scoring for the Redbirds was freshman Stephane Huard of Blainville, Que., who was credited with the game-winner, and junior Eric Uba of Kitchener, Ont., who put his troops ahead 3-1 on a power-play at 16:56 of the second period. McGill ended up 1-for-3 with the extra attacker.
 
The lone marksman for Brock was defenceman Zach Taylor, whose power-play goal tied the game at 1-1 midway through the first period. It was the first PP marker that McGill had allowed this season, snapping a streak of 17 consecutive kills. The Redbirds PK unit snuffed out three of the four penalties on this night and now lead the 19-team OUA with a 95.2 per cent success rate, erasing 20 of 21 man-advantages.
 
Goaltender Alexis Shank of Laval, Que., saved 21 of 22 shots and improved his record 2-1 on the season.  Brock freshman Connor Ungar made 21 saves and took the loss, his first in seven decisions.
 
Forwards Mikisiw Awashish and Patrick Larkin were pressed into blueline duty as McGill was missing rearguards Scott Walford (injured) and Adam Pilotte (serving an automatic suspension for a major penalty).

"A couple of things that stood out for me was that we were (short-staffed) on the blueline and our defencemen had an outstanding game, they logged a lot of minutes," said head coach David Urquhart."They kept the game simple and the filled the shooting lanes, which minimized the shots we faced. Shank was great in nets. He came up rally big on a couple of breakaways. Also Larkin had a big game on defence."

Larkin was playing in front of his parents, visiting from England. His father Bryan Larkin is a former McGill All-Canadian blueliner who played from 1988 to 1991 and was inducted to the McGill Sports Hall of Fame in 2020.

It was an unlucky day for Awashish, who was accidently struck in the jaw by a wrist shot from teammate Maxime Blanchard with about 45 seconds remaining in the second period. He stayed on his feet and slowly made his way to the bench during the play but did not return and will likely require some dental work.

"It was nice to see how we've progressed in the last couple of games," noted Urquhart, who troops have now knocked off high-end teams like UQTR and Brock by identical 4-1 scores. "And finding ways to take what the games give you. Taking a lead into the third period and not opening up to give our opponents some momentum. We did that by getting pucks below their goal line and maybe passing up on some good chances off the rush. We chose instead to make the game harder for them. We've shown a lot of maturity in the last few games. The next challenge for us is to turn that around quickly with the second of back-to-back games."

McGill (2-2-1) will host Guelph (3-3-0) on Saturday (Oct. 28) at 7 pm. Public transportation (Bus 144) and/or walking is the best way to get to McConnell Arena as no parking will be available due to the Montreal Alouettes football game, which is slated for a 4 p.m. kickoff at Molson Stadium. Fans can also choose to watch the Redbirds game through the McGill Streaming Network.

The Badgers (6-1-0) will play at Concordia (6-1-0) on Saturday at 3 p.m.
 
SCORING SUMMARY
 
OUA STATS & STANDINGS
 
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
CELL: 514-983-7012
E-MAIL:earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca