MONTREAL – In a rare display of brotherly love in a hockey arena, two sets of siblings combined for two goals and an assist, while goaltender Alexis Shank earned a 16-save shutout as  McGill goosed the visiting Guelph Gryphons 3-0 at McConnell Arena, Saturday.
 
It was the third straight victory for McGill after starting the regular season with a disappointing 0-2-1 record. The Redbirds had a 48-16 edge in shots and went 1-for-6 on the power-play, while erasing both shorthanded situations.
 
This was the first time that these teams had crossed paths since Oct. 20, 2017 and McGill has now won seven consecutive confrontations with Guelph, improving its lifetime record to 31-13-5 in head-to-head matches since they first met in 1965.
 
Sophomore Mathieu Gagnon was credited with the game-winning goal. He broke a scoreless draw at 2:35 of the second period, assisted by his older brother Alexandre Gagnon and Thomas Belzile.
 
Not to be upstaged, the Blanchard bros then picked up the pace in the third period. Defenceman Maxime Blanchard took advantage of a strange set of penalties to connect on a 5-on-3 power play at 2:44 of the third period. Guelph rearguard Tristan De Jong was penalized at 2:07 for throwing his stick at the puck carrier. As play continued before the whistle, Liam Ham, another blueliner, then retrieved the stick and returned it to De Jong, which resulted in an additional penalty, for illegal equipment, since he was in possession of two hockey sticks. It took just 37 seconds for the Redbirds to connect.
 
Twin sibling, Alexandre Blanchard helped put the game out of reach at 18:54 when he set up Uba for an empty-netter at 18:54.
 
The Redbirds (3-2-1) are slated to play the next three games on the road, with stops in Kingston, against RMC (Nov. 3) and Queen's (Nov. 4), followed by a rematch at UQTR (Nov. 8). Guelph (3-4-0) will host Ontario Tech (3-3-1) on Nov. 3.
 
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