MONTREAL – Emile Hagarty-Aubin of Chambly, Que., scored the go-ahead goal at 10:53 of the final period as visiting Concordia edged McGill 4-3 in the OUA men's hockey season-opener before 614 at McConnell Arena, Thursday.
 
The result put a damper on McGill's official start to the hockey program's 148th year of operation. It also avenged McGill's 4-3 preseason victory from a week earlier. Concordia, which swept McGill in the OUA East best-of-three semifinals last spring, now leads the all-time head-to-head series by a slim 114-113-14 record since the archrivals first crossed paths in 1975.
 
The Stingers led 2-1 after one period and the teams were tied 3-3 after two.
 
The Redbirds played shorthanded for 12 full minutes and although they killed off all six Concordia power-plays, the penalties took their toll. One of them was a rare call for leaving the penalty box two seconds early, on Zach Gallant who was sent back to the sin bin for an additional two minutes and two seconds with just 3:45 remaining in the contest.
 
"The penalties killed us tonight," said McGill head coach David Urquhart. "That's something we'll have to clean up really fast because there's a lot of really good teams in this league. We expect to battle for the top spot and every point counts."

Including last week's preseason win over Concordia, McGill has snuffed out all 13 of Concordia's power-play chances.

"We we're lucky in one sense because our penalty-killers had a really good night but when you take that many penalties, you can't use the full bench," Urquhart added. "There's some players that get passed over and then you over use some other guys."

All that power-play time buttressed the Stingers to a 37-25 advantage in shots.
 
McGill's Brandon Frattaroli of Pierrefonds, Que., opened the scoring on a power-play at 7:42 of the first period. Concordia rebounded with markers from Edouard Charron at 9:06 and Mathieu Bizier at 13:43.
 
McGill pushed back in the middle frame, out scoring the Stingers 2-1 with goals from Alexandre Gagnon (14:58) of Gatineau, Que., and rookie Charles-Antoine Dumont (18:05) of Levis, Que., sandwiched around one by Concordia's Charles-Antoine Paiement (16:12).
 
For Dumont, it was his first regular season marker in a McGill uniform after tallying five goals in five preseason contests. The 5-foot-10, 176-pound right-winger scored 48 goals over four seasons in the QMJHL with Baie Comeau and Drummondville,
 
Concordia goaltender Nikolas Hurtubise, a freshman from Mirabel, Que., kicked out 22 of 25 shots for the win, while McGill junior Alexis Shank of Laval, Que., registered 33 saves in a losing cause.
 
The Stingers (1-0) return to action on Friday (Oct. 6) when they host Carleton (0-0). McGill has a day to prepare for a two-hour road trip across the U.S. border, when they confront the NCAA's University of Vermont Catamounts on Saturday at 2 p.m. McGill has a 111-127-10 lifetime record versus NCAA opponents, including a 1-1-0 mark against Vermont.
 
BOXSCORE
 
OUA STATS & STANDINGS
 
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
CELL: 514-983-7012
E-MAIL:earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca