OSHAWA, ONT – Alexandre Gagnon of Gatineau, Que., registered a hat-trick, including the game-winner at 17:06 of the third period, as McGill skated to a 4-3 triumph over the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks to conclude the regular season in OUA men's hockey, Saturday, at the Campus Ice Centre.
 
The result clinched third place for McGill (14-8-4) in the OUA East, while Ontario Tech (13-10-3) dropped to fifth. The Redbirds will open a best-of-three quarter-final series against sixth-place Ottawa (13-11-2) on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7 p.m.  The Ridgebacks will meet fourth-place Carleton (14-9-3) in the other OUA East series. Division-leading UQTR (21-4-1) and second-place Concordia (19-7-0) get a first-round bye.

The Redbirds never trailed in this game, taking a 2-1 lead after the first period and holding a 3-2 margin after two.

It marked the first career three-goal game for Gagnon – a 5-foot-11, 177-pound forward – and the team's third hat-trick of the season, joining a group that includes Eric Uba and Brandon Frattaroli. Gagnon, a 24-year-old physical education junior, opened the scoring by blocking a shot in the defensive zone and racing up the ice on a breakaway for an unassisted goal.  His second marker at 10:31 of the middle frame gave McGill a 3-1 lead and it was assisted by his younger brother Mathieu Gagnon. It is believed to be the first time since the Second World War that McGill siblings had been involved on the same scoring play.

"Alex was awesome today," said McGill head coach David Urquhart of Gagnon, who finished the regular season with a 7-5-12 record, including a pair of game-winners, in 26 contests. "He brought energy, poise, made big plays at big moments and was very good on penalty-killing."

Despite being the least penalized of 35 U SPORTS teams in the country, McGill was called for four infractions, while the Ridgebacks played a very rare penalty-free game. The Redbirds PK unit managed to snuff out all four situations.

"It appeared to me that there were a lot of situations where a penalty should have been called on Ontario Tech but for some reason, the officials didn't see it the same way as I did," Urquhart wryly noted.

Rounding out the scoring for the Redbirds was William Rouleau , who tallied his 12th of the season to put McGill ahead 2-1 at 19:25 of the first period.

Ontario Tech marksmen were Baxter Anderson, Tyson McConnell and Stephen Calisti who netted the 3-3 equalizer at 12:19 of the final period, setting the stage for Gagnon's third of the day.

Ontario Tech had a 41-35 edge in shots as senior netminder Emanuel Vella registered a single-game season-high 38 saves for the win, improving his record to 7-5.

"Vella was good in big moments," said Urquhart. "He was cool under pressure and stopped two breakaways."

Ridgebacks starter Leif Hertz was credited with 31 saves and took the loss as his record tumbled to 8-11.

"A good way for us to go into the playoffs, facing some adversity within a game and overcoming it." Urquhart added. "It was good for us to enter the late stages of a tied game and find a way to win. In the playoffs, good teams find ways to win and we did that today."

Looking ahead to the McGill-Ottawa best-of-three quarter-final series, tickets will go on sale on Tuesday and be available for purchase online only. No tickets at the door. The two teams played each other three times this season. Ottawa won the first confrontation 6-1 at home on Nov. 5 but McGill won the rematch 4-3 in overtime on Dec. 2.  The Gee-Gees took the rubber match 3-2 in overtime at McConnell Arena on Feb. 9. Over the three meetings, McGill had a slight 92-90 edge in shots, but Ottawa outscored the Redbirds 12-7. A large part of the Gee-Gees offence was on the power-play, where Ottawa was 5-for-12, while McGill was 3-for-7. Despite being the least penalized team in the league, McGill was flagged for 34 PIMs against the Gee-Gees, who were only charged with 14 PIMs. 

McGill ended up with the second best power-play in the league and fifth-best in the country, operating at 26.2 per cent efficiency and joined Waterloo as the only teams in the league to not allow a shorthanded goal. Ottawa's PP unit ranked fourth at 22.7 but they allowed six shorthanded markers, the third-highest total in the OUA.

REDBIRDS RAP: Spotted in the crowd was Greg Frazer, who played hockey at McGill from 1976 to 1978... Freshman William Rouleau ended up leading the Redbirds in regular-season points and ranking second among OUA rookie scorers with a 12-14-26 record in 26 games. He actually tied teammate Brandon Frattaroli, who had one less goal (11-15-26)... Eric Uba  led the team in OUA goals with 14 and ranked eighth among league leaders... Scott Walford, who missed three McGill contests while playing for Canada at the FISU Games, collected two assists and finished third among OUA defencemen in scoring with a 3-21-24 record (and only four PIMs) in 23 games. He trailed Western's Jake Gravelle (25GP: 4-24-28) and UQTR's Justin Bergeron (23GP: 0-25-25).

SCORING SUMMARY

OUA STATS & STANDINGS
 
NATIONAL STATS LEADERS


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