OTTAWA – Luka Verreault scored twice and added an assist as the eighth-ranked Ottawa Gee-Gees surprised No.5 McGill 5-1 in an OUA men's hockey contest at the Minto Sports Complex, Thursday.
 
The game featured 77 minutes in penalties, 45 of them to the Redbirds who had entered as the lowest penalized team in the country with just 14 PIMs in two games. Normally one of the nation's leading programs on special teams, McGill was 0-for-5 on the power-play, while the Gee-Gees went 2-for-4.
 
It was the second consecutive victory for Ottawa (4-1) in as many meetings against McGill (1-2) as the Gee-Gees won 2-0 in the preseason. McGill now owns a 111-96-10 lifetime record against the Gee-Gees since they first met in 1968.
 
Ottawa led 2-0 after the first period on goals by Mathieu Desgagnes and Verreault.
 
McGill rookie Maxime Pellerin narrowed the deficit to 2-1 at 7:39 of the middle stanza, converting a three-way passing play between Xavier Fortin and Zach Gallant, who was ejected just five minutes later for a head contact penalty.
 
But the Gee-Gees secured a stranglehold on the victory just nine seconds into the final period when Andrew Belchamber took advantage of a poor clearing attempt and tallied his sixth marker of the young season. Verreault made it 4-1 with 5:11 remaining. His three-point soiree could have been greater, but he was stymied by goaltender Alexis Shank on a penalty shot called in the middle period.
 
"I thought that save would be a turning point for us," said McGill head coach David Urquhart. "What we needed to do was rally from that. We showed a lot of emotion and energy in the second period. But we were unable to score on a 5-on-3 power play... you have to capitalize on those opportunities."
 
Less than three minutes later, Verreault set up Zach Giroux to round out the scoring.
 
Ottawa had a slight 35-34 advantage in shots as sophomore netminder Franky Lapenna of Laval, Que., made 33 saves and improved his record to 3-1 this season and 22-8 over his Gee-Gees career.
 
Shank made 29 saves between the pipes for McGill as his record dropped to 1-2.
 
"(Despite the score) there's a lot of stuff to build on from that game," noted Urquhart. "One of the main things is that we've got to find a way to come together as a team from within the locker room. Push each other to take that next step, to do what it takes to win games in a tough league. Most nights, it's a one-goal game and we have to really come together and do all the little things that will amount to scoring or saving an extra goal, whether it means blocking a shot or forcing a turnover on the forecheck. It adds up over the course of the season. Right now, were getting lots of chances but were not converting. So we have to continue to push hard and stick with the game plan and find that little thing that will push us over the edge in a positive direction."
 
The Redbirds, who led the entire 19-team OUA conference in points last season, now find themselves in unfamiliar territory, sitting seventh in the OUA East with a 1-2 record.  McGill has a day off to sort things out before hosting the Toronto Metropolitan University Bold (1-3) in a rematch of last year's bronze medal game at the U SPORTS Final Eight national championship tournament. They will cross paths in a Saturday (Oct. 19) matinee at the Place Bell community rink at 3:30 p.m. That contest will be preceded by the Martlets 12:30 p.m. matchup against Concordia, the defending national women's champs.
 
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Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
CELL: 514-983-7012
E-MAIL:earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca