LAVAL, QUE. – Forward Xavier Fortin and defenceman Maxime Blanchard each scored four points as No.7 ranked McGill pounced on the visiting Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks 9-3 in OUA men's hockey at Place Bell, Saturday.
 
It was the Redbirds third consecutive victory as they improved to 5-3 in the OUA East division, while WLU dropped to 2-4-2 in the OUA West. The nine-goal outburst was team's highest in 247 regular season contests, dating back to a 9-2 win over visiting UOIT (now known as Ontario Tech) on Feb. 7, 2014.
 
Eight different players found the back of the net for the Redbirds, who outshot Laurier 52-18, including 17-2 in the first period. McGill tallied three times in each period, leading 3-1 after one and 6-3 after two. They went 3-for-8 on the power-play and neutralized three of four shorthanded scenarios as WLU took 26 of the 34 penalty minutes called in the contest.
 
Fortin, a 22-year-old economics sophomore from Mirabel, Que., scored back-to-back power-play goals – his first of the season – at 12:07 and 15:50 of the second period to put the game out of reach at 6-2. The 5-foot-11, 166-pound speedster added helpers on goals by defenceman Mitchell Prowse and forward Stephane Huard. Prowse was one of two rearguards to strike paydirt, along with the aforementioned Blanchard who scored once and was credited with three assists.
 
A dozen of McGill's 18 skaters collected points in the game, including Huard and Brandon Frattaroli, each with one goal and two assists. William Rouleau, in his second game back after off season surgery, contributed one goal and set up another. Rounding out the home side scoring was Mathieu Gagnon, who now has a 4-4-8 record in eight games. Rookie Maxime Pellerin set up two markers and now has a team-leading 11 points, including three goals, in eight contests.
 
For a team that was struggling to score over the first five contests of the season, the Redbirds have now outscored opponents by an impressive 21-7 margin over the last three games and it's a spread offence as 19 different players have now scored at least one goal.
 
McGill sniper Zach Gallant was back in the lineup and earned one assist after serving an automatic suspension incurred at Ottawa on Oct. 17.
 
Replying for Laurier was Thomas Lenart, with two markers and Sam Rhodes with one.
 
Senior goaltender Alexis Shank made his third straight start for the Redbirds and turned aside 15 of 18 shots for the win, improving his record to 4-3 on the season. Sophomore Ventsislav Shingarov started for Laurier and was charged with the loss. He conceded six goals on 36 shots and was relieved at the 35:50 mark by Stephen Giansante, who saved 13 of 16 shots directed his way.
 
The result improved McGill's lifetime record to 15-14-1 against Laurier since they first crossed paths in 1983. It was the team's second-highest offensive output ever against the Hawks, the most since a 13-4 home-ice win on Oct. 8, 2005.  
 
WLU, which lost 6-1 at UQTR the previous day, went 0-for-2 in their excursion to Quebec and play at Windsor (3-5) on Nov. 9 before hosting Toronto (5-4) on Nov. 10.
 
McGill will now turn its focus to a pair of upcoming contests against Concordia (9-0-1), who lead the OUA East Division. The Stingers held on for a 1-0 victory in their only meeting with McGill this season on Oct. 23 in a game played at Concordia. The rivals will cross paths at Place Bell on Nov. 8, followed by a return match at the Loyola campus for the annual Corey Cup game on Nov. 10 in what will be the final scheduled meeting prior to playoffs.
 
FACES IN THE CROWD:  The Friends of McGill Hockey alumni support group concluded their two-day Homecoming Weekend with a spirited alumni game that ended with a last-second goal to give one side a 6-5 victory… Among the many hockey alumni that were spotted over the weekend were Mike Babcock, Guy Boucher, Paul Barber, Alain Robichaud, Bryan Larkin, John Harris, Benoit Lafleur, Mario DeBenedictis, Michael Wells, Mike Nelson, David Boucher, Dan Gubiani, Mike Farmer, Dr. Jim Sproule, Ty Fournier, Neal Prokop, Jan Kaminsky, Guillaume Langelier-Parent, Charles Gauthier, Leonard Verilli, Dave Gourde, Eric L'italien, Cedric McNicoll, David Rose, Felix Tourigny, Evan Patrician, Stephane Beaudoin, Sebastien Langlois, Dan Jacob, Luc Fournier, Dave Grenier and Mathieu Poitras,  along with former assistant coaches Chris Laperle and Jean St-Pierre, in addition to current coaches David Urquhart, Patrick Delisle-Houde, Jocelyn Perreault and Peter Smith. 
 
SCORING SUMMARY
 
OUA STATS & STANDINGS
 

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Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
CELL: 514-983-7012
E-MAIL:earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca