LAVAL, QUE –
Stephane Huard of Blainville, Que., potted a pair of goals and added an assist as No.10 ranked McGill skated to a 7-3 victory over the visiting York Lions in OUA men's hockey at Place Bell, Friday.
McGill improved to 25-12-6 lifetime against York since they first met in 1981. The result, combined with a 3-2 victory for Queen's over UQTR in Kingston, improved McGill's record to 9-6-0 and moved the Redbirds into a tie with the archrival Patriotes for fifth-place in the nine-team OUA East. The top six teams qualify for playoffs, with the first two earning an opening round bye.
The Redbirds led 3-1 after the first period and 6-2 after two. They outshot the Lions by a lopsided 51-21 margin, including a 16-4 difference in the final stanza. McGill, which had goals from six different players, went 1-for-3 on the power-play and scored a shorthanded goal while erasing three of four manpower disadvantages.
It didn't take long for Huard to work his magic as he extended his point-scoring streak to nine consecutive games. The 5-foot-8, 176-pound dynamo scored just 21 seconds after the initial puck drop. It was the 11th fastest goal from the opening faceoff in team history (see complete list below).
"We had good jump in our legs today, right from the first shift," said McGill head coach
David Urquhart. "It was a great way to start off the game. We had a good forecheck. The first forward finished his check, the second forward finished his hit and the third forward was on top of the puck, recovered it and made a quick play and it was in the net. You can't draw it any better that that. One of the things that we have been working on over the last few weeks is having a good start and the last two games, we were very good in the first period."
Huard, a 22-year-old Arts sophomore, then set up defenceman's
Maxime Blanchard's backbreaking goal that gave McGill a two-goal cushion with just six seconds left in the opening period. He then tallied his second marker of the game and seventh of the season at 5:17 of the second period, which upped the score to 4-1 and proved to be the winning tally. Huard, who missed five games with injuries, currently ranks second on the team in scoring, with a 7-8-15 record in 10 league games. Since joining the team last year, he has a 19-19-38 record In 49 career contests overall.
"Steph's playing great hockey and its because he's a hard-worker," noted Urquhart. "He's in the gym, doing extra work on the ice and getting rewarded on the ice for that. He's got game-breaking speed and despite being a smaller guy, he plays with great physicality and he's got a really good shot."
Teammate
William Rouleau also had a three-point soiree, including a shorthanded goal. Rounding out the McGill markers was
Brandon Frattaroli, with his team-leading ninth goal,
Mathieu Gagnon with his sixth and
Mikisiw Awashish, with his first of the regular season.
Replying for the Lions was
Owen Gilhula with a pair and
Hunter Bown. They were the first two markers of the season for Gilhula, whose final tally was only York's second power-play goal of the season through 14 games played.
Goaltender
Fabio Iacobo, a junior from St. Leonard, Que., made his third start of the season for the Redbirds and was credited with 18 saves for the win as he improved to 3-0.
York's
Carter Serhyenko made 44 saves in a losing cause as his record tumbled to 1-5.
The Lions, who sit eighth in the OUA East with a 2-8-4 record, faces another tough matchup on Saturday afternoon as they will play at division-leading Concordia (14-0-2).
The McGill Fight Band made its season debut at Place Bell and once again, proved to be a lucky charm for the Redbirds. McGill (9-6-0) will host the visiting Toronto Varsity Blues (8-7-0) in a 3:30 p.m. Saturday matinee at the Place Bell Community Arena.
REDBIRDS RAP: The fastest goals scored from the start of a game in McGill hockey history include:
0:11 by Max LeSieur (in a 7-6 OT win vs Nipissing, F-14-14),
0:13 by Francis Verreault-Paul (in a 7-6 preseason loss at UNB, S-25-09),
0:14 by Benoit Levesque (in a 7-2 win vs RMC, D-1-12),
0:14 by Dominic Talbot-Tassi (in a 4-3 win at UOIT, F-3-18),
0:16 by Patrick Delisle-Houde (in a 5-2 win vs Waterloo, N-3-12),
0:17 by Marc-Olivier Vachon (in a 6-3 win vs Windsor, O-14-11),
0:19 by Stephane Angers (in a 9-3 win vs Queen's, F-2-96),
0:20 by Ken Farmer (in 1934-35),
0:20 by Leo Konyk (in a 6-2 loss vs Montreal, F-17-60),
0:20 by Martin Olivier (in a 2-2 tie vs Waterloo, N-10-90) and
0:21 by Stephane Huard (in a 7-3 win vs York, N-29-24).
SCORING SUMMARY
OUA STATS & STANDINGS
U SPORTS HOCKEY LEADERS
SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012 (Tel.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca