LAVAL, QUE – Charles-Antoine Dumont of Levis, Que., scored the game-winning tally with 3:24 remaining as seventh-ranked McGill skated to a 2-1 triumph over No. 3 UQTR to open their OUA East quarter-final at the Place Bell community rink on Wednesday.
 
The Redbirds are now in position to sweep the best-of-three playoff series on Friday in a 7 p.m. faceoff at Le Colisée Jean-Guy-Talbot in Trois-Rivières. Should a rubber match be needed, it is slated for Sunday night back at Place Bell.
 
The game started 40 minutes late after a pane of glass shattered with 11 minutes remaining in the pre-game warm-up.
 
McGill, which held UQTR to less than nine shots in each period, had a 29-22 edge in that department. The Redbirds were 0-for-4 on the power-play and snuffed out five of six shorthanded situation.

After a scoreless first period, highlighted by McGill killing off three consecutive penalties, Mathieu Gagnon, a third-year centre from Gatineau, Que., put the Redbirds ahead 1-0, converting a spiffy pass from linemate Stephane Huard at 13:04 of the second period. Gagnon, who was named as the game's first star, also won 14 of 20 faceoffs.

"Mat was on the ice killing all those penalties and those kills allowed us to stay in the game," said McGill head coach David Urquhart. "He's a guy that does all the little details, does all the heavy lifting and its nice to see him get rewarded with a goal. His contribution to the game is not just on offence, its also that defensive side. He gets all the tough match-ups and the faceoffs.
 
The Patriotes responded less than five minutes later when Felix Lafrance struck paydirt on a three-way passing play for a power-play goal at 17:57.
 
With overtime looming large in the final stanza, Zach Gallant chased a loose puck in the left corner, behind the UQTR net and passed to Dumont along the boards to the right side of the goal crease. He relayed a backhand pass to Xavier Fortin in the slot, who fired a shot on goal and Dumont cashed in on the rebound. It was the fifth career game-winning goal in a McGill jersey for Dumont, a 22-year-old management sophomore who was recruited out of the QMJHL, where he toiled for Drummondville and Baie Comeau.

"He seems to come up with his best against Trois Rivières, especially in big games," said Urquhart of the speedy, 5-foot-9, 172-pound Dumont. "He's a guy that elevates in those moments."
 
Goaltender Alexis Shank, playing before his hometown friends and family, kicked aside 21 of 22 shots for the win.  UQTR's William Grimard saved 27 of 29 and took the loss.
 
The result was McGill's fifth win in six meetings overall with the Patriotes this season. In 298 lifetime confrontations between the longtime foes, UQTR leads with a 179-102-17 record overall since the series started in 1969 but McGill has a 64-53-3 mark over the last 20 years.

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