M-Hockey Playoff Roundup: Western, McGill win Game 1
Guelph, 1 @ Western, 4
LONDON, Ont. - The Western Mustangs exploded in the third period for three goals to take game one of the OUA West Final 4-1 over the Guelph Gryphons at Thompson Arena.
Josh McQuade and Keaton Turkiewicz both scored two goals for the Mustangs. Turkiewicz and Kevin Baker had two assists with McQuade, Jason Swit and Scott Aarssen each collecting one apiece.
Anthony Greico was solid in net for the Mustangs making 31 saves for the victory.
Western scored first as the Mustangs won the face-off after Guelph's Nathan Martine was called for cross checking and McQuade made a move in the slot and shot into the top right corner past the Gryphon's Loverock. This put the Mustangs in front 1-0 with 7:36 left in the first period.
The Gryphons best chance in the period came on a one-on-one breakaway that Greico was able to kick away to keep the Gryphons off the scoreboard with 3:15 left.
Guelph's Peroff's blasted a point shot off the face-off that was tipped by Andrew Merrett and found its way past Greico with 16:30 left in the second period. The goal came just six seconds into a Scott Aarssen penalty to even the score at one goal apiece, which it would remain for the rest of the period despite a number of chances by both teams.
The Mustangs turned up the tempo in the third period and took advantage as Jason Swit found Turkiewicz who scored the go ahead goal with 16:08 left in the period to make it 2-1 Mustangs.
Turkiewicz then took advantage a few minutes later on the power play as he faked a shot from the point and danced his way into the slot to blast a shot into the top left corner. This gave Western a 3-1 lead with 11:28 left in the third.
Western iced the game after Turkiewicz blocked a Guelph shot, and Baker and McQuade rushed the other way on a 2-1 breakaway. Baker fired at Loverock, and the rebound went right off his pad to a wide open McQuade to make it 4-1 Western with 6:42 left in the game.
Guelph and Western both displayed some aggression near the end of the game as the Gryphons frustrations increased. Guelph's Kris Belan and Western's Yashar Farmanara were both sent off with just under two minutes remaining for their part in a scrum after the whistle.
Game two of the best-of-three series will go on Saturday night in Guelph at 7:30 p.m.
Source: Western Sports Info
UQTR, 5 @ McGill, 5
MONTREAL -- Five different players scored as No.2-ranked McGill drew first blood in the OUA Eastern Conference men's hockey opener at McConnell Arena, Wednesday. The Redmen came away with a 5-3 victory over eighth-ranked UQTR to take a 1-0 series lead.
It was McGill's ninth straight playoff win over the Patriotes since losing in 2005 and improved their overall home record to an unblemished 20-0 on the season, a school record for wins at home.
"I'm real happy with our effort tonight," said first-year head coach Kelly Nobes, whose troops improved to 34-3-3 overall, matching the single-season school record for most wins, established last year. "We played a full 60 minutes, skated well and our discipline was good. The biggest thing has been our depth. We're getting a different guy to be a momentum changer every night. Our plan was to skate well, show will-power and play with discipline. I thought we accomplished that tonight."
After a scoreless first period, the Redmen jumped into a 2-0 lead on power-play goals by Francis Verreault-Paul of Mashteuiatsh, Que., and Simon Marcotte-Légaré of Longueuil, Que., both of whom tallied their fourth of the post-season. Francis Charland of Victoriaville, Que., replied late in the period for the Pats, on the power-play, to make it 2-1 after two. But McGill, which led the nation in scoring, struck twice in 21 seconds before the final period was five minutes old. Andrew Wright of Toronto potted his fifth of the playoffs with the man-advantage at 3:45 and Maxime Langelier-Parent of Lery, Que., netted what proved to be the game-winner on a nifty wrap-a-round from behind the net at 4:06.
"We had a game plan, especially with their goalie who kicks out a lot of rebounds, to get pucks on net," said Wright, who finished with two points on the night and leads the OUA playoff scoring race with a 5-7-12 record in five games. "We had 15 shots in the first period and couldn't bury the puck but just stuck to our guns and it paid off."
The Pats rallied to make it 4-3 in the final seven minutes on goals by Pierre-Alexandre Joncas of Matane, Que., and Etienne Bellavance-Martin of St. Jean de Chrysostome, Que., but OUA East player of the year Alex Picard-Hooper of St. Hubert, Que., iced the contest with an empty-netter at 19:43.
McGill, which went 3-for-5 on the power-play and snuffed out 4-of-5 shorthanded situations, had a decided 42-18 edge in shots on net. Goaltender Hubert Morin, a sophomore from St. Georges de Beauce, Que., improved his playoff record to 5-o on the season and 12-3 lifetime. Jean-Christophe Blanchard of Trois-Rivieres was credited with 37 saves in a losing cause and dropped to 4-3 in post-season play.
After losing the first 11 playoff series with UQTR dating back to 1978, the Redmen will attempt to go for their fifth straight series sweep over the Pats at Le Colisée in Trois-Rivieres, Friday (7:30 p.m.). A win would clinch a berth in the league's centennial edition of the Queen's Cup championship but more importantly, would qualify the Redmen for a berth at the CIS national championships in Fredericton, March 22-27. Game 3 of this series, if necessary, is slated for Sunday at McConnell Arena, with a 7 p.m. puck drop. All remaining playoff games would be on the road.
Source: McGill Sports Info
