Hockey Redmen draw first blood in loveless Valentine's Day playoff brawl

SUDBURY, Ont. -Defenceman Nathan Chiarlitti tallied twice, including the winner, as fourth-ranked McGill opened their playoff run with a 5-2 road victory over the Laurentian University Voyageurs at Countryside Arena, in a loveless Valentine's Day special that featured 100 penalty minutes, Wednesday.

It marked the 10th consecutive win for the Redmen over Laurentian -- including a playoff sweep last year -- dating back to a 5-2 loss on Oct. 18, 2014, and improved their lifetime record to 21-5-2 record in 28 meetings with the Voyageurs overall.

McGill, which outshot Laurentian 40-26, led 1-0 after the opening period and 4-0 after two. The Redmen stretched their lead to five in the final period before all hell broke loose. There was only one penalty called until the midway mark of the third period and then 96 of the 100 minutes issued by the officials came in the final five minutes. Sixty-two PIMs were called on the final play of the game as two players from each side were whistled for fighting majors. Laurentian forwards Caleb Apperson and Andrew Tessier engaged in fisticuffs with McGill defenceman Francis Lambert-Lemay and forward Frederic Gamelin, and all four will be automatically suspended for Game 2 of the series.

"It's one of those nights that I probably shouldn't make a comment (about how the game ended)," said a tight-lipped Kelly Nobes, in his eighth season as bench boss of the Redmen.

Chiarlitti, the team captain from Maple, Ont., who only had three goals during the regular season, was inches away from a hat-trick on this night. A second-year transfer from St.FX, (where he played three seasons), Chiarlitti opened the scoring at 18:37 of the first period and made it 3-0 at 9:46 of the third period. His first goal appeared to be the game-winner but Laurentian broke the shutout bid with two goals in the frenzied final three minutes of the third period, which meant that Chiarlitti's second marker, the team's third, proved to be the winning tally.

"Chiarlitti led us tonight, he played a real solid game and scored two big goals," offered Nobes. "He won our equivalent of a hard hat that we give out after the game. He's playing in his fifth year of eligibility this is the time of the year when your fifth-year veterans really step up. He's been especially good since Christmas and had a good start to the playoffs tonight."

Michael Cramarossa, a freshman from Markham, Ont., who set-up Chiarlitti's first goal, put his troops ahead 2-0 at 7:06 of the middle stanza. After Chiarlittti potted his second of the soiree, Samuel Tremblay, a sophomore forward from St. Hubert, Que., made it 4-0 at 10:38 of the second frame. Sophomore Guillaume Gauthier of Ste. Marthe sur le Lac, Que., completed the scoring for McGill, making it 5-0 at 16:44 of the final stanza.

Outclassed for the better part of the contest, the Voyageurs finally salvaged some pride with late goals from forwards Blake Forslund and Russell Nowry at 17:34 and 19:52, respectfully.

That spoiled a shutout bid by McGill goalkeeper Louis-Philip Guindon, who had a solid effort with 24 saves on 26 shots for the win. He also doubled his regular season penalty total by collecting a pair of minor penalties as Laurentian continually attempted to get him off his game.

At the other end of the ice, Mackenzie Savard, who joined the Voyageurs in the second semester, made 35 saves in a losing cause.

Despite the plethora of PIMs, the Redmen only went 0-for-1 on the power-play, while the Voyageurs were 0-for-2.

The series now shifts back to Montreal, with Game 2 set for Saturday, and if necessary, Game 3 on Sunday. Both are slated for 7 p.m. starts at McConnell Arena, located at 3883 University Street, just north of Percival Molson Stadium. Tickets are available online and at the doo. They are just $5 for students and seniors and $10 for adults, while children 12-and under get in for free.

Source: McGill Redmen