The Redmen hockey team (3-1-0) outscored their opponents by a combined score of 9-5 across the six periods played last weekend. The Redmen went into their first home game of the season on Friday with a perfect 2-0 record, and outplayed the Laurentian Voyageurs (1-2-0) to remain undefeated. McGill quietly dominated the first two periods, leading 2-0 on the scoreboard and holding a 31-13 advantage in shots on goal, before exploding in a prolific last period, putting 22 shots on goal and scoring on five of them. The Voyageurs also managed to net twice in the period. Freshman left-winger Daniel Milne of Unionville, ON scored twice while five other Redmen forwards also found the back of the net once a piece.
“We had a really solid game against Laurentian,” Head Coach Kelly Nobes said. “We were moving our feet really well, chipping pucks, clearing pucks, running our routes, and our execution was really good.”
The Redmen finished the match with a 52-22 margin on shots, but went just one for eight on the power play. Overall, McGill dominated the game in front of an excited home crowd with superior teamwork, possession, and skating.
Saturday’s match against the Nipissing Lakers (2-0-2) was another story entirely.
“Tonight was essentially the opposite of [Friday’s game],” Nobes said after the loss. “We stopped moving our feet, we stopped running our routes, and our execution wasn’t what it needed to be.”
Despite a fast-paced and exciting first period, the teams remained scoreless after the first 20 minutes of play. The climax of the game came in the 10th minute of the second period, when a solid shot from second-year defenceman Samuel Labrecque broke the tie. It seemed like the breakthrough that would seal the outcome of the match, but the Lakers weren’t ready to give up yet.
The third period started much like the first two: Fast skating, ambitious passing, and a lot of back-and-forth action across the rink. About halfway into the period, disaster struck for the Redmen. Goaltender interference was called on McGill’s centre, Rock Regimbald, sending the freshman to the penalty box. The Lakers would capitalize a minute into the power play to tie the game at 1-1. Two minutes later, McGill conceded another penalty. Nipissing scored on the subsequent power play to secure a lead. Much to the exasperation of the home fans, McGill committed yet another penalty three minutes later. The result was a third goal for Nipissing in just five minutes.
Down by two goals, the Redmen snapped back into the game. Labrecque scored again on a six-on-four power play after Nobes pulled junior netminder Karel St-Laurent. But the late push was not enough to force an overtime and the Lakers celebrated their first win of the season.
“I was happy to see the push in the last three or four minutes, and we almost tied it up, but we were essentially just chasing at that point,” Nobes said. “We need to be better as a group. We need to play 120 minutes in a weekend, and we only really played one period [on Saturday].”
McGill will look for revenge on Jan. 9 when they travel to Nipissing; but for now, the team will focus on preparing for next weekend’s games against UQTR (3-1-0) and Concordia (2-2-0).
Sound Bites
“We’ve got a lot of stuff to work on—it’s a really young team. Lots of new guys, and guys still trying to figure out their roles, so there’s still lots of room for growth with this group in almost any area of our game.” —Coach Nobes on the team’s development
Moment of the Game
The entire third period was insanity: The Redmen erupted for five goals on 22 shots.
Stat of the Game
The Redmen outshot their opponents by nearly double over the weekend, 96-54, for a combined score of 10-4.
