Redmen rout rival Stingers 9-2 in hockey playoff opener

MONTREAL -- Rookie rearguard Dominic Talbot-Tassi of Mascouche, Que., scored on a wrist-shot and added a pair of helpers as the No.7-ranked McGill University men's hockey team coasted to a 9-2 triumph over Concordia in an OUA East quarter-final opener at McConnell Arena, Wednesday.

It was the most goals scored by the Redmen in a playoff game since a 10-5 win at Ottawa on Feb. 18, 2011 and their highest post-season total at home since a 9-6 conquest over the Stingers on Feb. 24, 1988.

Game 2 of the best-of-three series is scheduled to be played on Friday (7:30 p.m.) at Concordia's Ed Meagher Arena. If a rubber match is needed, it is slated for Sunday, 5 p.m. back at McConnell.

McGill, which had been outshot by the Stingers in each of their last two meetings, had a 43-29 advantage in this affair. They led 2-1 after the opening period and 5-2 after two, then outscored the visitors 4-0 in the final stanza to finish with six unanswered goals over the final 26 minutes.

The highlight of the night, and arguably the goal of the season, was a play constructed by Talbot-Tassi, a civil engineering freshman. Four minutes after he gave McGill a 4-2 lead at 13:52 of the second period, the 5-foot-8, 181-pound defenceman broke up a Concordia 2-on-1 blueline entry by diving towards his own goal to knock the puck off Concordia forward Domenic Beauchemin. Talbot-Tassi quickly returned to his feet, retrieved the puck and turned up-ice to initiate a Bobby-Orr-like rush, setting-up teammates Liam Heelis and Frederic Gamelin, in a nifty three-way give-and-go, capped by Gamelin converting it to give McGill a three-goal cushion heading into the second intermission.

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Seven different players scored for the Redmen and 15 of their 18 skaters who dressed collected points.

"It was a really good start for us and good for our confidence to begin the playoffs by having a lot of different players involved in the scoring," said team captain Patrick Delisle-Houde, who scored at 18:14 of the first period to give McGill a 2-1 lead. A master's student in kinesiology who hails from Quebec City, Delisle-Houde plays a gritty-style similiar Montreal Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher.

"But obviously, Concordia will be ready for us in their home game on Friday when they will be playing for their playoff lives. So it will be our job to get off to a good start again and we will need to play hard, like we did tonight."

Other McGill marksmen included rookie Christophe Lalonde of St. Eustache, Que., and veteran Jonathan Bonneau of Sherbrooke, Que., each of whom tallied twice, with the former adding an assist. Rounding out the scoring with singles was Simon Tardif-Richard of Gatineau, Que., and Mathieu Pompei of Laval, Que.

Replying for the Stingers were forwards Philippe Hudon of Hudson, Que., and Domenic Beauchemin of Varennes, Que.

Goaltender Jacob Gervais-Chouinard of Sherbrooke, Que., made his second straight start after missing four games with a lower-body injury and gave his teammates a brief scare at the 4:21 mark of the first period when the game was scoreless. After a flurry around the McGill net, the 6-foot-1, 178-pound economics junior went down with what appeared to be a serious leg injury that had the crowd hushed in disbelief. He skated to the bench on one leg and the home fans breathed a sigh of relief when it was discovered that his skate blade had popped out and all that was needed was a minor equipment repair. After a minute delay, he returned between the pipes to record the victory with a 27-save performance, improving to 12-7 lifetime in post-season play.

Rookie Miguel Sullivan, a 5-foot-9 native of Petit de Gras, N.S., started for the Stingers and took the loss. He conceded seven goals on 39 shots before being replaced by Robin Billingham during a Concordia timeout at 8:39 of the final period. Billingham, a 5-foot-10 senior from Ottawa, finished the contest and was beaten twice on four shots.

The game also featured 43 minutes in penalties, including 27 to the Stingers with 19 of them going to rookie forward Frederic Roy, who was ejected early in the third period after being assessed an instigator penalty, along with a fighting major, which calls for a minimum two-game suspension.

The McGill power-play, which led the nation with a 30.2 per cent success rate, went 2-for-6 with the man advantage, while killing off six of seven shorthanded situations.

REDMEN RAP: McGill improved to 97-96-14 lifetime against the Stingers, including a 53-41-7 record at home and a 15-11 playoff mark... Senior David Rose, one of the team's leading scorers, finally made a long-awaited return to the line-up and collected a pair of assists after missing nine games with an upper-body injury... While Redmen assistant coach David Urquhart opted for a traditional McGill red tie behind the bench, head coach Kelly Nobes chose to wear his limited edition Mike Babcock custom-made black McGill tie, a replica of the neckwear that the current Toronto Maple Leafs bench boss (and former Redmen rearguard) wore when he coached Canada during the gold medal game at the Sochi Olympics.

Source: McGill Redmen