NORTH BAY, Ont. -- Simon Tardif-Richard potted a pair of goals, including the game-winner, and defenceman Dominic Talbot-Tassi tallied three points as No.2-ranked McGill skated to a 5-1 victory over the Nipissing University Lakers at Memorial Gardens, Saturday.
 
The result avenged a surprising 3-2 home-ice loss to the Lakers on Oct. 17 and improved McGill's lifetime record to 8-2-0 against the northern Ontario school, which is nestled on the shores of Lake Nipissing.
 
The Redmen, who had a 35-20 edge in shots, led 2-0 after the opening period and 5-1 after two. The game featured 72 minutes in penalties, including 40 to McGill, which killed off seven of eight shorthanded situations and went 1-for-4 on the power-play. Redmen head coach Kelly Nobes was ejected at 13:39 of the second period for arguing with the referee.
 
Talbot-Tassi, a 21-year-old civil engineering freshman rearguard from Mascouche, Que.,  opened the scoring with his 10^th of the season at 8:36, then assisted on the last two goals of the game. The 5-foot-8, 181-pounder is having a stellar rookie campaign and is currently tied for second in the CIS national scoring race with 32 points and 10 goals in 20 games. He trails another blueliner – teammate Samuel Labrecque, who had one assist and now leads the nation with a 13-22-35 record. Talbot-Tassi's 10th goal marked a career-best, including four years in junior and three seasons in midget AAA. His previous high was nine goals last year with the QMJHL's Moncton Wildcats, where he posted a 9-42-51 record in 63 games.
 
Rounding out the scoring for McGill was Patrick Delisle-Houde – whose sixth of the season made the score 3-0 early in the second period –  and Liam Heelis who tallied his eighth of the campaign.
 
David Rose added two helpers and moved into fourth place in CIS scoring with 9-22-31 in 20 contests.
 
Replying for the Lakers was Colin Campbell, whose ninth of the season narrowed the gap to 3-1 midway through the middle period.
 
Goaltender Jacob Gervais-Chouinard turned aside 19 of 20 shots for the victory, improving his record to 16-2 and 41-9 lifetime in OUA play.
 
Lakers rookie starter Domenic Graham took the loss and his record dropped to 4-7. He was beaten five times on 25 shots before giving way to Kirk Rafuse, who stopped all 10 shots faced in the third period.

McGill currently leads all 19 OUA teams with a 17-2-1 record but can't afford to take their foot off the gas pedal as they sit just two points ahead of second-place UQTR (16-3-1). Nipissing (8-7-3) will travel to Waterloo and Laurier, Jan. 16-17, respectively.
 
The Redmen will host Royal Military College on Friday Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. in the annual Management Winter Carnival game, which usually is a sell-out. McGill management freshman Sara Diamond, who usually sings the national anthem for the Montreal Canadiens, has agreed to perform the anthem... Last year's Carnival game drew a raucous crowd of 1,269 to the 950-seat McConnell Arena to see McGill post a 2-0 shutout over Carleton. The Redmen are 13-0-0 lifetime in their annual Carnival game.

LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE

SCORING SUMMARY
McGill 5 at Nipissing 1
(Saturday, January 9, 2016 - Memorial Gardens)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
McGill 2-3-0 -- 5
Nipissing 0-1-0 -- 1

1st Period-
1, McGill, Dominic Talbot-Tassi 10 (Pompei, Rose), 8:36.
2, McGill, Simon Tardif-Richard 3 (Regimbald, Lalonde), 9:50.

Penalties-Bois Mcg (hooking), 3:12; Heelis Mcg (tripping), 14:29.

2nd Period-
3, McGill, Patrick Delisle-Houde 6 (Heelis, Rose), 3:06 (PP).
4, Nipissing, Colin Campbell 9 (Naud, Staples), 11:39 (PP).
5, McGill, Liam Heelis 8 (Talbot-Tassi, Labrecque), 14:21.
6, McGill, Simon Tardif-Richard 4 (Talbot-Tassi, Bois), 18:36.

Penalties-Deon Nip (slashing), 2:43; Tremblay Mcg (high sticking), 3:56; Gamelin Mcg (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 10:14; Nobes Mcg (bench minor to coach), 10:14; Pompei Mcg (roughing), 13:39; Nobes Mcg (game misconduct to coach), 13:39; Campbell Nip (checking to the head, 10-minute misconduct), 13:39; Horvat Nip (tripping), 19:55.

3rd Period-
(No Scoring).

Penalties-Horvat Nip (interference), 5:50; Delisle-Houde Mcg (slashing), 9:44; Gamelin Mcg (roughing dble minor, 10-minute misconduct), 15:36; Heelis Mcg (roughing), 15:36; Conrad Nip (interference from bench, game misconduct), 15:36; Deacon Nip (roughing), 15:36.

Shots on Goal-
McGill 12-13-10 -- 35.
Nipissing 9-6-5 -- 20.

Power Play Opportunities-
McGill 1 / 4;
Nipissing 1 / 8.

Goalies-
McGill,
Jacob Gervais-Chouinard (W, 16-2-0, 20 shots-19 saves; 60:00).
Nipissing,
Domenic Graham (L, 4-7-0, 25 shots-20 saves; 40:00);
Kirk Rafuse (ND, 10 shots-10 saves; 20:00).

Attendance: 350
Start: 7:08 PM
End: 9:16 PM
Length: 2:08

Referees- Darren Long and Stacy Jackson.
Linesmen- (not available).

THREE STARS
1. MCG - 8 Simon Tardif-Richard
2. MCG - 27 Dominic Talbot-Tassi
3. NIP - 89 Colin Campbell

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
m.athletics.mcgill.ca (mobile website)
www.mcgill athletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
@EarlZukerman (twitter)
 
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www.mcgillathletics.ca/calendar.aspx