Rookie scores in the "Nic" of time as Redmen rally to win 136th season opener

THUNDER BAY, Ont. - Defenceman Nicolas Therrien, a freshman from Chateauguay, Que., scored what proved to be the game-winner with less than six minutes remaining as visiting McGill rallied from a two-goal deficit and came away with a 4-3 victory over the Lakehead University Thunderwolves in men's hockey before a packed house at Fort William Gardens, Friday.

It marked the official start to the 136th season of hockey at McGill.

Lakehead came out in the first with an obvious game plan of keeping it simple and playing smart, defensive hockey. It didn’t take long for the Wolves to get the crowd into it, as Trevor Gamache scored on a wrap-around just 55 seconds into the game, assisted by Ryan McDonald and Matt Caria. The top-line was flying in the first period, and Alex Dupuis made plenty of big stops to keep Lakehead in front.

Matt Caria hammered McGill forward Nicolas Biniek in front of the players bench in what was without a doubt the hit of the year so far.  Lakehead kept the Redmen on their toes as they found themselves on a 5-on-3 power-play, and Ryan McDonald made no mistake on a beautiful cross-ice feed from Caria to put the Wolves in front 2-0. The other assist was credited to Kalvin Sagert.

The second period brought some spirited play from both sides, with Lakehead continuing their smart, positional game, while McGill tried to get on the board. McGill’s Marc-Olivier Vachon finally scored at 4:31 of the second period after breaking in and beating Thunderwolves goaltender Alex Dupuis far side.  Dupuis made some huge saves to keep the Wolves in front, but after a flurry of penalties to both sides,

McGill evened things up while down two-men after Maxime Langelier-Parent beat Wolves defender Mike Quesnele to a loose puck and made to mistake putting it past Dupuis.

"He's got explosive speed and he can score goals like that. It was a timely goal for sure for us," said McGill coach Kelly Nobes, a familiar face at Fort William Gardens from his time behind the bench at Wilfrid Laurier.

"I didn't think our power play was very good tonight (they were 0-8). At times we created some opportunities, but to get a goal like that on the penalty kill can really help."

Who else but Alexandre Picard-Hooper would complete the comeback and give McGill the lead? The leading scorer in Canada last season, the Redmen forward beat Dupuis on a backhander on a 2-on-1.

Both teams came out hard in the third period, with neither side giving an inch of ice.  Lakehead was concentrating on putting the puck on net and increasing their scoring chances.  The hard work paid off when Caria won a face-off in the McGill end, danced behind the net and fed Trevor Gamache in front - who made no mistake burying his second goal of the game, evening things up at 3-3.  Not long after, McGill defenceman Nicolas Therrien put the Redmen back in front 4-3 after his shot deflected off Wolves defenseman Danick Malouin’s stick. That goal sealed the deal for the Redmen.

Both teams are back at it on Saturday night at the Fort William Gardens. Puck drop at 7:30PM.

SCORING SUMMARY

McGill 4 at Lakehead 3

(Friday, October 7, 2011 - Fort William Gardens)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
McGill 0 3 1 -- 4
Lakehead 2 0 1 -- 3


1st Period-
1, Lakehead, Gamache 1 (McDonald, Caria), 0:55.
2, Lakehead, McDonald 1 (Caria, Sagert), 18:52 (PP).

Penalties-
McDonald Lak (interference), 1:37;
Beljo Lak (checking to the head, 10-minute misconduct), 6:33;
Verreault-Paul Mcg (roughing), 8:41;
Gamache Lak (roughing), 8:41;
Langelier-Parent Mcg (10-minute misconduct), 9:20;
Quesnele Lak (10-minute misconduct), 9:20;
Menard Lak (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 15:06;
Verreault-Paul Mcg (interference), 17:56;
Levesque Mcg (hooking), 18:22.


2nd Period-
3, McGill, Vachon 1 (Morse),  4:31.
4, McGill, Langelier-Parent 1   12:43 (SH 2-men).
5, McGill, Picard-Hooper 1 (Longpre-Poirier, Wright), 17:51.

Penalties-
Welsh Lak (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 4:31;
Gamache Lak (double minor for high sticking), 8:13;
McDonald Lak (slashing), 9:39;
Picard-Hooper Mcg (holding opp. stick), 10:03;
Verreault-Paul Mcg (tripping), 12:01;
Picard-Hooper Mcg (double minor for high sticking), 12:13.


3rd Period-
6, Lakehead, Gamache 2 (Caria), 9:24.
7, McGill, Therrien 1 (Biniek, Dorion), 14:09.

Penalties-
Caria Lak (double minor for butt ending), 0:09;
Verreault-Paul Mcg (slashing), 1:16.

Shots on Goal-
McGill 15-14-2 -- 31.
Lakehead 8-5-17 -- 30.

Penalties-
McGill 9 / 26;
Lakehead 12 / 40.

Power Play Opportunities-
McGill 0 / 8;
Lakehead 1 / 5.

Goalies-
McGill, Hubert Morin (W, 1-0-0, 30 shots-27 saves; 60:00).
Lakehead, Dupuis (L, 0-1-0, 31 shots-27 saves; 59:19).

Attendance: 2868
Start: 7:30 PM
End: 10:00 PM
Length: 2:30

Referee - Adam Blando

MOLSON CUP THREE STARS

1. MCG - 16 Max Langelier-Parent
2. LAKE - 16 Trevor Gamache
3. MCG - 24 Nicolas Therrien