Verrilli nets OT winner at Redmen rock Pats

By Earl Zukerman

MONTREAL – Leonard Verrilli of Dollard des Ormeaux, Que., scored at 4:17 of overtime as McGill reeled off their fifth straight victory with a 4-3 upset over No.3-ranked UQTR in men’s university hockey at McConnell Arena, Saturday.

Montrealer Guillaume Doucet tallied twice to give the Redmen a 2-0 lead early in the middle period but the Patriotes roared back in the ensuing 10 minutes to tie the game at 2-2 on goals by Eric Beaudin and Nicolas Caouette.

Yan Turcotte, a defenceman from Laval, then connected on a power play to give McGill a 3-2 lead late in the middle period but the Pats rallied to tie the contest at 18:33 of the final stanza, on a goal by Etienne Bellavance-Martin.

The Redmen, who were celebrating the 132nd anniversary of their first-ever game played in 1877, outshot UQTR 47-25. McGill, which improved their second-place standing in the OUA Far East to 15-7-2, have a return engagement at Trois-Rivieres on Feb. 6.

REDMEN RAP: Los Angeles Kings assistant coach Jamie Kompon was on hand to perform the ceremonial faceoff... Kompon, a native of Thunder Bay, Ont., was a former McGill captain and coach... Yan Turcotte, a rugged 5-foot-11, 213-pound rearguard, was assessed three minors in the game and is now just two minutes shy of becoming McGill's all-time penalty king. The industrial relations senior has accumulated 529 penalties in minutes, just one short of the 530 PIMs by Dan Jacob, who patrolled the McGill blueline from 2000 to 2005.

(MORE DETAILS TO BE POSTED LATER)


SCORING SUMMARY

UQTR 3 at McGill 4 (OT)

(Jan 31, 2009 - McConnell Arena)


FIRST PERIOD:
Scoring -
1. McGill, Guillaume Doucet (8) (F. Verrault-Paul, A. Wright) 3:01

Penalties -
M. Kovacevic MCG (tripping) 0:04,
F. Verrault-Paul MCG (inter. on goaltender) 5:22,
M. Simoneau UQTR (tripping) 8:17,
K. Morin MCG (high sticking) 10:38,
S. Beland UQTR (hooking) 13:05


SECOND PERIOD:
Scoring -
2. McGill, Guillaume Doucet (9) (F. Verrault-Paul, A. Wright) 4:51
3. UQTR, Eric Beaudin (3) (M. Simoneau, S. Richard) 9:19
4. UQTR, Nicolas Caouette (7) (F. Charland, T. Lafontaine) 14:22
5. McGill, Yan Turcotte (2) (K. Morin, A. Picard-Hooper) 19:25 (PP)

Penalties -
Y. Turcotte MCG (roughing) 0:54,
M. Dorion MCG (tripping) 2:21,
A. Blais UQTR (interference) 6:41,
L. Leblanc UQTR (high sticking) 10:58,
S. Bellefleur UQTR (roughing) 15:31,
Y. Turcotte MCG (roughing) 15:31,
E. Beaudin UQTR (holding) 18:48,
A. Demers UQTR (checking from behind, game misconduct) 19:35

THIRD PERIOD:
Scoring -
6. UQTR, Etienne Bellavance-Martin (11) (A. Blais, J. Boutin) 18:33

Penalties -
S. Beland UQTR (hooking) 0:33,
S. Richard UQTR (high sticking) 3:14,
T. Lafontaine UQTR (roughing) 6:48,
M. Daneau MCG (tripping) 9:09

OVERTIME (5-min. sudden-death):
Scoring -
7. McGill, Leonard Verrilli (3) (K. Morin, S. Bloom) 4:17 (PP)

Penalties -
M. Simoneau UQTR (hooking) 2:51,
J. Blanchard UQTR (unsportsmanlike cnd.) 4:17,
N. Caouette UQTR (cross checking) 4:17,
K. Morin MCG (roughing) 4:17,
L. Verrilli MCG (roughing) 4:17

SHOTS BY PERIOD:
UQTR: 6 - 11 - 8 - 0 -- 25
MCG: 12 - 14 - 15 - 6 -- 47

GOALS BY PERIOD:
UQTR: 0 - 2 - 1 - 0 -- 3
MCG: 1 - 2 - 0 - 1 -- 4

POWER PLAY CONVERSION:
UQTR 0-6.
McGill 2-10.

PENALTIES:
UQTR 14-36.
McGill 9-18.

GOALTENDERS:

UQTR
Jean-Christophe Blanchard [L, 12-4-0; 64:17, SV: 43, GA: 4]


McGill
Kevin Desfosses [W, 4-1-0; 64:17, SV: 22, GA: 3]

Start : 7:03 PM

End : 9:33 PM

Attendance : 545

Referee: Gavin White


MOLSON CUP THREE STARS:
------------------------------------------
1. Guillaume Doucet, McGill
2. Leonard Verrilli, McGill
3. Evan Vossen, McGill


McGILL LINEUP:
------------------
FORWARDS:
22 Doucet 18 Verreault 16 Wright
19 Kovacevic 9 Picard 20 Bloom
11 Vossen 28 Lambert 17 Verrilli
10 Daneau 26 Drager

DEFENCEMEN:
7 Morin 2 Stilling
5 Turcotte 6 Dorion
3 Valente 14 Gazdic
8 Morse

GOALIES:
Desfosses
Mireault


McGILL LINEUP SCRATCHES:
------------------------------------------
G Hubert Morin
G Jake Jarvis
G Danny Mireault (dressed but DNP)
D Spencer Brennan
D Glenn Tindle
F Benoit Arsenault (eye injury)
F Eric L’Italien (knee)
F Simon Marcotte-Legare (knee)
F Maxime Langelier-Parent (hand)