Special teams shine but Redbirds fall to No.6 ranked Moncton

MONCTON, N.B.— McGill closed out its Maritime road trip with a hard-fought 5–4 loss to the No. 6-ranked Moncton Aigles Bleues in a men's university hockey exhibition thriller, Sunday, at Arena Jean-Louis Lévesque.

The Redbirds erased deficits of 2-0 and 4-3 but could not find an equalizer in the third period, as Moncton held a 25–21 edge in shots. Despite the loss, McGill holds a 5–4 lifetime record against the Aigles Bleues.

Moncton took a 2–0 lead in the opening period on goals from Philippe Collette and Jeremy Lapointe before McGill responded late in the frame. Charles-Antoine Dumont scored on the power play at 18:26, set up by Jeremie Payant and Xavier Fortin.

The teams combined for six goals in a wide-open second period. Charles Boutin tied the game at 1:14, and Willyam Gendron put McGill ahead on the power play at 6:19. It was the first career marker with McGill for Gendron, a first-year transfer from the NCAA's Holy Cross Crusaders whose is following in his father's footsetps. Pierre Gendron starred for McGill from 1994 to 1997 and was inducted into the University's Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.  

Moncton answered with a short-handed goal by Mika Cyr and an even-strength marker from Thomas Pelletier to regain the lead. Payant drew the Redbirds even again at 16:38, but Olivier-Luc Hache replied less than two minutes later with the eventual game-winner.

Neither team scored in the third period. McGill finished 2-for-3 on the power play, while Moncton went 0-for-2.

Rookie netminder Benoit Forget started and took the loss for McGill after allowing five goals on 12 shots over 40 minutes. Freshman Nicolas Ruccia came on at the start of the third period and stopped all eight shots he faced in relief. Moncton goaltender Olivier Adam went the distance and earned the win with 17 saves on 21 shots.

McGill slipped to 12-10 overall and will resume OUA regular-season play Friday, Jan. 9, hosting Carleton in a 7 p.m. start at McConnell Arena. Moncton, now 16-7 overall, returns to AUS action Tuesday, Jan. 7, when UPEI visits the Aigles Bleues.

GAME NOTES: Prior to the opening faceoff, there was a touching pre-game ceremony in honour of Euclide Gaudreau, who passed away over the Christmas holidays after serving 43 years as a public address announcer for Moncton.