McGill gard delivers game-winner as Habs beat Stanley Cup champs

(PHOTO BY ANDREW DOBROWOLSKYJ)

MONTREAL - McGill grad Mathieu Darche scored the winning goal and was named as the first star by Hockey Night in Canada as the Montreal Canadiens surprised the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 in a Super Bowl weekend matinee, Saturday.

"It was a special feeling scoring in the Bell Centre for the Canadiens," said Darche, who skated four seasons with the Redmen before graduating with a commerce degree in 2000. "The crowd gave me a rush of adrenaline. It was nice and just gave us an extra goal lead (at the time). With a game against a team like Pittsburgh, you never have too many goals because you know they have the firepower to come back so I was just happy to contribute."

It was the ninth straight game with the Habs for Darche, a 33-year-old native of St. Laurent, Que., who was signed as a free-agent last summer. He saw 15:01 of playing time, had two shots onnet and was plus-2 in the game. Also, although he was not credited with an assist, his first-period collision with Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury led directly to the Habs first goal only 29 secods into the contest.

Darche now has two goals (both game-winners) and five points in nine games with the Canadiens. In 110 NHL games, he has a 10-19-29 record.

Darche is the 10th player out of McGill to make the NHL and is one of 158 Canadian university players who has made the lofty leap to that level.

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
McGill Athletics & Recreation