CIS men's hockey Wednesday roundup: No.2 Redmen ruffle Ravens, run record to 20-0-2

MONTREAL - Christophe Longpré-Poirier, a sophomore centre from Longueuil, Que., tallied twice including an empty-netter, as No.2-ranked McGill doubled Carleton 4-2 in men's university hockey at McConnell Arena, Wednesday.

It was the sixth straight win for the Redmen, who improved their OUA East Division leading record to 20-0-2. The fourth-place Ravens, who have alternated wins and losses for eight games in a row, fell to 12-7-2.

"We had a very good first period, a below average second, then bounced back and protected the lead well in the final period," said Redmen head coach Kelly Nobes. "The difference offensively was that our fourth line (Longpré-Poirier, Benoit Levesque and Dan Conacher) was our energy line tonight. They were very effective and produced two goals."

McGill jumped out of the starting blocks with an early burst of energy, taking a 3-0 lead by the midway mark of the opening period. Marc-André Daneau of Daveluyville, Que., scored just 32 seconds into the contest.

Less than four minutes later, centre Alex Picard-Hooper of Boucherville, Que., made it 2-0 with his 10th of the season, extending his point-scoring streak to eight consecutive games. The 5-foot-10, 185-pound finance junior continues to lead the nation in both assists and points with a 10-38-48 record in 22 games.

Longpre-Poirier's power-play marker at 10:15 of the period proved to be the game-winner and chased Carleton netminder Matthew Dopud, a freshman from Pointe Claire, Que., who fell to 8-5 after conceding three goals on just seven shots. Ryan Dubé, his understudy from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., did not allow a goal the rest of the way, kicking aside all 24 shots he faced.

The Ravens arose from their slumber with a pair of markers in the middle stanza, outshooting McGill 18-11. Justin Caruana of Orono, Ont., scored at 1:54 and Andrew Self of Peterborough, Ont., narrowed the gap to 3-2 when he connected on a power play at 13:15.

But they were unable to solve Redmen rookie netminder Antoine Tardif (7-1) after that and he finished with 34 saves, as Carleton outshot McGill 36-32. Tardif, a management freshman from Daveluyville, now shares the OUA goals-against average lead with Dopud. Both have a 2.12 GAA.

Only six games remain before playoffs and the Redmen hold an impressive 13-point bulge in the standings over second-place UQTR (14-6-0). McGill can clinch the division title for the first time since 2005-06 with a victory when the long-time provincial rivals tangle at McConnell Arena on Friday at 7 p.m. The Redmen have won two of three meetings against the Patriotes this season, with the lone setback occurring in a post-overtime shootout.

REDMEN RAP: McGill has now won six straight games over Carleton, improving to 18-12-1 lifetime against the Ravens... Francis Verreault-Paul, the nation's leading goal sniper with 27 goals in 17 games, has withdrawn from playing for Canada at the World University Games in Turkey, Jan. 27 to Feb. 6. The 22-year-old science junior has missed three straight contests for the Redmen with a leg injury. He did skate with the McGill women's team earlier in the day and is considered to be a doubtful starter for Friday's home game against the Patriotes... Verreault-Paul was one of four Redmen players slated to leave for Turkey on Jan, 23, along with team captain Evan Vossen of Swift Current, Sask., all-Canadian defenceman Marc-André Dorion of St. Hubert, Que., and centre Maxime Langelier-Parent of Lery, Que.... Among the Redmen alumni on hand for the game were Marc Lajeunesse, Charlie Lafontaine and Mike Farmer... Lajeunesse, who skated for the Redmen between 1986 and 1991, was in town on a business trip from Boston.... Lafontaine, who played for McGill in 1948-49, serves as the team's honorary captain... Farmer, who tended goal from 1976 to 1979, recently returned from a mountain-climbing expedition to Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina.

Source: McGill Sports Info

With the win, the Blues improve to 7-8-6 and move into seventh place, while the Lakers drop to 12-7-3 and remain in third in the OUA East division.

Third-year forward and assistant captain Byron Elliott recorded his 100th career point midway through the second period. The Burlington, Ont., native has totalled 44 goals and 56 assists in 72 regular season and playoff games to date.

The Blues opened the scoring just 1:17 into the contest when first-year forward Blake Boddy of Ajax, Ont., received a pass from Dan Brewer (Cambridge, Ont.) all alone in front and quickly found the back of the net.

Toronto went up by two 10 minutes later on the powerplay as Scarborough, Ont., native Kyle Ventura came streaking over the blue line and wired a shot over the glove of Nipissing goaltender Matt Hache (Guelph, Ont.).

The Blues held a 2-0 lead after the first period of play.

Nipissing finally got on the board seven minutes into the second frame when rookie forward and Hamilton, Ont., native Conor O'Donnell jumped on a Brodie Beard rebound to the left of Blues netminder Andrew Martin.

Elliott responded just five minutes later, redirecting a Sean Kliewer (Brunkid, Man.) point shot to regain a two-goal cushion heading into the third.

The play went back-and-forth in the final frame, with both goaltenders coming up with some huge saves. Brewer would add an empty-netter with just over a minute remaining to secure the 4-1 win.

Martin posted 21 saves in the win, while Jeff Zippel was named the Varsity Blues player of the game for his efforts.

The Varsity Blues return to action on Friday, January 21 when they host the Ryerson Rams at Varsity Arena. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m. Fans can catch the action live on SSN Canada through varsityblues.ca.

Source: Toronto Sports Info