Bears come out of hibernation to bite Redmen in last second

 

EDMONTON -- Senior defenceman Kyle Fecho of Hanna, Alta., scored with seven-tenths of a second remaining in the third period, as the No.2 ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears hockey team rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win 5-4 over the No.5-McGill Redmen, during CIS non-conference action Monday night at Clare Drake Arena in Edmonton.

 

While Fecho's last second goal was the difference, a plethora of McGill penalties and Alberta's lethal power-play proved to be the difference, clicking three times in 10 chances, while the Redmen went 1-for-5 with the man advantage.

 

McGill surprised the Bears by jumping into a 3-0 lead by the midway mark of the second period, on a pair of goals by third-year centre Guillaume Doucet from Anjou, Que., sandwiched around a shorthanded marker from freshman Jean-Francois Boisvert of Mirabel, Que.

 

Doucet, who now has 21 goals in 22 games overall, tallied at 1:15 of the opening frame and added one on the power play at 10:51 of the middle stanza.

 

Up to that point in the game, McGill's penalty-killing unit had found a way to hold the nation's number one power-play to zero goals in six chances. However, the dam burst in the second period when the Bears struck for three power-play goals on their next four chances to storm back into the contest.

 

Ian McDonald, the 2008 University Cup MVP from Edmonton, put Alberta on the board at 13:02.  Derek Ryan of Spokane, Wash., then notched his first of two power-play goals at 17:11 narrowing the gap to 3-2.

 

Jesse Gimblett, a senior from Newtonville, Ont., tied the score when he shovelled a power-play rebound past McGill netminder Hubert Morin at 3:47 of the third period. but the Redmen rebounded with just over seven minutes remaining when Swift Current, Sask., native Evan Vossen, one of three Western Canadian players for McGill, restored the Redmen lead.

 

They clung to that slim margin until collapsing in the final minute of the game.

 

The Golden Bears struck once again with the man advantage, pulling their goalie for a 6-on-4 advantage in skaters and knotting the score at 4-4 when Ryan unleashed a laser beam wrist shot from the face-off dot that sizzled past Morin with 37 seconds to play, giving the 842 fans in attendance the impression they were going to see an overtime period.

 

But, with less than 10 seconds remaining on the clock, Greg Gardner, a sophomore from Cold Lake, Alta., won a faceoff for the Golden Bears in their own zone and rushed up ice on a 2-on-1 with Fecho.  From the right-side faceoff circle, Gardner threw a backhand pass towards the front of the goal where Fecho redirected the puckinto the top half of the net with a scant 0.7 seconds remaining on the clock.

 

Sophomore goalie Real Cyr of Victoire, Sask., made 27 saves for the win, while Morin, a second-year netminder from St. Georges de Beauce, Que., made 30 stops and saw his record drop to 12-4-1 overall.

 

McGill is now 0-3 lifetime against the Golden Bears but will have a shot at redemption on Tuesday when the two teams meet again to conclude their two- game exhibition series.  The contest will be broadcast in audio on the internet (www.SSN.ca) at 9:00 pm Eastern. Live stats will be available online through the CWUAA link at: www.leaguestat.com/oua/MEN/en/stats/schedule.php

 

After playing Alberta, McGill will bus over to Vancouver and play the UBC Thunderbirds on January 2 and 3.

 

 

SCORING SUMMARY

McGill 4 At Alberta 5

(Exhibition; Dec 28, 2009 at Clare Drake Arena)

1st Period-

1, MCG, Guillaume Doucet 20 (Rioux, Gazdic), 1:15.

 

Penalties-

Ryan ALB (slashing), 4:30;

Wright MCG (tripping), 8:52;

Zalasky ALB (elbowing), 12:04;

Wright MCG (interference), 18:00.

 

2nd Period-

2, MCG, Jean-Francois Boisvert 6 (Longpre-Poirier), 7:32 (sh).

3, MCG, Guillaume Doucet 21 (Morse), 10:51 (pp).

4, Alberta, Ian McDonald 12 (Woolger, Ashton), 13:02.

5, Alberta, Derek Ryan 11 (Woolger, Wolansky), 17:11 (pp).

 

Penalties-

Verreault-Paul MCG (cross checking), 3:43;

Vossen MCG (tripping), 6:23;

Turcotte MCG (boarding), 7:52;

Dorion MCG (slashing), 9:18;

Gimblett ALB (slashing), 9:48;

Hunter ALB (elbowing), 10:38;

Picard-Hooper MCG (hooking), 16:59.

3rd Period-

6, Alberta, Jesse Gimblett 12 (Ringrose, Fecho), 3:47 (pp).

7, MCG, Evan Vossen 12 (Marcotte-Legare, Doucet), 12:32.

8, Alberta, Derek Ryan 12 (Ringrose, McDonald), 19:22 (pp).

9, Alberta, Kyle Fecho 2 (Gardner), 19:59.

 

Penalties-

Verreault-Paul MCG (tripping), 0:16;

Verreault-Paul MCG (hooking), 3:27;

Szaszkiewicz ALB (tripping), 9:03;

Langelier-Parent MCG (holding), 18:20.

 

GOALS BY PERIOD:

McGill 1-2-1 -- 4

Alberta 0-2-3 -- 5

 

SHOTS BY PERIOD:

McGill 10-12-9 -- 31.

Alberta 7-16-12 -- 35.

Power Play Opportunities-

McGill 1 of 5;

Alberta 3 of 10 (plus one SHG against).

 

Goalies-

McGill,

Hubert Morin (L, 12-4-1, 35 shots-30 saves; 60:00).

 

Alberta,

Real Cyr (W, 9-2-0, 31 shots-27 saves, 59:45).

Empty-net (0 goals against; 0:15)

 

Attendance-842

 

Referees-Guy Doucet, Derek Herman.

 

Linesmen-Darren Spurgeon, Dwayne Yakubow.

 

MOLSON CUP THREE STARS

1. Sean Ringrose, Alberta

2. Guillaume Doucet, McGill

3. Simon Marcotte-Legare, McGill

 

 

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman, Communications Officer, McGill Athletics & Recreation

Cell (514) 398-7012

 

Matt Gutsch, Sports Information Director, University of Alberta Athletics

Cell (780) 914-7096