Mighty Max gets "shorty" as Redmen tame 'Wolves in Big Thunder

THUNDER BAY, Ont. - Maxime Langelier-Parent of Lery, Que., scored a shorthanded goal midway through the third period to give McGill a 3-2 victory over the Lakehead University Thunderwolves before 2,317 at Fort William Gardens, Saturday.

It was the second "shorty" in as many nights for the 6-foot-2, 225-pound forward who also tallied while McGill was two-men short in Friday's 4-3 come-from-behind win over Lakehead.

The two wins in Thunder Bay marked McGill's second and third lifetime victories over a perennial powerhouse as the Redmen improved to 3-5-1 lifetime against the Thunderwolves.

"It was an important weekend for us with two clutch wins against a strong opponent, especially considering all the variables that it takes to win here," said Redmen head coach Kelly Nobes, referring to the challenge of dealing with the distance travelled (1,600 km each way), the time away from school, a large hostile crowd, a worthy opponent and referees that typically do not work major junior games.

Trailing 1-0 on a second-period goal by Lakehead's Matt Caria, McGill rallied with three consecutive markers. Team captain Evan Vossen of Swift Current, Sask., tied the score at 8:17 of the middle stanza. Toronto native Andrew Wright put the Redmen ahead at the 85-second mark of the final period and Langelier-Parent netted what proved to be the winner at 9:33 on a rocket-like shot to the top shelf.

"Max had a good weekend," added Nobes in a bit of an understatement about the 23-year-old economics senior. "He brings speed and size and he's one of our top guys on the penalty-kill to create offence. His goal the other night when we were short two men certainly gave the team a big boost and he did it again tonight."

The Thunderwolves made it a nail-biter finish when Wilkins beat McGill rookie netminder Mark Segal at 13:21. Lakehead pulled their goalie in the last minute and stormed the crease but Segal and his mates held firm.

It was the first CIS regular season start for Segal, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound native of Vancouver, B.C., a product of the Western Hockey League's Vancouver Giants. He registered 30 saves as McGill had a 33-32 edge in shots.

"He made a number of critical saves for us," said Nobes, who decided to start Segal despite winning the previous night with a steady outing from veteran Hubert Morin between the pipes. "Segal came up big on a couple of breakaways on bad turnovers."

Rookie Jeff Bosch of Martensville, Sask., made 30 saves in a losing cause for Lakehead.

"It was a good team effort this weekend with solid goaltending," added Nobes. "We moved our feet well for the most part. Our PK was outstanding (killing nine of 10 power play chances) and gave us a lot of momentum. Our rookies quite performed well, especially (centre) Marc-Olivier Vachon, who broke his nose in an exhibition game against Denver last week and had to play with a cage (instead of his customary visor) this weekend. He scored in yesterday's game, had an assist tonight, came up big on face-offs and looked comfortable on both the PP and PK."

McGill (2-0), one of five undefeated squads in the 19-team OUA conference will host the University of Windsor Lancers as part of Homecoming Week celebrations, Oct. 14-15. Windsor is also 2-0, coming off home-ice victories over Concordia (4-3 in overtime on Friday and 9-4 on Saturday).

REDMEN RAP: Among the Redmen line-up scratches was sniper Francis Verreault-Paul, the leading CIS goal-scorer in each of the last two years, who suffered an undisclosed injury in Friday's game... The annul McGill Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony and luncheon will kick off Homecoming Week festivities on Thursday. Among the six inductees is former Redmen all-Canadian left-winger and long-time head coach Martin Raymond, who is currently in his third season in the pros, including two as an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Raymond is slated to fly into Montreal on Wednesday night, attend the luncheon on Thursday and fly out that afternoon to Long Island, N.Y., where the Lightning are slated to play the N.Y. Islanders that night... Also in attendance for the festivities will be former Redmen head coach Ken Tyler, who coached the team for nine seasons (1979 to 1988) and will be flying in from Poland....Tyler, who recently turned 60, will be feted by the FMH alumni at a dinner-dance on Saturday evening.

SCORING SUMMARY

McGill 3 at Lakehead 2

(Saturday, October 8, 2011 - Fort William Gardens)

GOALS BY PERIOD:

McGill 0-1-2 -- 3
Lakehead 0-1-1 -- 2

1st Period-

(No Scoring).

Penalties-

Welsh Lak (holding), 2:39;

Ducharme Mcg (tripping), 5:49;

Sagert Lak (boarding), 9:51.

2nd Period-

1, Lakehead, Caria 1 (McDonald, Gamache), 4:13.

2, McGill, Vossen 1 (Dorion, Vachon), 8:17.

Penalties-

Menard Lak (checking from behind, 10-minute misconduct), 4:13;

Langelier-Parent Mcg (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 7:06;

Quesnele Lak (cross checking), 7:06;

Caria Lak (slashing), 9:48;

Maunu Lak (delay of game), 11:11;

Genest Mcg (interference), 19:06.

3rd Period-

3, McGill, Wright 1 (Picard-Hooper, Longpre-Poirier), 1:25.

4, McGill, Langelier-Parent 2   9:33 (SH).

5, Lakehead, Wilkins 1 (Menard, Hammond), 13:21.

Penalties-

Boisvert Mcg (roughing), 5:50;

Caria Lak (hooking), 5:50;

Gamache Lak (roughing), 5:50;

Sergerie Lak (unsportsmanlike cnd.), 8:17;

Laporte Mcg (roughing), 8:36;

Genest Mcg (hooking), 8:38;

Biniek Mcg (roughing), 13:41.

Shots on Goal-

McGill 7-14-12 -- 33.

Lakehead 11-10-11 -- 32.

Power Play Opportunities-

McGill 0 / 7;

Lakehead 0 / 5.

Penalties-

McGill 7 / 14;

Lakehead 10 / 28.

Goalies-

McGill, Segal (W, 1-0-0; 32 shots-30 saves; 60:00).

Lakehead, Bosch (L, 0-1-0, 33 shots-30 saves; 58:33).

Attendance: 2317
Start: 7:30 PM
End: 9:50 PM
Length: 2:20

Referee: na

MOLSON CUP THREE STARS:

1. MCG - 16 Max Langelier-Parent
2. LAKE - 10 Andrew Wilkins
3. MCG - 10 Mark Segal

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman,

McGill Athletics & Recreation

(514-398-7012)