KINGSTON, Ont. (October 29, 2010) – Alexi Pianosi's first career OUA hat-trick wasn't enough to propel Queen's past McGill on Friday night as the Gaels fell 6-4 to the Redmen at the Kingston Memorial Centre.

The game, featuring two of the oldest hockey rivals, marked the 125th anniversary of hockey at Queen's and was honoured with a ceremonial face-off before the contest featuring past Queen's hockey captains.

It was a tough start for the Gaels as McGill found the back of the net just 27 seconds in after the puck bounced off Maxime Langelier-Parent of Lery, Que., and past Queen's goalie Steele De Fazio of Georgetown, Ont.

However, Pianosi of Halifax, N.S., was able to square the contest at one just eight minutes later when his screen shot from the point beat McGill goaltender Hubert Morin of St-Georges-de-Beauce, Que.

The scoring outburst would continue as McGill regained the lead just 22 seconds after Pianosi's marker but the Gaels rookie defenceman knotted the game at two on the powerplay with another bullet shot from the point.

The Redmen managed to grab a 3-2 lead late in the frame when Jean-Francois Boisvert of Mirabel, Que., redirected a shot past De Fazio.

In the second period, McGill continued to pepper De Fazio and found the back of the net twice more to stretch their lead to three. From there, the game turned physical as the Gaels tried to get themselves back in the game. With neither team backing down, a number of penalties were handed out to both teams and by the end of the contest, the two teams had combined for 146 minutes in penalties.

In the final frame, McGill pushed the game seemingly out of reach after a goal from Christophe Longpre-Poirier of Longueuil, Que. However, the Gaels refused to quit and fought their way back into the game with powerplay markers from Jordan Mirwaldt of Winnipeg, Man., and Pianosi. But the team would get no closer and the game finished 6-4 in favour of McGill.

Along with Pianosi's three goals, three other Gaels finished with multiple point games, including Mirwaldt (1 G, 1 A), Stephane Chabot of Rockland, Ont., (2 A) and Joey Derochie of Sudbury, Ont., (2 A).

Marc-Andre Doiron of St. Hubert, Que., was the top scorer for McGill finishing with three assists.

De Fazio turned aside 26 shots in the loss while Morin made 24 saves for the win.

The Gaels will have a quick turnaround as they are back on the ice tomorrow afternoon to battle the Carleton Ravens. Game time is set for 2:30 pm at Cataraqui Community Centre.


Stats