MONTREAL (February 18, 2015) - The Queen's men's hockey team dropped the opening game of their OUA semifinal best-of-three series 2-1 against the McGill Redmen on Wednesday night at McConnell arena in Montreal.

The Gaels have now lost 28 straight games to McGill and will look to force a third and deciding game when they host the Redmen at the Memorial Centre on Friday night.

A scoreless first period showcased the elite goaltending that each team has to offer as Kevin Bailie (Belleville, Ont.) and Jacob Gervais-Chouinard stopped the offense on numerous chances. Bailie was especially busy finishing with 19 saves in the first period alone.

McGill found the board first in the second period on a goal from Cedric McNicoll. After receiving a slick pass from David Rose McNicoll had enough space for an easy tap-in goal past Bailie. The Gaels responded later on in the frame as Andrew Wiebe (Thunder Bay, Ont.) deposited his first of the playoffs on the powerplay. Spencer Abraham (Campbellville, Ont.) and Patrick McGillis (Calgary) were credited with the assists after an Abraham point shot found its way to the stick of Wiebe and to the back of the net.

The Gaels powerplay woes continued this postseason however as they were given numerous opportunities to pull ahead of McGill and finished 1/7 on the man-advantage. The Redmen tallied the eventual game-winner in the final frame as Patrick Delisle-Houde collected a powerplay goal and McGill was able to stave off the late pressure from Queen's. 

Final shots for the night totalled 36 to 29 in favour of McGill. Bailie was charged with the 34 save loss while Gervais-Chouinard of the Redmen earned the 28 save victory.

The Gaels return to action Friday night when they host the second game of the series. Puck drop is set for 7:30pm at the Memorial Centre. For tickets to see the action visit www.gogaelsgo.com/tickets