KINGSTON, Ont. (March 1, 2017) - The No.7 Queen's Gaels meet their longtime rivals the No.3 McGill Redmen in the OUA Queen's Cup East Final series with game one starting Wednesday, March 1 at 7:00 pm in Montreal.

GAME 1: Wednesday, March 1, 7:00 p.m. Queen's at McGill, OUA.tv
GAME 2: Friday, March 3, 7:30 p.m. McGill at Queen's, OUA.tv | Tickets
GAME 3: Sunday, March 5, 7:00 p.m. Queen's at McGill, OUA.tv

REGULAR SEASON & PLAYOFF ROUNDUP

Nov. 26: Queen's 4, McGill 0
Jan. 13: Queen's 2, McGill 1

The Gaels snapped their 31-game losing streak against McGill with a 4-0 win on November 26 at the Memorial Centre. For Queen's it was their first win over McGill since February 6, 2004. Eric Ming and Slater Doggett each had three-point nights for the Gaels while Jacob Brennan drew the start recording a 27-save shutout. The two teams met again in Montreal on January 13 where the Gaels used a late goal from Eric Margo to steal their second straight win against the Redmen. 

McGill finished as the first-seed in the OUA East and drew Laurentian in the opening round. The Redmen snuck out of Sudbury with a 2-1 overtime win in game one and had no trouble in game two with a 7-2 win at home to advance to the East semifinal. McGill met their provincial rivals the UQTR Patriotes in the second round and were able to secure another series sweep with a 3-1 home win followed by a 2-1 road win.

The Gaels have played a lot of hockey in comparison to McGill with both of their series going three games and two games in the opening round needing double-overtime. Queen's took down Ottawa in the opening round in the third game after the two teams split double-overtime wins in the first two games of the series. Queen's shutout Ottawa in game three 2-0 to advance to the East semifinal round. The Gaels met Concordia in the second round in a series that saw the road team win every game. Game three had Queen's go into Montreal and steal a 2-0 win and series victory.

The Gaels this season have not lost a game in Montreal going 1-0 against McGill and 3-0 against Concordia.
 
PLAYERS TO WATCH

Queen's - Kevin Bailie: Bailie leads the OUA playoffs in minutes played (424:39), saves (234), save percentage (0.971), shutouts (2) and is second in GAA (0.97)

McGill - Guillaume Gauthier: Gauthier is the lone McGill player to have scored against the Gaels this season and also leads the Redmen in scoring this playoff with six points in four games.

KEY TO THE SERIES: GOALTENDING & THE PENALTY BOX

The McGill Redmen have been consistent between the pipes with their goaltending in the playoffs flipping back-and-forth between Louis-Philip Guindon and Jacob Gervais-Chouinard. Guindon is next in line should they continue to rotate between the two and has allowed just two goals in the two games he has started. The Gaels Kevin Bailie is coming off being named the OUA male athlete of the week after stopping 121 shots in the series against Concordia allowing just two goals and recording a shutout. Bailie is the key to the Gaels defensive style, and they will rely on him if they hope to get past McGill. 

The Redmen were the second most penalized team in the OUA this year finding themselves shorthanded 146 times while Queen's was penalized the least amount of times at 74. In the two games, this season where Queen's and McGill have met the Redmen have given the Gaels 11 powerplay opportunities with the Gaels scoring four times while Queen's gave up just three powerplay chances.

OLDEST HOCKEY RIVALRIES IN NORTH AMERICA:
1886 (Mar. 10): Queen's 1, Royal Military College 0
1892 (Feb. 27): McGill 5, Royal Military College 1
1895 (Feb. 2): Queen's 6, McGill 5
1895 (Feb. 8): Queen's 19, Toronto 3
1896 (Feb. 1): Yale 2, John's Hopkins 2
1898 (Jan. 19): Brown 6, Harvard 0
1899 (Feb. 20): McGill 8, Toronto 4
1900 (Feb. 26): Yale 5, Harvard 4
 
OLDEST NHL RIVALRY:
1917 (Dec. 26): Toronto Arenas* 7, Montreal Canadiens 5
*later renamed "Maple Leafs"