SMU edges McGill 3-2 in exhibition
(Halifax, NS) In their third and final game of preseason action, the Saint Mary's Huskies took on McGill at the Halifax Forum this Friday. After a slow start to the game, a handful of goals in the third period saw the Huskies come away with a 3-2 win.
McGill took an early lead as Antoine Dufort-Plante (Montreal, QC) waiting at the back door tipped in a pass from Dominic Talbot-Tassi (Mascouche, QC).
Saint Mary's had several power plays in a row, but their best chance of the period came at even strength with a nice play by Zackary Hoffman (Newcastle, ON) who redirected a wide shot, but goalie Louis-Philip Guindon (St. Joseph du Lac, QC) captured the bouncing puck.
McGill, on the power play late in the period, had several dangerous chances in close, but the period ended with them up just by 1-0.
Despite a flurry of penalties in the second period, scoring chances were few and far between. With the teams trading the man advantage back and forth, neither team were able to get much momentum - or many shots on net.
The Huskies evened the score off the rush with 14 seconds left in the period. With a crowd of players crashing the net, Stephen Johnson (Moncton, NB) tucked the puck past Guindon to make it a 1-1 game. Logan DeNoble (Peterborough, ON) and Bronson Beaton (Springhill, NS) had the assists.
The pace picked up in the third period. After trading end to end rushes and generating some speed, Keith Getson (Bridgewater, NS) tapped in a pass from the half boards from DeNoble to put the SMU up 2-1. Bronson also assisted on the goal.
On the power play with six minutes to go, McGill's Nikolas Brouillard (St. Hilaire, QC) made a nice move through the feet of a Huskies defense in the slot and wired a wrist shot that beat goalie Eric Brassard (St. Hubert, QC) blocker side.
A minute later, however, Saint Mary's took the lead again as Beaton's low shot from a sharp angle slid into the net.
McGill had a late power play and pulled their goalie in the closing minutes of the game but couldn't tie it up as Saint Mary's took the 3-2 win.
The Huskies open their regular season at home when they host the University of New Brunswick Reds. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. at the Dauphinee Centre.
Sarah Moore, SMU Communications
Photo Mona Ghiz