Box Score
MONTREAL -- Mathieu Pompei of Laval, Que., snapped a deadlock with the game-winner at 5:45 of the final period as fifth-ranked McGill skated to a hard-earned 2-1 conquest over No.10-Queen's in men's hockey before a raucous standing-room crowd of 1,471 at McConnell Arena, Friday.

It marked the 12th consecutive year that McGill prevailed in their annual faculty of management Winter Carnival game, the fifth straight capacity crowd with over 1,000 fans at the 950-seat facility and was the largest home attendance for the Redmen since March 5, 2010 when they drew 1,656 to see McGill eliminate UQTR 7-4 in the OUA East finals.

"Sometimes a large crowd can make the guys a little bit nervous to start but we used it well," said Redmen rearguard Ryan McKiernan, whose power-play marker gave McGill a 1-0 lead midway through the openIng period. It was his 10th of the season and he is now tied for the CIS lead in goals by defencemen. "The crowd was very supportive and we played like we had a thousand people pushing our backs tonight. We used it to our advantage and we were flying because of it and that was part of the reason we won."

Queen's tied the score at 1-1 at 5:18 of the final stanza but Pompei answered quickly, netting the decisive goal, his sixth of the campaign, just 27 seconds later.

"The school spirit was awesome tonight," said Redmen head coach Kelly Nobes. "It was great to see so many McGill students at a university hockey game. It should be like that every night. There was an amazing atmosphere in the building and it started when the entire crowd sang the national anthem. We've never seen that here before."

McGill had a 38-26 edge in shots on net as rookie goaltender Jacob Gervais-Chouinard made 25 saves for the victory, improving to 9-3 on the season. he now ranks third among all OUA netminders and sixth in the nation with a 1.97 goals-against average. His save percentage (.929) ranks fifth in the league and sixth in the nation.

McGill shooters had a distinctive territorial advantage but were robbed on at least a half-dozen occasions by Queen's freshman Kevin Bailie, a 22-year-old native of Belleville, Ont., who played five seasons in the OHL with Oshawa and London.

"We played a great game, had the puck a lot and came up with a number of great scoring chances," said Nobes. "We played well without the puck. Our goaltender was solid and our special teams were working, It was a good team effort."

The Redmen, who won for the third straight outing, improved to 15-5-1 and took sole possession of first-place in a horse-race for the OUA East Division pennant with 31 points and seven games remaining on the schedule. They are perched one precarious point ahead of UQTR (15-4-0) and two ahead of both Carleton (14-5-1) and Queen's (12-3-5).

McGill, which swept their season series against the Gaels, have now won 25 consecutive games over their long-time rivals and leads the all-time series with a 119-50-2 overall record in 171 lifetime meetings in a long-standing series that dates all the way back to 1895. It is the world's third oldest on-going hockey rivalry.

The Redmen, who have seven games remaining before playoffs, will host Royal Military College, coached by former McGill player and assistant coach Adam Shell, on Saturday. One of his assistant coaches is Sam Bloom, who starred with the Redmen from 2005 to 2009.

The game versus RMC will also feature a Redmen Family Day promotion. Any family coming to the contest is welcome to participate in a free skate at McConnell Arena from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. and stick around for the Redmen game at 7 p.m. A special $10 admission fee will be charged per family, which includes the family skate, parking and admission to the game. Family ticket packages must be reserved in advance by calling the Redbird Sports Shop at 514-398-1539 and can be picked up inside the McGill Sports Centre or at the entrance to McConnell Arena.


SCORING SUMMARY
Queen's 1 at McGill 2
(Friday, January 17, 2014 - McConnell Arena; McGill Management Carnival Game)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
Queen's 0-0-1 -- 1
McGill 1-0-1 -- 2

1st Period-
1, McGill, Ryan McKiernan 10 (McNicoll, Carrier), 12:26 (PP).

Penalties-McEachen Qns (slashing), 4:54; Prokop Mcg (interference), 6:21; Le Sieur Mcg (slashing), 10:34; Bureau Qns (hooking), 10:57; McEachen Qns (boarding), 11:58.

2nd Period-
(No Scoring).

Penalties-Mathieu Mcg (hooking), 14:53.

3rd Period-
2, Queen's, Tyler Moore 5 (Derochie, Luongo), 5:18.
3, McGill, Mathieu Pompei 6 (Gelinas), 5:45.

Penalties-Corbeth Qns (hooking), 1:47.

Shots on Goal-
Queen's 10-6-10 -- 26.
McGill 17-11-10 -- 38.

Power Play Opportunities-
Queen's 0 / 3;
McGill 1 / 4.

Goalies-
Queen's, Kevin Bailie (L, 8-7-0; 38 shots-36 saves; 59:29).
McGill, Jacob Gervais-Chouinard (W, 9-3-0, 26 shots-25 saves; 60:00).

Attendance: 1471
Start: 7:02 PM
End: 9:17 PM
Length: 2:15

Referees-Olivier Gouin, Benoit Lessard.
Linesmen-Maxime Desjardins, Nicolas Piche.

MOLSON CUP THREE STARS:
1. MCG - 8 Ryan McKiernan
2. QNS - 30 Kevin Bailie
3. MCG - 30 Jacob Gervais-Chouinard

McGILL REDMEN HOCKEY WINTER CARNIVAL GAMES
YEAR	RESULT	SCORE	OPPONENT	ATTENDANCE
2014	WON	2-1	Queen's	1,471
2013	WON	4-2	UQTR	1,139
2012	WON	1-0 (ots)	Carleton	1,039
2011	WON	5-4	Carleton	1,355
2010	WON	12-3	Concordia	1,080
2009	WON	4-1	UOIT	688
2008	WON	4-1	Concordia	890
2007	WON	7-2	Concordia	1,523
2006	WON	3-1	Concordia	1,415
2005	WON	3-0	Concordia	1,324
2004	WON	4-3	UQTR	1,103
2003	WON	6-0	Toronto	1,113

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
514-398-7012
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca