Trevor Braun (left) celebrates his tying goal at 12:44 of the third period. Photo by Derek Drummond

MONTREAL - Freshman Mathieu Pompei of Laval, Que., tallied twice, including the game-winner with 3:22 remaining as McGill rallied with three goals in the last 10 minutes to upend the visiting Nipissing Lakers 4-3 in OUA men's hockey at McConnell Arena, Saturday.

McGill, which improved to 11-0 lifetime against Nipissing, had a 43-26 edge in shots, including an incredible 24-4 margin in the first period. Despite the lopsided shot count, McGill only led 1-0 after the period, on Pompei's fourth of the season at 14:28.

The undisciplined Lakers, who finished the game as the third-most penalized team in the 19-team league, looked to be disinterested in playing clean hockey right from the drop of the first puck, apparently unaware that there were two referees working the game. It took only 96 seconds before they drew their first of 13 penalties called against them, Nipissing ended up collecting 58 of the 64 minutes dished out.

But the Redmen were unable to take advantage for the most part, striking out on their first five power plays before ending up 1-for-7, compared to the Lakers, who went 0-for-1 on the PP.

A large part of McGill's ineffectiveness was due to Nipissing goaltender Daniel Spence of Langley, B.C., who made 43 saves, including 23 in the opening frame.

The Redmen came out flat in the second period and watched what looked to be an easy win dissipate before their eyes. Grant Toulmin and Kevin Rebelo put Nipissing ahead 2-1 when they scored back-to-back at 11:16 and 12:02 of the middle frame. The Lakers then took what appeared to be a stranglehold 3-1 advantage when Vern Cooper connected at 8:15 of the third period.

But Trevor Braun, an unheralded rookie forward from Windham, Maine, struck twice to cue the comeback with the first two goals of his collegiate career -- at 10:37 and 12:44 -- then added a helper on Pompei's game-winner on the power-play. The winning tally was initiated from a long-bomb pass by goaltender Hubert Morin, who sent the puck up-ice to defenceman Ryan McKiernan at the McGill blueline, who relayed it to Braun.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

"Trevor picked a great time to have a coming out party," said McGill head coach Kelly Nobes of the 6-foot-2, 194-pound left-winger. "It was late in the third and we needed a spark and he delivered. Good for him. He's got a big body, shoots the puck well, has some offensive instincts and we're happy for him. Hopefully this will give him some confidence moving forward.

"When Trevor scored to make it 3-2, you could sense some excitement on our bench. Then Hubert made a couple of timely saves and we were able to tie it up, leading to Pompei converting on the power play. But we can't expect that to happen too often and have to play the full 60 minutes. Tonight we took the second period off and it almost cost us.

"One of things I thought we did well though, was our discipline, which was very good and it was exemplified by the fact that we only had one penalty to kill."

Morin (4-1), who was making his first start in four games, stoned the Lakers on a pair of excellent chances (while shorthanded) in the third stanza and finished with 23 saves.

Nipissing, which started out the weekend ahead of McGill in the OUA East standings, dropped to 7-8-0 and now sit two points in arrears of the Redmen.

McGill improved to 8-5-0 and now sits just three points out of second-place with a game in hand on the four teams ahead of them. The Redmen will close out the first semester on the road next weekend with games against Ryerson (at the newly revamped Maple Leaf Gardens) and RMC in Kingston, Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, respectively.

SOURCE: Earl Zukerman, McGill Sports Info Office (514-398-7012)

SCORING SUMMARY
Nipissing 3 at McGill 4

(Saturday, November 24, 2012 - McConnell Arena)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
Nipissing 0-2-1 -- 3
McGill 1-0-3 -- 4

1st Period-
1, McGill, Mathieu Pompei 4 (Rose, Longpre-Poirier), 14:28.

Penalties-
Toulmin Nip (interference), 1:16;
McKinley Nip (checking from behind, 10-minute misconduct), 15:02;
Flather Nip (checking from behind, 10-minute misconduct), 15:51;
Spence Nip (roughing), 17:58.

2nd Period-
2, Nipissing, Grant Toulmin 5 (Gray), 11:16.
3, Nipissing, Kevin Rebelo 5 (unassisted), 12:02.

Penalties-
Brunelle Mcg (cross checking), 5:53.

3rd Period-
4, Nipissing, Vern Cooper 8 (unassisted),  8:15.
5, McGill, Trevor Braun 1 (Laporte, Longpre-Poirier), 10:37.
6, McGill, Trevor Braun 2 (Biniek, Laporte), 12:44.
7, McGill, Mathieu Pompei 5 (McKiernan, Braun), 16:38 (PP).

Penalties-
Paton Nip (high sticking), 3:52;
Flather Nip (roughing after the whistle), 10:04;
Gray Nip (holding), 10:04;
Ducharme Mcg (high sticking), 10:04;
Pompei Mcg (roughing after the whistle), 10:04;
Toulmin Nip (interference), 15:41;
Gray Nip (interference), 17:17;
Cook Nip (10-minute misconduct), 20:00;
Paton Nip (10-minute misconduct), 20:00.

Shots on Goal-
Nipissing 4-13-9 -- 26.
McGill 24-8-11 -- 43.

Power Play Opportunities-
Nipissing 0 / 1;
McGill 1 / 7.

Penalties-
Nipissing 13 / 58;
McGill 3 / 6.

Goalies-
Nipissing, Daniel Spence (L, 6-7-0, 43 shots-39 saves; 59:27).
McGill, Hubert Morin (W, 4-1-0, 26 shots-23 saves; 60:00).

Attendance: 415
Start: 7:01 PM
End: 9:12 PM
Length: 2:11

Referees-Alexandre Cote, Peter Moraitis.

Linesmen-Maxim La Salle, Maxime Mongeon.

MOLSON CUP THREE STARS:

1. MCG - 12 Trevor Braun
2. MCG - 19 Mathieu Pompei
3. MCG - 5 Nicolas Biniek