Box Score
MONTREAL -- Mathieu Pompei of Laval, Que., scored the overtime winner and defenceman Ryan McKiernan contributed five points as the No.5-ranked McGill men's hockey team rallied from a four-goal deficit in the third-period to sink the Nipissing University Lakers 7-6 in a thrilling season finale at McConnell Arena, Friday.

It was the biggest come-from-behind victory in school history, surpassing a 4-1 second period margin erased in a 5-4 decision over Laurier (Jan. 20, 1990) and a 5-2 third-period disadvantage wiped clean in a 5-5 tie with UQTR (Nov. 30, 1996).

"We have such a great group of leaders on this team," said Redmen team captain Benoit Levesque, an economics senior from Vaudreuil, Que., who said that the guys actually felt that they could come back. "Most of our players have been respected captains on their previous team in junior. So we just stuck together, chipped away and found a way to get the win. This is probably the biggest comeback that I have seen in my hockey career."

The result moved the Redmen back into sole possession of first-place with a stellar 21-5-2 record in the combative OUA East Division. However, second-place Carleton (21-5-1) sits one point back and third-place UQTR (21-6-0) is two behind with both having one game in hand, which they will play on Saturday.

"Everything that could possibly go wrong over the first 50 minutes had gone wrong, so with about 10 minutes remaining, I was actually thinking about how to address the team in my post-game speech," admitted McGill head coach Kelly Nobes. "It was an unbelievable comeback and you've got to give credit to the guys for their character. Most teams would be done for the night at that point and we didn't show any quit."

Trailing 6-2 in the third period, the Redmen exploded for five unanswered goals, sparked by McKiernan who initiated the unlikely comeback with his 13th of the season, shorthanded, at 8:37. Four minutes later, McKiernan set up Cedric McNicoll for his 15th, on the power-play at 12:42 to narrow the gap to 6-4. Then Patrick Delisle-Houde struck twice in 52 seconds -- at 17:21 and 18:13 -- to force a five-minute sudden-death overtime. McKiernan assisted on the tying marker and then collected his fourth helper of the soiree on Pompei's winner with only 25 seconds remaining to avoid a shootout.

McKiernan, a finance senior from White Plains, N.Y., led all OUA rearguards in scoring with a 13-24-37 record in 25 contests. It marks the fourth time in five years that a McGill blueliner has managed this feat and he has a seven-point lead on the nearest defenceman in the CIS national scoring race.

Max Le Sieur had opened the scoring for McGill only 11 seconds after the opening faceoff, establishing a school record for the fastest goal from the start of a game. It broke the previous mark of 14 seconds set by Benoit Levesque in a 7-2 win over RMC on Dec. 1, 2012.

Undaunted, the Lakers roared back just 68 seconds later when Brandon Warmington scored. They quickly added two more, taking a 3-1 advantage on goals by Andrew Marcoux and Dorian Peca, who ended up with a hat-trick and an assist.

Also scoring for the Redmen was rookie Alexis Millette, who potted his fifth of the season, closing the gap to 3-2 in the opening period. Lucas McKinley then replied for Nipissing to give his side a 4-2 edge heading into the first intermission. Peca tallied the lone marker of the middle stanza and made it 6-2 at 6:13 of the final frame, setting the stage for McGill's avalanche of goals.

Special teams played a big role in the contest, which featured 68 penalty minutes, including 36 to McGill. The Redmen went 2-for-8 on the power play but conceded three PP goals against in 10 chances.

McGill had a 49-35 advantage in shots on what proved to be a difficult night for the goaltenders. Redmen rookie Jacob Gevais-Chouinard started but was yanked with 33 seconds remaining in the opening period after conceding four goals on 16 shots. he was replaced by freshman Karel St. Laurent, who saved 17 of 19 shots and collected the win, improving his record to 4-1.


PLAYOFF SCENARIOS: The Patriotes will close out their campaign at home to seventh-place Nipissing (7-16-4) on Saturday at 3 p.m., while Carleton completes their schedule an hour later with a home match-up against ninth-place Laurentian (5-21-1).

If Carleton wins, they clinch the division title with more points. If the Ravens lose in overtime, they will finish tied with McGill but hold the tie-breaker over the Redmen, based on their 2-0 record in head-to-head meetings. In a three-way tie, UQTR finishes first with more victories, while Carleton ends up second and McGill third, based on head-to-head wins.

If both Carleton and UQTR end up tied for second,  the teams split their two-game series but the Patriotes would finish higher on a better goal-differential in head-to-head play. If UQTR wins and ends up tied with McGill for second, the Pats would earn the nod ahead of the Redmen based on having more wins.

Should McGill end up first, they would meet eighth-place UOIT in an OUA East best-of-three quarter-final series beginning in Oshawa on Wednesday. Should the Redmen finish second, they would meet Nipissing in a quarter-final seires beginning on Wednesday in North Bay, Ont. If McGill ends up third (the most likely scenario), they will host sixth-place Concordia in a quarter-final series, slated to begin Wednesday at McConnell Arena (7 p.m.)


SCORING SUMMARY
Nipissing 6 at McGill 7 (OT)
(Friday, February 14, 2014 - McConnell Arena)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
Nipissing 4-1-1-0 -- 6
McGill 2-0-4-1 -- 7

1st Period-
1, McGill, Max Le Sieur 11 (Vachon), 0:11.
2, Nipissing, Brandon Warmington 3 (Mitchell, Peca), 1:19.
3, Nipissing, Andrew Marcoux 2 (Mitchell, Barron), 8:45.
4, Nipissing, Dorian Peca 8 (Deon, Rebelo), 13:07 (PP).
5, McGill, Alexis Millette 5 (McKiernan, Langelier-Parent), 18:06.
6, Nipissing, Lucas McKinley 6 (Toulmin, O'Donnell), 19:27.

Penalties-McKiernan Mcg (interference), 11:09; Blunden Mcg (tripping), 12:53; Horvat Nip (inter. on goaltender), 13:28; O'Donnell Nip (roughing, roughing, 10-minute misconduct), 19:51; Boutet Mcg (roughing), 19:51.

2nd Period-
7, Nipissing, Dorian Peca 9 (Deon, Toulmin), 16:55 (PP).

Penalties-Toulmin Nip (roughing), 13:05; Delisle-Houde Mcg (roughing), 14:55; Comtois Mcg (boarding), 16:48; Rebelo Nip (illegal equipment), 17:57; McG Bench served by Gelinas (too many men), 19:22; Deon Nip (slashing), 19:37.

3rd Period-
8, Nipissing, Dorian Peca 10 (Rebelo, O'Donnell), 6:13 (PP).
9, McGill, Ryan McKiernan 13 (Le Sieur), 8:37 (SH).
10, McGill, Cedric McNicoll 15 (McKiernan, Rose), 12:42 (PP).
11, McGill, Patrick Delisle-Houde 13 (McNicoll), 17:21 (PP).
12, McGill, Patrick Delisle-Houde 14 (McNicoll, McKiernan), 18:13.

Penalties-Prokop Mcg (checking from behind, 10-minute misconduct), 2:31; Toulmin Nip (interference), 3:35; McKinley Nip (roughing), 5:33; McNeill Nip (roughing), 5:33; Mathieu Mcg (roughing), 5:33; Rose Mcg (roughing, roughing), 5:33; Langelier-Parent Mcg (inter. on goaltender), 6:28; Laporte Mcg (slashing), 7:31; Toulmin Nip (roughing), 12:32; Delisle-Houde Mcg (roughing), 13:50; Mitchell Nip (holding), 16:37.

Overtime-
13, McGill, Mathieu Pompei 9 (McKiernan, Millette), 4:35.

Penalties-
(No Penalties)

Shots on Goal-
Nipissing 18-6-9-2 -- 35.
McGill 12-15-18-4 -- 49.

Power Play Opportunities-
Nipissing 3 / 10;
McGill 2 / 8.

Goalies-
Nipissing,
Kirk Rafuse (L, 7-14-0, 49 shots-42 saves; 64:35).

McGill,
Jacob Gervais-Chouinard (start, ND, 12-4-0, 16 shots-12 saves; 19:27);
Karel St. Laurent (W, 4-1-0, 19 shots-17 saves; 45:08).

Attendance: 267
Start: 7:01 PM
End: 9:37 PM
Length: 2:36

Referees-Peter Moraitis, Dominic Tessier.
Linesmen-Pierre-Luc Huot, Antoine Leblanc.

MOLSON THREE STARS:
1. MCG - 8 Ryan McKiernan
2. NIP - 89 Dorian Peca
3. MCG - 28 Patrick Delisle-Houde