OTTAWA -- Ninth-ranked Ottawa scored four power-play goals, including a trio of third-period markers in less than nine minutes, as the Gee-Gees stunned No.3 McGill 5-3 in RSEQ women's hockey at the uOttawa Sports Complex, Saturday.

McGill holds a record of 87-14-7 in 108 lifetime meetings against Ottawa, with two of the losses coming this season. Both teams sit tied for second in the RSEQ standings with identical 9-4-1 records. The teams have split their four games this season with only a rubber match left to play, on Valentine's Day at McConnell Arena.

This one came down to a battle of special teams, as the Gee-Gees power-play leads the nation with a 26.3 per cent success rate. They went 4-for-5 with the extra attacker, while McGill was 0-for-2. Ottawa's other goal came one second after a McGill penalty expired. The Martlets had had the nation's best penalty-killing unit heading into the contest and had only conceded three PPGs but they allowed four more against Ottawa and tumbled all the way to No.18 by game's end at 87.9 per cent.

"We didn't block shots and pucks got through," said head coach Peter Smith as three of Ottawa's PP goals were long wrist shots that found their way through a sea of bodies. "We didn't block shots, and Ottawa did -- that was the difference."

Emilie Bouchard, a 5-foot-6 defenceman from St. Ambroise, Que., opened the scoring for Ottawa, who led 1-0 after the first period and 2-1 after two. In the middle stanza, Marie-Philip Lavoie an education sophomore from Pohenegamook, Que., responded for the Martlets to tie the score at 1-1 at 4:22. Rookie Melodie Bouchard of Sept-Îles, Que., replied at 12:35 to regain the lead for the Gee-Gees and finished with a three-point soiree, moving into second in the conference scoring race with 7-15-22 in 13 games, one point behind McGill senior Melodie Daoust of Valleyfield, Que.

In the final frame, Martlet senior Gabrielle Davidson of Pointe Claire, Que., tied the game at 3:15, followed minutes later by Daoust who scored to give the Martlets a shortlived 3-2 lead at 6:32.

"Melodie was outstanding," said head coach Peter Smith of his team captain who also added a helper and upped her league-leading totals to 11-12-23 in 14 contests. "She was getting hooked and hacked and held the whole time and she played really hard."

Smith was back behind the bench after missing Friday's night's 3-1 win at Carleton as he was making funeral arrangements for his 88-year-old mother who passed away on Thursday night. A memorial service is planned for early February.

A series of McGill penalties in the third -- at 7:08, 8:25 and 16:12 -- led to the Ottawa comeback and the Gee-Gees capitalized on all three opportunities with the extra attacker as Camille Pauck-Therrien of Boucherville, Que., Roxanne Rioux of St. Jean de Dieux, Que., and Cynthia Whissell of Dorval, Que., buried their chances.

With 2:42 remaining, the Martlets were finally awarded their second PP chance of the night but were unable to put the puck past Gee-Gees goaltender Maude Levesque-Ryan of Rimouski, Que., who stopped 33 of 36 shots, improving to 6-4 on the season.

McGill goaltender Taylor Hough of Toronto, Ont., kicked asided 32 of the 37 pucks faced as her record dropped to 8-4.

With six games remaining before playoffs, it's crunch time for the Martlets, who now face the arduous task of confronting the division-leading Montreal Carabins (10-3-1) in back-to-back games at the UdeM campus on Jan. 29 and Feb. 5. A McGill sweep would put the Martlets in first, while a Montreal sweep would give the Carabins a six-point lead and all but clich the regular season pennant.

The Gee-Gees will host fourth-place Concordia (4-8-2) on Jan. 29.

LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE

LINK TO CIS SCORING LEADERS

LINK TO CIS STANDINGS

LINK TO McGILL SCORING LEADERS

SCORING SUMMARY
McGill 3 at Ottawa 5
(Saturday, January 23, 2016 - uOttawa Sports Complex @ Ottawa)
 
GOALS BY PERIOD:
McGill 0-1-2 -- 3
Ottawa 1-1-3 -- 5
 
1st Period-
1, Ottawa, Emilie Bouchard 1 (Bouchard, Pauck-Therrien), 14:50.
 
Penalties-Howlett Mcg (bodychecking), 12:49.
 
2nd Period-
2, McGill, Marie-Philip Lavoie 3 (Daoust, Pyke), 4:22.
3, Ottawa, Melodie Bouchard 7 (Lemire), 12:35 (PP).
 
Penalties-Rioux Ott (bodychecking), 5:03; Daoust Mcg (tripping), 11:07.
 
3rd Period-
4, McGill, Gabrielle Davidson 7   3:15.
5, McGill, Melodie Daoust 11 (Lavoie), 6:32.
6, Ottawa, Camille Pauck-Therrien 3 (Whissell, Bouchard), 7:55 (PP).
7, Ottawa, Roxanne Rioux 10 (Godbout-Parent, Whissell), 8:47 (PP).
8, Ottawa, Cynthia Whissell 1 (Rioux, Pauck-Therrien), 16:31 (PP).
 
Penalties-Todd Mcg (interference), 7:08; Pohlod Mcg (hooking), 8:25; Walker Mcg (bodychecking), 16:12; Bouchard Ott (hooking), 17:18.
 
Shots on Goal-
McGill 10-14-12 -- 36.
Ottawa 15-12-10 -- 37.
 
Power Play Opportunities-
McGill 0 / 2;
Ottawa 4 / 5.
 
Goalies-
McGill, Taylor Hough 8-4-0 (37 shots-32 saves).
Ottawa, Maude Levesque-Ryan 6-4-0 (36 shots-33 saves).
 
Attendance: 83
Start: 7:00 PM
End: 9:06 PM
Length: 2:06
 
THREE STARS:
1. OTT - 18 Camille Pauck-Therrien
2. OTT - 20 Melodie Bouchard
3. OTT - 16 Cynthia Whissell
 

Pos	RSEQ STANDINGS	GP	W	L	OL	SOL	GF	GA	PTS
1	Montréal	14	10	3	0	1	44	20	21
2	McGill	13	9	3	0	1	33	15	19
3	Ottawa	13	8	4	0	1	35	33	17
4	Concordia	14	4	8	0	2	22	37	10
5	Carleton	14	3	11	0	0	15	44	6

FOR MORE INFO CONTACT:

Kirsten Whelan or
Earl Zukerman
McGill Sports Info Office
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
MOBILE SITE: http://mcgillathletics.ca/mobile/index.aspx
WEBSITE: www.mcgillathletics.ca
TWITTER: @EarlZukerman
E-MAIL: earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca
McGILL VARSITY COMPOSITE CALENDAR:
www.mcgillathletics.ca/calendar.aspx