MONTREAL -- Melodie Daoust of Valleyfield, Que., tallied three points and Tricia Deguire of Sherbrooke, Que., earned her first regular-season shutout as sixth-ranked McGill blanked No.8 Montreal 4-0 in RSEQ women's hockey, Saturday, at McConnell Arena.

The win secured McGill's first sweep of the season series against the archrival Carabins since 2012-13. McGill owns a 43-18 lifetime record against UdeM, which was missing three players who are representing France at the final Olympic qualification tournament in Japan. However, the hosts were also missing a key player in Jade Downie-Landry, who was serving the second of a two-game suspension.

"We played with a lot of speed and our structure in our game today was very, very good," said Martlets head coach Peter Smith. "We've got two games left in the regular season before playoffs. There are still things that we want to get better at and will keep working hard at, but I give the girls a lot of credit. They played hard tonight."

Daoust, the team captain, recorded a goal and two assists to improve her record to 10-17-27 in 16 games. The 5-foot-6 centre boasts the country's highest points-per-game average with 1.69 and leads the conference scoring race by a four-point margin over Ottawa's Mélodie Bouchard and Martlets teammate Marie-Philip Lavoie, who have both played in more contests.

Deguire, a 5-foot-7 rookie netminder, stopped all 21 shots faced and improved her record to 13-3. The 19-year-old leads all RSEQ goaltenders in wins, save percentage (.928) and goals-against average (1.80).

"Deguire was real good on the back end," praised Smith. "She made the saves, played with a lot of confidence and played the puck very, very well. She was really sharp. It was nice for her to get her first official shutout."

Gabrielle Davidson of Pte. Claire, Que., opened the scoring at 11:41 of the first period, assisted by Zoe Todd of Vancouver and Lavoie, from Pohenegamook, Que.

"Our start wasn't great, but in fairness to Montreal, they came out hard -- which we anticipated," noted Smith. "I didn't think we matched them through the first probably eight or nine minutes of the first period. In the second we were pretty good and then (very solid) in the third. We made a few adjustments at the end of the first period and did a pretty good job after that."

Daoust doubled the advantage just 1:56 into the middle frame, with help from Alison MacKenzie of Osgood, Ont.

Lauren Bowman, a freshman from Calgary, Alta., potted her first regular-season goal at 3:50 of the third, assisted by Daoust and Olivia Atkinson of Oakville, Ont. Lavoie added a power-play marker to close the scoring at 9:19 of the period, with Atkinson and Daoust drawing helpers.

Marie-Pier Chabot made 26 saves on 30 shots in the Carabins goal as her record fell to 9-8.

McGill was 1-for-5 on the power play and killed off both of their penalties.

"The girls are really using these last four games of the season to prepare for the playoffs," said Smith. "They want to play now the way they want to be playing down the road, and I think they're doing a pretty good job. We had a good week in practice and a good game tonight. We've got two games next weekend and then should be ready to go."

The Martlets (14-4-0) next host Concordia (10-7-1) at 3 p.m. on Feb. 18 at McConnell Arena. Montreal (10-8-1) plays Ottawa (9-9-1) on Feb. 17.
 
LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE

SCORING SUMMARY
Montreal 0 at McGill 4
(Saturday, February 11, 2017 - McConnell Arena @ McGill)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
Montreal 0-0-0 -- 0
McGill 1-1-2 -- 4

1st Period-
1, McGill, Gabrielle Davidson 2 (Todd, Lavoie), 11:41.
 
Penalties-Bowman Mcg (holding), 13:05.

2nd Period-
2, McGill, Melodie Daoust 10 (MacKenzie), 1:56.
 
Penalties-Germain Mtl (tripping), 10:27; Pilon-Robert Mtl (tripping), 13:46.

3rd Period-
3, McGill, Lauren Bowman 1 (Atkinson, Daoust), 3:50.
4, McGill, Marie-Philip Lavoie 8 (Atkinson, Daoust), 9:19 (PP).
 
Penalties-Delorme Mtl (hooking), 8:50; Howlett Mcg (interference), 10:41; Laramee Mtl (interference), 11:15; Beaulieu Mtl (bodychecking), 14:09.

Shots on Goal-
Montreal 10-6-5 -- 21.
McGill 8-9-13 -- 30.

Power Play Opportunities-
Montreal 0 / 2;
McGill 1 / 5.

Goalies-
Montreal, Marie-Pier Chabot (L, 9-8-0, 30 shots-26 saves; 60:00).
McGill,  Tricia Deguire (W, 13-3-0, 21 shots-21 saves; shutout; 60:00).

Attendance: 107
Start: 7:05 PM
End: 9:00 PM
Length: 1:55

Referees-Patricia Pare, Vanessa Morin.
Linesmen-Marie-Pierre Jalbert, Genevieve Gouin.
 
THREE STARS:
1. MCG - 15 Gabrielle Davidson
2. MCG - 17 Melodie Daoust
3. MCG - 4 Zoe Todd

2016-7 RSEQ WOMEN'S HOCKEY STANDINGS (updated after games on Feb. 11)
 

TEAM	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	STK	PIM
McGill	18	14	4	0	28	0.778	52	32	4-0-0	154
Concordia	18	10	7	1	21	0.583	53	43	5-0-0	136
Montreal	19	10	8	1	21	0.553	56	50	0-1-0	158
Ottawa	19	9	9	1	19	0.500	54	57	0-4-0	198
Carleton	18	3	13	2	8	0.222	34	67	0-5-1	192