MONTREAL -- Kellyane Lecours scored the game-winner at 4:03 of double overtime as No.6 McGill skated to a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the second-ranked Montreal Carabins to close our their regular season schedule in RSEQ women's hockey, at McConnell Arena, Friday.

The victory improved McGill's record to 14-6-0, moving them into second place, one-point ahead of Concordia (12-4-3) but the Stingers have one game left to play, versus fourth-place Ottawa (6-13-0) on Sunday at 3 p.m. Despite the loss, the single point earned by Montreal (14-4-1) was enough to clinch first place in the conference for the third time in school history. Regardless of where they finish, the Martlets will confront Concordia in an upcoming best-of-three semifinal but home-ice advantage will not be settled until Sunday's season finale. The other semifinal series will feature Montreal and Ottawa.

Regular season overtime features a five-minute, sudden-death 4-on-4, followed, if needed, by a five minute 3-on-3. With just 57 seconds remaining in the second extra frame, Lecours pounced on a loose puck in the crease to put a rebound past rookie Carabins goalkeeper Aube Racine, who made 38 saves in a losing cause. It was the team-leading 10th of the season for Lecours, a 5-foot-5 forward who ranked second among league leaders in that department.

"I got checked from behind and was knocked to the ice and then Kate Devries took a (weak) shot from the slot but her stick broke on the play," said Lecours, a 21-year-old elementary education sophomore. "I just looked back and saw the puck was in front of the goalie's leg and I just lifted the puck over her pad and into the net. It was a great feeling."

Jade Downie-Landry also drew an assist on the winning tally and continues to lead the Quebec league scoring race with a 5-18-23 record in 20 games. She sits three points ahead of Carabins forward Jessica Cormier, who has 11-9-20 with one game remaining.

Despite a 40-27 edge in shots for the Martlets, they found themselves in need of a comeback after UdeM broke a scoreless draw in the second period when senior Alexandra Labelle of St. Louis de Gonzague, Que., struck for her eighth of the campaign, shorthanded, at 3:54.

McGill tied the score at 16:06 when junior defenceman Kate Devries of Dollard des Ormeaux, Que., notched her first of the season and fifth career marker in 70 games overall, assisted by Valerie Audet and Rachel Santini.  It was only the second goal by a McGill rearguard this season, and the first since Dec. 1 when Emilia Cotter tallied against Concordia.

"We've had lots of solid games this season but I would say that we really rose to the occasion," said head coach Peter Smith, who improved his lofty record to 507-214-33 in 754 games overall behind the McGill bench. "To finish the regular season with an effort like that is really satisfying. Honestly, our last four or five games have been really solid. We still would like to score a few more goals but in terms of sticking with the plan and structure, the girls have done a great job with that... Both teams played a real solid game. They made us better and we made them better. That's the kind of game that I would like to see happen."

Tricia Deguire, a 5-foot-8 kinesiology junior from Sherbrooke, Que.,  turned aside 26 of 27 attempts en route to the victory, improving her record to 13-6 on the season and 55-35 in 94 career appearances overall.

"Confidence was our keyword before the game tonight," offered Smith. "We wrote a quote about confidence on the board: 'the action of confidence has to come before the feeling of confidence'. And I felt that we conducted ourselves in a confident manner, from the time the girls arrived at the rink to the moment the game was over."

Both teams went 0-for-2 on the power-play, although the Carabins did connect for their first shorthanded marker of the season. Montreal won three of five meetings from McGill this season but the cross-town rivals have both scored 11 goals against each other. The Martlets hold a 48-26 record in 74 lifetime confrontations against UdeM.

UPDATED: The playoff schedule has McGill opening on the road against the Stingers on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. McGill will host Game 2 on Saturday, at 2 p.m. and Game 3, if necessary, is slated for Concordia's Ed Meagher Arena on Sunday at 3 p.m.  The Martlets posted a 3-2 record against Concordia this season -- outscoring the Stingers 12-8 -- and own an 85-45-3 record in 133 meetings overall since 1997.

MARTLET MURMURS: Team captain Alison MacKenzie missed her second straight contest after suffering an undisclosed injury against Ottawa on Feb.9...Valerie Audet, who finished third among the league's rookie point-getters with a 6-4-10 record in 20 games, was one of six McGill skaters to not be penalized once. But she was one of only two penalty-free to suit up for all 20 games, along with sophomore Christiana Colizza.

SCORING SUMMARY


2018-19 RSEQ Women's Hockey Standings
 

Rank	RSEQ	GP	W	L	OTL	PTS	PCT	GF	GA	STK	P10	PIM
1	x-Montreal	19	14	4	1	29	0.763	54	33	0-1-1	7-2-1	144
2	x-McGill	20	14	6	0	28	0.700	51	29	3-0-0	6-4-0	110
3	x-Concordia	19	12	4	3	27	0.711	58	33	7-0-1	7-2-1	106
4	x-Ottawa	19	6	13	0	12	0.316	31	57	1-0-0	4-6-0	158
5	Carleton	19	2	13	4	8	0.211	29	71	0-6-3	1-6-3	186

x-qualified for post-season play

RSEQ GAMES LEFT TO PLAY:
Sat., Feb. 16: Montreal at Carleton, 5 pm
Sunday, Feb. 17: Ottawa at Concordia, 3 pm