MONTREAL -- Guillaume Gauthier tallied twice, including the game-winner and Louis-Philip Guindon tied a career-high with 56 saves as seventh-ranked McGill edged Concordia 3-2 in an overtime thriller before a sold out Winter Carnival crowd of 1.029 at McConnell Arena, Friday.

"It was a huge win on our side," said McGill head coach Liam Heelis, who joked that that his heart was still pounding at a rapid pace after the game. "I don't think that we played our best game but our guys found a way to win and I really liked the ability for them to stick to it."

The Stingers outshot McGill 58-37, including 21-6 in the second period, but were no match for Guindon, the 6-foot-1 senior from St. Joseph du Lac, Que., who equaled his 56-save effort from earlier this season in a 4-2 road win at Ottawa on Oct. 25/19. The performance equaled the second-highest save total in school history and matched the most ever in a McGill victory.

"Guindon was outstanding, the sole one who gave us a chance to win tonight," noted Heelis. "He stopped some big chances against and gave us an opportunity to go on offence and put the game away. He had a stellar performance and we're really lucky to have a guy like that."

Guindon, who improved his OUA record to 10-4, ranks second among league leaders in save percentage (.942). He is tied for second in shutouts (2),  fourth in victories and fifth in goals-against average (2.25)

Christophe Lalonde gave McGill a 1-0 lead at 11:23 of the first period, assisted by defenceman Taylor Ford and centre Ryan Penny. But minutes later, Anthony Beauchamp tied it for the Stingers at 15:15.

There was no scoring in the second period and Gauthier put McGill ahead at just 34 seconds into the final period. Lalonde assisted on the play along with 21-year-old newcomer Dalton Gally, a 6-foot-5 defenceman from Eagle River, Alaska, who was making his collegiate debut after playing in the Western Hockey League, followed by a 14-game pro stint with Norfolk of the ECHL

However, just 35 seconds later, Concordia's Chase Harwell scored to force a seven-minute, 3-on-3 overtime session, which came to a sudden halt at 5:18 when Gauthier converted a pass from defenceman Nikolas Brouillard for his ninth goal of the regular season, which ties him for the team lead.

"Gauthier's a big game player and tonight being Carnival night, he stepped his game up," Heelis noted. "He scored on a greasy rebound and then scored a beautiful goal in overtime to put the game away. He was competing hard, forcing turnovers and when he's contributing like that, he's a huge addition to our lineup."

Also making his university debut was Concordia goaltender Kyle Jessiman, who played four seasons in the QMJHL and started the current campaign with the Flin Flon Bombers of the SJHL. He made 34 saves on 37 McGill shots and took the loss.

Both teams were scoreless on the power-play, with McGill going 0-for-4 and Concordia failing to connect on six tries. McGill, which has the second-best PK unit in the 20-team OUA, is operating at 90.5 per cent efficiency. Ottawa leads the pack at 92.5.

The Stingers (7-8-4) are back in action on Saturday, Jan. 11, when they host division-leading Carleton (17-3-1) in a 7:30 p.m. puck-drop.

"Not the result that we wanted tonight but what a great hockey game!" said Concordia head coach Marc-André Element on his personal Twitter account (@MAElement15). "U SPORTS hockey should always be a full house. Good job @Heeels and @McGillAthletics for a great game."

McGill, which improved to 11-6-1, remains fourth in the OUA East, five points behind third-place Ottawa (13-4-2), four points ahead of Ontario Tech (8-9-3) and five points in front of Concordia. McGill travels to Oshawa, Ont., on Sunday (Jan. 12) for a 3:30 p.m. matinee at Ontario Tech.

McGill is now 16-2 in their annual Carnival Game and 107-103-14 lifetime against the Stingers. They won the season series with Concordia, taking two of three confrontations but should the cross-town rivals finish fourth and fifth, they would go at it again in a first-round playoff meeting.

McGILL MURMURS: The school's single-game goalie record for most saves is 60 by Bruce Glencross in a 17-5 loss to Toronto on Dec. 11, 1964. Guindon is one of five different goalies in the McGill record book to reach the 50-save plateau in a game and the only one to do it twice. Others in that select group include Maurice Powers (55 in a 2-1 loss to Toronto, Feb. 4, 1928), Patrick Jeanson (53 in a 2-2 OT tie at York, Jan. 18, 1992) and Jamie Reeve (52 in an 8-3 loss vs RPI, Nov. 28, 1987)... McGill defenceman Dominic Talbot-Tassi broke the school record for most games played overall. He has now suited up in 188 career contests, eclipsing the mark of 187 set in 1987 by Paul Barber and matched in 2010 by Yan Turcotte... Talbot-Tassi owns a career dossier of 29-100-129 in 130 OUA games, one point shy of the school's regular season career record for defencemen held by Marc-André Dorion, who tallied a 23-107-130  total in 105 league games from 2008 to 2012.

SCORING SUMMARY

OUA STANDINGS & STATS

OUA SCOREBOARD
 

McGILL  HOCKEY WINTER CARNIVAL GAME ATTENDANCE
YEAR	RESULT	McG	OPP		OPPONENT	ATTENDANCE
2003	WON	6	0		Toronto	1,113
2004	WON	4	3		UQTR	1,103
2005	WON	3	0		Concordia	1,324
2006	WON	3	1		Concordia	1,415
2007	WON	7	2		Concordia	1,523
2008	WON	4	1		Concordia	890
2009	WON	4	1		UOIT	688
2010	WON	12	3		Concordia	1,080
2011	WON	5	4		Carleton	1,355
2012	WON	1	0	(OTS)	Carleton	1,039
2013	WON	4	2		UQTR	1,139
2014	WON	2	1		Queen's	1,471
2015	WON	2	0		Carleton	1,269
2016	WON	3	1		RMC	1,663
2017	Lost	1	2		Queen's	1,189
2018	WON	4	0	(ENG)	Carleton	1,012
2019	Lost	4	5	(OT)	Concordia	1,029
2020	WON	3	2	(OT)	Concordia	1,029
TOT	16-2-0	72	28		AVG.:  1,185	21,331