MONTREAL -- Kellyane Lecours of Victoriaville, Que., scored the winner on a power-play in double-overtime as seventh-ranked McGill rallied from a two-goal deficit to squeak past the No. 3 Montreal Carabins 3-2 in RSEQ women's hockey at Arena CEPSUM, Friday.
 
The result marked McGill's second win in three meetings with Montreal this season and ended the Carabins modest win streak at three. The Martlets improved to 5-3-3 on the season and moved them into striking distance, just one point behind Montreal (6-3-2). McGill's lifetime record against UdeM is now 50-30 in 80 games overall.
 
"I think we showed a lot of character," said McGill head coach Peter Smith, whose troops trailed 2-0 after the opening stanza. "We came out flat in the first period, which really surprised me because we had a great week of practice. But we never really deviated from the game-plan and turned it up a notch after the first period."
 
Outshot 13-9 in the first period, McGill rebounded with a 9-2 shots advantage in the second and finished with a 33-26 edge in the final shot count.

Carabins forward Raphaelle Pouliot opened the scoring at 4:30 of the game. Teammate Noemie Chiasson netted another one just 101 seconds later, giving Montreal a 2-0 lead into the intermission.
 
Jade Downie-Landry, a psychology senior from St. Jean, Que., replied  for the Martlets with a shorthanded goal just 33 seconds into the middle period. Linemate Lea Dumais from Beaconsfield, Que., potted one at 12:54 of the second to tie the game at 2-2, setting the stage for the two five-minute overtime sessions.
 
"Jade and Lea were playing on separate lines for a bit, but we put the line back together and clearly they had a lot going, with each of them getting a goal," noted Smith.
 
On the overtime winner -- a 5-on-3 power-play scenario that occurred after back-to-back delay of game penalties to the Carabins -- Lecours slammed home a rebound at 0:43 of the second five-minute period. Downie-Landry and Kate Devries both took close-in shots on the play and drew assists, For Lecours, a 23-year-old elementary education junior, it was just her third in 10 league games this season after scoring 10 times in 15 contests last year. She now has a 38-29-67 record in 79 career appearances.
 
"Kellyane had a very challenging academic course-load in the first semester and I think that it affected her play. But she trained hard over the holiday break and is ready to go. She looked really good out there," remarked Smith. 
 
Tricia Deguire, from Sherbrooke, Que., saved 24 of 26 shots for McGill and improved her record to 5-5 in the regular season. She leads the conference's goalies in minutes played (628), shutouts (2), goals-against average (1.53) and save percentage (.944).
 
Carabins third-year netminder Maude Trevisan blocked 30 of 33 shots and was credited with the loss as her record tumbled to 1-3.
 
McGill went 1-for-5 with an extra attacker and was flawless on all five penalty kills. The Martlets now lead the league in both categories with a power-play success rate of 16.7 per cent and a PK efficiency of 90.9.
 
The Martlets (5-3-3) have less than 24 hours to prepare for their next game. They return to the ice on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the nation's capital against fifth-place Carleton (3-6-2), which upset Ottawa 2-0 on Thursday night.. The Ravens have split their first two meetings with McGill, which took the first confrontation 2-0 on the road (Oct. 26). But the Martlets then faltered with a 4-3 home loss on Nov. 10.
 
SCORING SUMMARY

RSEQ STANDINGS & STATS