MONTREAL -- The post-season has finally arrived in women's hockey and sixth-ranked McGill will confront the pesky Ottawa Gee-Gees in a best-of-three semifinal series, slated to open on Thursday (Feb. 20) at McConnell Arena, located at 3883 University Avenue, behind Percival Molson Stadium. Puck drop is 7 p.m.
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Game 2 is scheduled for a 2 p.m. Saturday matinee in the nation's capital. If a rubber match is needed, it will go on Sunday at 3 p.m. back in Montreal.
Only two points separated the teams in the RSEQ standings this season. McGill finished second in the five-team Quebec conference with an 11-5-4 record, while Ottawa was third at 11-7-2. Both teams posted a 7-2-1 record in their final 10 games but the Gee-Gees enter the playoffs on a 7-0-1 run, while McGill is on a two-game win streak.
The biggest difference between the two squads was on the defensive side of the ledger. The Martlets outscored their opponents 53-39, while Ottawa had a slight 51-50 edge in their games.
McGill ranked tops in the league for both power-play (22.7%) and penalty-killing (89.8%). Ottawa was ranked fourth (13.6%) and third (86.7%), respectively.
McGill owns a lifetime 102-24-7 record overall against the Gee-Gees, including a 56-7-4 mark at home, a 39-16-3 dossier on the road and a 7-1-0 mark on neutral sites. Both teams are 5-5-1 against each other in overtime.
The teams have crossed paths 10 times in the post-season, with McGill claiming nine series and a 17-6 record in games won. Eight of the 10 series were in the conference semifinals. McGill won their playoff round in 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Ottawa's only series victory was in 2004, a two-game sweep in the semifinals.
Looking at the head-to-head battle this season, the Gee-Gees were victorious in three of the five regular-season games between the two clubs, but McGill held a slight 15-14 edge in goals and a 160-147 advantage in shots. The Martlets were 3-for-17 (17.6%) on the power-play, while Ottawa was 3-for-23 (13.0%).
Three of the five meetings went into overtime. McGill prevailed in the first confrontation 3-2 in double OT at home but dropped the rematch 4-3 in overtime at Ottawa. The Martlets took the third matchup 3-0 at home, but dropped the next rendezvous 5-4, also at McConnell Arena. Ottawa then won the final battle 3-2 in double OT at the Minto Sports Complex.
