Box Score
MONTREAL – Jade Downie-Landry, who leads the U SPORTS national scoring race, shook off some first period rust and continued her torrid pace, with a pair of third period goals, just 25 seconds apart as the No. 6 ranked McGill University women's hockey team blanked visiting Carleton 3-0 at McConnell Arena, Friday.

It had been 75 days since the Martlets last took to the ice for a game, a long time to do a slow burn since dropping a 4-3 setback to Concordia on Dec. 5, 2021. But the win over Carleton was just the tonic needed to begin a new win streak as McGill improved its RSEQ-leading record to 10-3-0 with two contests remaining in a truncated season, cut short five games by the coronavirus pandemic.

"It's good to be back, we were pumped. We had to work some of the rust off after the long break but showed improvement each period," said Martlets head coach Alyssa Cecere.  "We wanted to get back to good game habits and worked hard for that. That focus is going to help us move forward, especially in our D-zone as we look to get back into the form that we had in the fall semester."

McGill's victory officially clinched a playoff berth for the team and froze fifth-place Carleton out the playoffs. The Ravens dropped to 4-9-0 and sit perched six points behind fourth-place Ottawa with only two left to play. The result marked the sixth straight win for McGill over Carleton and improved their all-time head-to-head record to 105-5-1, including a 54-2-0 mark on home ice.

It took McGill 26 minutes and 44 seconds to shake off the cobwebs as freshman defenceman Jamie Kastelic of Burlington, Ont., scored what proved to be the game-winner – her first career goal in 19 games overall – converting a nifty three-way pass on the power-play with Katie Rankin and Makenzie McCallum.

And that's the way it stood until that magic moment when Downie-Landry struck twice midway through the final stanza. The 5-foot-9 centre from St. Jean, Que., tallied a power-play marker at 8:02 – assisted by Stephanie Desjardins and defenceman Elizabeth Mura – followed by an unassisted goal at 8:27. Downie-Landry ranks first in the nation in points, second in goals and fourth in assists, with an 11-13-24 record in 13 league games. She is on the verge of becoming the seventh player in team history to reach the 200-point plateau. She has 87 career goals and 196 points in 156 McGill contests overall.

"She played really well, stepped up her game," Cecere said of her veteran team captain, who returned for a physical education degree after graduating with a bachelor of arts degree in 2020. "Jade managed the puck well and held on to it when she needed to but also dished it off to her teammates when (the opportunity presented itself). Kudos to her. She's been working hard and led by example today."

The Martlets played kitty-bar-the-door after that and limited Carleton to just one shot in the third period, in the last minute of play.

McGill finished with a 29-14 margin in shots, including an 11-1 edge in the final stanza, as goaltender Tricia Deguire of Sherbrooke, Que., collected her second shutout of the regular season and 29th goose-egg overall in a McGill jersey. She now owns an 87-52-1 record in 145 career contests at the university level since joining the Martlets in 2016.

McGill went 2-for-3 on the power-play and erased all three shorthanded situations.

The Martlets will play their penultimate league game on Wednesday (Feb. 23) when they travel to the nation's capital to confront the Gee-Gees (7-6-0). A win would clinch the regular season pennant for McGill, if Concordia (8-3-1) loses to Montreal (6-4-2) on Saturday.

SCORING SUMMARY

RSEQ STANDINGS & STATS


SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
TEL: 514-398-7012
EMAIL: earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca