TROIS-RIVIERES – It might not be the biggest come-from-behind victory in school history, but it was arguably one of the best. Keanu Yamamoto netted the overtime shootout winner as McGill rallied from an early three-goal deficit to escape with a 5-4 road victory over division-leading UQTR, ranked No.6 in the nation, Wednesday.

Trailing 4-2 with less than a minute to go in Le Colisee – known to some as "Death Valley" – McGill pulled the goalie for an extra attacker and lightning struck, twice, in the final 23 seconds. The first one came at 18:37 from rookie William Poirier of St. Zotique, Que., the second from Yamamoto, a 25-year-old economics senior who scored at 19:59 to force overtime.

It capped an impressive soiree for Yamamoto, a feisty, 5-foot-7, 166-pound centre from Spokane, Wash., who tallied twice and added an assist in regulation time. In the seven-minute, 4-on-4 overtime session, both teams had glorious chances. After the goalies appeared to extinguish the fires, the arsonist ignited another one, with Yamamoto potting the only marker in the six-man shootout.

"Keanu's a clutch performer and in the big moments of a game, he's usually there," said McGill head coach David Urquhart of his leading point-getter who has 12 points, including seven assists, in 12 OUA contests. "Tonight was one of those nights. He had it going. He makes players around him better and is a dangerous guy when he gets close to the net. It was great to see him really picking up the pace."

The McGill bench poured onto the ice to mob netminder Emanuel Vella, who came on in relief of starter Alexis Shank after the Patriotes had taken a 3-0 lead on eight shots before the game was 13 minutes old. Vella, a native of Toronto, turned aside 30 of 31 shots over the remainder of the contest, in addition to all three attempts in the shootout. It was the first win of the season for the 6-foot-4, 191-pound management junior and improved his career record to 5-6 in 12 regular season appearances since he joined the team in 2019.

"Vella was outstanding and he's been working really hard," said Urquhart. "Since coming back from the long break... he's been waiting for an opportunity to get in there. He's well-liked by the guys in the room and they have faith in him. All that extra work paid off. He came into the game (cold), made some big saves and gave us life which allowed us some time to get back into it. He was huge in the overtime and shootout."

Scoring first period goals for the Pats was Vincent Milot-Ouellet at 2:49, defenceman Felix Boivin on the power-play at 11:46 and Maxime Chagnon at 12:20. But after the McGill goalie change, it took just two minutes and 27 seconds before Yamamoto put the Redbirds on the board. Only 79 seconds later, McGill narrowed the gap to 3-2 when rookie Olivier Mathieu of Drummondville, Que., connected on the power-play for his second goal of the season. McGill dominated the middle stanza and the third period was even until Jordan Martel gave the Pats a two-goal cushion at 13:48.

Then the roof collapsed in Death Valley.

"That one feels good," admitted a relieved Urquhart, whose troops have won three of their last four games after a horrendous 1-7 start to the season. "We've shown that ability to bounce back all year but we keep putting ourselves in that position. We've got to start on time. But the story tonight was the character of the guys to dig deep and play right until the last second, literally. It showed that the guys in the room have character and are playing together and for each other... To have a win like that in this arena is extra special."

Goaltender Alexis Gravel saved 29 of 33 shots and took the loss for UQTR as his record fell to 4-2. McGill was 1-for-2 on the power-play, compared to UQTR, which was 1-for-5. The Patriotes had a 39-34 edge in shots.

UQTR sits atop the OUA Far East with a 6-2-2 record, just one point ahead of both Concordia (6-3-1) and Ottawa (6-5-1).

Fifth-place McGill improved to 4-8-0 and are within two points of fourth-place Carleton (4-2-2). The Redbirds now face a pair of key back-to-back games against the Ravens, beginning on Friday (Feb. 25) when Carleton visits the city in a 7 p.m. start. Tickets are available online only and seating capacity is currently capped at 50 per cent at McConnell Arena, which seats about 950 in normal conditions.

REDBIRDS RAP: This marked the seventh time in team history that McGill has erased a deficit of three goals or more and went on to win or tie... The largest spread occurred more than a century ago, when McGill overcame a lopsided 10-3 score midway through the game and rebounded for a 12-10 overtime victory against Toronto on Jan. 19, 1912... The next best come-from-behind affair was erasing a pair of 6-2 deficits: On Oct. 28, 1984, McGill was trailing by four in the third period of an 8-6 victory at Chicoutimi (UQAC) and on Feb. 14, 2014, McGill erased another four-goal deficit in the third-period, to defeat Nipissing 7-6 in overtime... Other victorious three-goal comebacks included wiping away a 4-1 first period disadvantage to double Sir George Williams University 8-4 on Feb. 7, 1975,  overcoming a 4-1 second period deficit to defeat WLU 5-4 on Jan. 20, 1990 and neutralizing a 5-2 margin in the third-period to settle for a 5-5 overtime draw against UQTR on Nov. 30, 1996.

SCORING SUMMARY

OUA STATS & STANDINGS

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