MONTREAL -- Melodie Daoust was the heart and Olivia Atkinson the soul as seventh-ranked McGill scored a last-minute winner to edge No.4 Montreal 2-1 in an RSEQ women's hockey thriller at McConnell Arena on Sunday.

The win moved McGill (4-2) past the Carabins (4-4) and into first-place in the five-team RSEQ conference. Both teams are tied with eight points but McGill has two games in hand and have swept both meetings in the five-game regular season series against their archrival Carabins, after skating to a surprising 5-1 victory in the season-opener at UdeM. McGill is now 40-18 in 58 lifetime meetings versus Montreal.

"It was a good back-and-forth game, with numerous changes of momentum, good goaltending on both sides," said McGill head coach Peter Smith. "I didn't like our game in the second half of the middle period, where the Carabins gave a good push and we lost some battles. But overall, it was a grind-it-out kind of game and that's exactly what we did and obviously, we got a very opportune goal with 28 seconds to go."

After a scoreless first period, Melodie Daoust, the team captain from Valleyfield, Que., played a major role in both McGill goals. She put the Martlets on the board with a partial breakaway that resulted in her-jamming the puck through the five-hole, while being tripped by a defender at 5:43 of the second. The play was assisted by rookie linemate Lauren Bowman of Calgary, Alta.

Estelle Duvin, a native of France, tied it up for the visitors with 3:28 to go in the middle frame, set up by fellow French national Emmanuelle Passard and Montrealer Rika Pilon-Robert.

The match appeared destined for overtime when, in the last minute of play, Daoust carried the puck into the Carabins' zone and dropped it to Atkinson. The psychology and economics sophomore from Oakville, Ont., corralled the puck at the top of the left faceoff circle, then fired a high knuckleball-type of shot which eluded some traffic and goaltender Marie-Pier Chabot to find the top corner of the Carabins net at 19:32 to secure the win.

"Atkinson mentioned to me afterwards that 'I always remember you telling me to change the angle of the shot' and that's exactly what she did there," said Smith. "She pulled the puck in a little bit and moved it about 10 inches and shot the puck through their D and I don't think their goalie saw it."

"She's a perfect example of how our program works," said Smith of his 19-year-old forward, who has a 3-3-6 record in six games this season after collecting only eight points in 19 contests during her freshman campaign. "It usually takes about a year to figure things out (adjusting to university life with a varsity component). She worked hard on her fitness in the off-season and came back with much more confidence, knowing how it all works and it has paid off so much for her. She's fit, fast and confident and is really doing a good job for us."

Daoust, who leads the Martlets in scoring with a 3-4-7 record in four contests, has either scored or assisted on 43.8 per cent of McGill's 16 goals scored this season.

"The girls gave her our Golden Helmet Award at the end of the game," confided Smith. "Every shift that girl goes out there and just gets it done. She's a real inspiration to her teammates."

Chabot was beaten twice on 24 McGill shots as her record dropped to 3-4. Martlets netminder Tricia Deguire of Sherbrooke, Que., saved 27 of 28 shots for the victory and improved her record to 4-2. Deguire, a 5-foot-7 rookie, now leads the conference's goalies in the holy trinity of stats -- wins, goals-against average (2.01) and save percentage (.933).

The Martlets killed off all three shorthanded situations but couldn't capitalize on either of their two power play opportunities.

Carabins rookie Logane Rhéaume left the game with an injury at 18:41 of the second period.

McGill (4-2-0) next visits Concordia (2-4-0) on Saturday, Nov. 19. Montreal (4-4-0) hosts Carleton (2-3-0) on Nov. 18.

MARTLET MURMURS: McGill's PP is ranked third in the RSEQ at 20.8 per cent... The PK unit is tied for third with Ottawa at 75.0 per cent. The team celebrated the win with a lively post-game "Skate with the Martlets" that involved friends, family and players from a local minor hockey program.

LINK TO COMPLETE BOXSCORE

SCORING SUMMARY
Montreal 1 at McGill 2
(Sunday, November 13, 2016 - McConnell Arena @ McGill)

GOALS BY PERIOD:
Montreal 0-1-0 -- 1
McGill 0-1-1 -- 2

1st Period-
No Scoring.
 
Penalties-Mercier Mtl (hooking), 4:36; Davies Mcg (interference), 7:16.

2nd Period-
1, McGill, Melodie Daoust 3 (Bowman), 5:43.
2, Montreal, Estelle Duvin 2 (Passard, Pilon-Robert), 16:32.
 
Penalties-Poirier Mtl (interference), 5:50; Santini Mcg (hooking), 9:31.

3rd Period-
3, McGill, Olivia Atkinson 3 (Daoust), 19:32.
 
Penalties-Howlett Mcg (bodychecking), 2:44.

Shots on Goal-
Montreal 14-7-7 -- 28.
McGill 10-6-8 -- 24.

Power Play Opportunities-
Montreal 0 / 3;
McGill 0 / 2.

Goalies-
Montreal, Marie-Pier Chabot (L, 3-4-0, 24 shots-22 saves; 59:32).
McGill, Tricia Deguire (W, 4-2-0, 28 shots-27 saves; 60:00).

Attendance: 132
Start: 3:03 PM
End: 5:02 PM
Length: 1:59

Referees-Melanie Bordeleaux.
Linesmen-Andrea Parenteau, Marie-Claude Belisle.
 
THREE STARS:
1. MCG - 2 Olivia Atkinson
2. MCG - 17 Melodie Daoust
3. MCG - 33 Tricia Deguire