The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team advanced to round three of the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) playoffs with a 3-2 overtime victory over the McGill Redmen on Saturday night at the Ice House in front of 535 fans.
“It’s really tough to put into words really—four or five years in the making, we haven’t beaten McGill. I can’t describe the emotions right now, but we feel great,” said overtime hero Mitch Zion.
The series win broke a streak of Ravens playoffs that were ended at the hands of the Redmen. McGill had won all three of their previous playoff match-ups, dating back to the 2007-08 season.
Carleton started the game strong in the first period. They outshot McGill 16-6, although neither team had anything to show for it on the scoreboard.
Momentum swung to the Redmen’s side during the start of the second period. They peppered Ravens goaltender Francis Dupuis with plenty of shots, while the Ravens were unable to get a shot on goal until eight minutes into the period.
“Obviously in playoffs we’re going to need those big saves, and I was just happy that I was able to make those saves for them,” said Dupuis after the game.
With just over two minutes left in the second period, Ryan Van Stralen tucked a wraparound past McGill goaltender Jacob Gervais-Chouinard. Brett Welychka kept the puck in along the half wall and centre Michael McNamee shoveled it towards the net, allowing Van Stralen to put it in the back of the net.
Midway through the third period, Van Stralen scored once more, this time off a cross-ice feed from McNamee on the power play.
McGill found themselves on the board with a power play goal of their own three minutes later. The Redmen would then tie the game less than two minutes after that.
The Ravens had an opportunity to regain the lead with just over a minute left in regulation. McGill defender Francis Lambert-Lemay was assessed a delay of game penalty for intentionally knocking the net off its moorings, and Carleton was awarded a penalty shot.
Ravens forward Brett Norris took the shot for the Ravens but Gervais-Chouinard was able to stop the puck and force overtime.
“We tried to tell the guys to stick to the system and that we’ve been through it before,” said Ravens head coach Marty Johnston of his message to the players at the conclusion of regulation play. “We told them not to let the emotional side take over and for each guy to do their job and have the guys pull together.”
The Ravens started overtime on the penalty kill after Van Stralen took a late penalty in regulation, but they managed to kill it off. Six minutes into the extra frame, Ravens forward Mitch Zion came streaking down the right wing and sniped a shot over the right shoulder of Gervais-Chouinard to give the Ravens a 3-2 victory and push them through to the third round of the OUA playoffs.
“Yeah, I mean it’s huge,” Johnston said. “Real happy that a fifth-year guy got the goal.”
After the game, the Ravens were already looking ahead to their next opponent, the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) Patriotes. The Patriotes have eliminated the Ravens from the OUA playoffs in four of the past five seasons.
“I think we’re expecting a battle and war, more of the same of what we had with McGill,” Zion said. “Talk about history with McGill—there’s just as much with UQTR, so it’s going to be just as much of a battle.”
The Ravens lost to Trois-Rivières on Mar. 2 by a score of 4-1. They will look to even the series on Mar. 5 at the Ice House.
