After falling behind early in the game, the Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team came out with a 2-1 shootout win against their crosstown rivals Oct. 21.
Ravens forward Joe Pleckaitis scored in regulation and was the only scorer in the shootout against the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees, leading the Ravens to their third straight win and their first away from home.
But the opening period got off to a disastrous start for the Ravens, after a giveaway in front of the net allowed Gee-Gees forward Stephen Blunden to slot the puck into an open net just 1:15 into the game.
The Gee-Gees continued their momentum with a huge hit by defenceman Jon Carnevale, which resulted in a retaliation penalty against the Ravens.
A big glove save from Ravens netminder Mathew Dopud on the ensuing powerplay kept the Gee-Gees at bay. Carleton did put on some pressure later in the period on some powerplay opportunities of their own, but quality chances were few and far between.
Meanwhile, Dopud continued to stand tall, robbing Maxime Chamberland with his left pad in the last minute of the period.
Ravens head coach Marty Johnston said his team picked up the pace after a lacklustre first period.
“We started off slow but had a better effort in the second and third periods,” he said.
The Ravens moved the puck around well and generated more prime scoring chances in the middle frame. They finally equalized late in the period on a two-man advantage, when Pleckaitis tied the game.
The goal seemed to inject some life into the Ravens’ play and seconds later, they nearly took the lead, but Gee-Gees goaltender Russel Abbott ensured the Ravens couldn’t snap the deadlock.
Craig Moore almost scored a late winner for the Gee-Gees when he received a lead pass but Dopud came up with a big pad save to send the game into overtime.
“Matt Dopud played a great game for us and made a couple of key saves down the stretch,” Johnston said.
In overtime, it was again Dopud who came up with two logic-defying saves to keep his team in the game. First, he denied Maxime Chamberland with his right pad, and then he shut the door on Moore with a diving blocker save, as the game went to a shootout.
Two Gee-Gees shots hit the post in the shootout and Dopud successfully denied the team’s third attempt. The Ravens, meanwhile, failed to score until their third shooter, when Pleckaitis skated in and coolly shelved a snapshot over Abbott’s right shoulder. The winning goal sent the Ravens faithful, who had been exceptionally vocal the whole night, into celebration.
Despite the win, Johnston singled out the need for better special teams from his side.
“We need to continue to work on our powerplay,” he said. “Special teams are usually the deciding factor in close games.”
The team travelled to Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. the following night for an exhibition game against the Big Red, but lost 5-1.
