In a weekend that drew many parallels to weekends prior, the Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team once again split their games, this time with the UQTR Patriotes.
The team closed out 2021 with a 4-3-1 record.
Thursday: Grametbauer guides Ravens to 2-1 win
Carleton walked away with a win Thursday night at the Ice House, not with an explosive offense but with a brick wall at goalie in Mark Grametbauer. He posted 38 saves for the win.
For the most part, Carleton played a responsible defensive game, something true of their previous wins. In those games, the Ravens outscored their opponents 13-4. It just so happens that all those games were the first games of the weekend. In their second games, all of which they’ve lost, the Ravens have been outscored 23-14.
In the first period, the Ravens carried the play early on and drew first blood with a redirect from forward Oliver Castleman off defenceman Simon Kerr’s point shot. Castleman is now tied for the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) points lead, while Kerr is tied for the points lead amongst defenseman.
Just one minute later, a pass from centre Brogan O’Brien sprung winger Parker Aucoin for a breakaway, where he slid the puck through the legs of the Patriotes’ Tristan Côté-Cazenave to double the lead.
That was all the offence Carleton mustered, but thanks to Grametbauer’s phenomenal performance, it was enough to bury UQTR.
UQTR threw everything they had at Grametbauer, outshooting Carleton through the final 40 minutes 27-9, but came up empty-handed.
For Grametbauer, however, the shot disparity doesn’t tell the whole story.
“I think [we] were incredible tonight,” Grametbauer said.“We were great on faceoffs, our D-men were blocking an unbelievable amount of shots, and as a goalie, we always respect that and we need that. I think as a team we played incredible today.”
Carleton also had to contend with some penalty trouble, notably a successful five-on-three kill in the second period.
“We did a great job of staying composed and trying to eliminate penalties as much as we could,” Grametbauer said.
While Grametbauer was robbed of a shutout by forward Julien Tessier with a little over three minutes left to play, he’s just happy to get the win.
“During the game, it’s not something you focus on too much,” Grametbauer said. “Right now, it sucks a little bit. It’s always nice to have a shutout, but at the end of the day, two points is two points.”
Saturday: Ravens fall behind early, lose 5-2
Grametbauer had high hopes for Saturday night’s game in Trois-Rivières, Que.
“Saturday’s game is going to be extremely important, so it’s good to tire them out,” Grametbauer said Thursday. “Having that momentum going into their home barn is huge. Having a little bit more confidence is going to help us a lot.”
Unfortunately for the Ravens, the Patriotes were bursting with energy when the puck dropped Saturday night.
Any semblance of momentum vanished for the Ravens when Patriotes’ forward Simon Lafrance ripped a shot past Ravens’ goaltender Cole McLaren less than five minutes into the contest.
Carleton followed this up with a parade to the penalty box, taking five consecutive penalties in an eight-minute stretch and sending the Ravens to the top of the OUA leaderboards in penalty minutes.
Carleton eventually escaped the first period, but only to be put down 2-0 in the opening minute of the second period by Patriotes forward William Leblanc’s power play marker. Matters worsened when Tessier tapped in a loose puck 54 seconds later.
To the Ravens’ credit, they didn’t roll over after going down 3-0. They scratched and clawed their way back into the game, scoring a pair of late second period goals from captain Cody Caron and O’Brien, cutting the deficit to one.
It wouldn’t be enough though, as the Patriotes picked up two quick goals by Leblanc and forward Félix Sabourin-Lauzon, spaced just 24 seconds apart in the third period, dashing the Ravens’ hopes of a comeback.
This matchup marked the first game of the season where the Ravens failed to lead at any point in the contest.
Despite the inconsistencies through the first eight games of the season, Grametbauer made it clear what the ultimate goal is for this Ravens team.
“We’re not going anywhere,” Grametbauer said. “We’re gonna be right here the whole way. We’re gonna try and make it to the nationals.”
The quest will resume at the Ice House on Jan. 13, when the Ravens take on the Concordia Stingers.
Featured image provided by Simon Lahaye/UQTR.
