The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team continued their perfect streak at home Nov. 7, defeating the University of Toronto Varsity Blues 4-2 at the Ice House.
The win was the Ravens’ second in as many days, as they dropped the RMC Paladins 5-1 the previous night.
U of T opened the scoring 12 minutes into the first period, but the Ravens battled back with two goals in the first six minutes of the second frame, including a shorthanded marker by captain Brad Good.
The Varsity Blues responded less than a minute later, notching a power play tally to even up the score line. The lead wouldn’t last, however, as two third-period goals sealed the victory for Carleton.
Ravens head coach Marty Johnston said he wasn’t impressed with his team’s play, but he was still happy with the result.
“I thought it wasn’t our best game, but we found a way to win,” Johnston said. “It was a real chippy, clearly disjointed game, but good teams find ways to win, and we came through in the third.”
One stat that overshadowed the final score was the amount of penalties racked up by both teams. Referees handed out 70 minutes of penalties Nov. 7, resulting in eight power play chances for both teams, although both teams only managed to score once with the man-advantage.
“I think we need more traffic on the power play,” Johnston said. “I think at times we had the puck at the top, and if we shot the goalie saw it clean.”
“We have to get our nose dirty, and get back to greasy goals,” he added.
Arguably the best Raven on the ice against the Varsity Blues was third-year forward Brandon MacLean, who scored an acrobatic insurance goal from midair late in the third period.
“I was just trying to get out of the way of [Jordie] Deagle’s shot, and he got me right in the keister,” MacLean said. “It just happened to fall right beside me.”
“I saw the goalie had gone down, and I tried to slide it in,” he said. “I didn’t really even see it go in, but we’ll take it.”
Although U of T was able to put two goals past Ravens netminder Matthew Dopud, the Ravens outshot them by a 38-11 margin.
Still, Johnston said he sees room for improvement.
“We played really well at times, but we also gave up some glorious chances,” Johnston said. “I’d rather give up 30 shots from the outside then have them miss open nets.”
Despite the chippy win, MacLean said he was proud of the way his team played.
“We’ve had some slow starts this year, but we seem to get better as the game goes on,” MacLean said. “It’s a sign of a good team.”
The forward added that the team’s attitude towards hard work is paying off.
“We always say in the dressing room, good teams should win third periods, and I think we came out and did that tonight,” MacLean said. “We keep going like this and good things will happen, but it all stems from the work ethic.”
After the two home wins, the Ravens are 5-0 in the Ice House, and have points in their last eight games. Carleton’s record now stands at 7-1-2, just two points behind the OUA East leaders McGill Redmen.