The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team took on the Windsor Lancers for a pair of games at the Ice House on Nov. 11-12. The Ravens fell to the Lancers by a score of 4-2, then bounced back the following night with a 5-1 win.
“As much as we’re disappointed with the loss, I thought our speed was back,” Ravens head coach Marty Johnston said following the first game. “I thought we played with the right kind of energy, but certainly didn’t capitalize on our chances early . . . and they were opportunistic on their opportunities.”
The Lancers opened the scoring late in the first period when Windsor forward Blake Blondeel took a pass from defenseman Todd Ratchford in the corner, and fired a shot past Ravens goaltender François Brassard.
Blondeel extended Windsor’s lead 93 seconds into the second period when he took a pass from forward Dylan Seguin and scored his second of the night.
The Lancers then scored on their fifth power play opportunity of the night when forward Dylan Denomme took a pass from Kyle Hope behind the net and managed to beat Brassard.
Despite trailing the Lancers by three goals, Carleton was outshooting Windsor 21-17 after two periods.
The Lancers extended their lead when forward Sebastian Beauregard took a pass from Denomme, and scored his fourth goal of the season.
Ravens captain Michael McNamee foiled Windsor goaltender Kris Joyce’s shutout when he scored a goal with two minutes to go in regulation.
Carleton forward Alexandre Boivin scored on the power play with nearly 30 seconds remaining on the clock to cut the lead to two, though the Ravens were ultimately unable to complete a comeback.
“We certainly dictated the game in the third, and I think if we had that kind of urgency early, that might have been better,” Johnston said.
In their rematch against Windsor the following night, the Ravens found themselves trailing again when Denomme scored his second goal of the weekend midway through the opening period.
“We’re looking for consistency, and I think it’s easier to be better on the second night if you lose on the first,” Johnston said. “And we felt the guys committed defensively fairly well.”
After the power play only scored one goal on eight opportunities the previous night, the Ravens found success the in the second game.
Ravens forward Adam Chapman and McNamee both scored on the power play late in the first period to give Carleton the lead after 20 minutes.
Following a scoreless second period, Ravens forward Ryan Van Stralen received a pass from Brett Welychka and sent a shot past Lancers goaltender Blake Richard to extend the lead.
Ravens forward Brent Norris scored his fourth of the season midway through the period, while Sean Bamford scored the third power play goal of the night to wrap up the scoring for the Ravens.
“I really felt like our leaders played the right way tonight, they were strong on pucks and that was the driving force behind us.” Johnston said.
