The Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team’s exhibition game against the visiting York Lions lived up—or down—to the definition of a tune-up.
Goals from Chett Binning, Hayden Hulton, and Mitch Porowski led Carleton to a 3-2 win on what was a relaxed, and at times sloppy, afternoon at the rink.
Despite peppering York goaltender Chris Perugini with 41 shots—many of which he bobbled—the Ravens only managed three goals on the evening against the unranked Lions, and had to rely on a third-period comeback to pick up the win.
“I thought our third period was our best,” Ravens head coach Marty Johnston said. “It was certainly an exhibition game —we were working hard but weren’t exactly sharp.”
Carleton opened the scoring just three minutes into the game, as Binning redirected a pass from Joey West over Perugini’s shoulder and into the net. At that point, it appeared as though everything would go according to plan on the evening, but York had other plans.
Lions forward Colton Vannucci tied things up less than a minute later, capitalizing on a poor Ravens turnover, and Ontario Hockey League veteran Trevor Petersen put the visitors in front later in the first period.
A pair of goals early in the third period from Hulton and Porowski were enough to lift the Ravens past York, but it was far from a cakewalk for Carleton.
Goaltender Francis Dupuis, who relieved starter Patrick Killeen halfway through the second period, was forced to make multiple tough saves down the stretch to preserve the win.
Carleton’s lineup was far from full strength for the game, as coach Johnston opted to sit multiple regulars.
Mitch Zion, Ryan Van Stralen, and Tim Billingsley were all out of the lineup for the Ravens, though Johnston said there were no health concerns.
“We just decided to give a couple of guys the night off, for some rest,” he said.
“We’re hoping they don’t show too much rust on Tuesday—they’ll all be in the lineup.”
Carleton lost a pair of crucial players in the second period. Leading scorer Michael McNamee left the game with an upper-body injury after being checked awkwardly into the boards, while defenceman Derek Brown left the game after taking a stick to the face.
Brown returned in time to pick up an assist on Hulton’s game-tying goal, but McNamee did not return.
The exhibition game also marked the Carleton debut of defenceman Justin Stevens. The 23-year-old joins the Ravens program after a pair of season playing NCAA hockey south of the border at Mercyhurst University.
Carleton will resume their 2014-15 regular season schedule on Jan. 6 in Kingston, where Marty Johnston’s team will face a stingy Queen’s Gaels squad.
“They play their systems real well, and they have an outstanding goaltender,” said Johnston, whose team beat the Gaels in the only previous meeting between the two clubs back on Nov. 7.
Carleton’s schedule does not get any easier this coming weekend, as they’ll travel to southern Ontario to face the resurgent Guelph Gryphons and high-flying Western Mustangs.
