The number three ranked Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team headed to McGill University to face the second ranked Redmen for Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East semifinal action.
During the regular season, the teams faced off on two separate occasions, both of which were played on Carleton home ice.
Carleton suffered a home-opener loss 5-4. The second match-up occurred mid-season when Carleton redeemed themselves, walking away with a 6-3 win.
The first goal of the night came from Raven Mitch Zion, who was ready in front of the net with a pass from Sean Bamford. The tension rose on the ice, as the Ravens were the first to get on the board.
The last play of the first period sent two McGill players to the box, giving the Ravens a two-man advantage to start the second.
Carleton took full advantage of their extra players, with Brett Welychka finding Mike McNamee, who fired the puck past Redmen goalie Jacob Gervais-Chouinard under a minute into the second period.
Ryan Van Stralen added an unassisted goal on the power play as the Ravens pulled away from the Redmen, who were still unable to put one past Ravens goalie Francis Dupuis.
“Our power play is starting to click near the end of the year, and obviously to get a big one, five on three, we have to make the most of those chances, and we did,” McNamee said.
Carleton entered the third period with a 3-0 lead.
McGill’s first goal came halfway through the third period. As the momentum built up, the Carleton Ravens still had two points over the Redmen.
The Ravens lead 3-1 with 9:43 left in the final period.
As intensity picked up, the Ravens found themselves playing a lot more in their own end. Dupuis made a few difficult saves, but with lots of traffic in front of the net, McGill was able to fire one past him to make it a one-point game with two minutes left on the clock.
Trying to get that extra goal, the Redmen pulled Gervais-Chouinard, but despite winning the face-off, Carleton’s Corey Durocher gained control of the puck, and fired it down the ice to get an empty net goal.
“There were some tight moments at the end of the game,” said Ravens head coach Marty Johnston. “But the guys found a way and that’s what you need to do in the playoffs.”
Captain Joey West sealed game one for Carleton with another empty net goal making the score 5-2 for Carleton.
Despite the road win Johnston said they still have a long way to go to advance onto round three of playoffs.
“Big win obviously, in a three game series I think that getting that first one is huge,” he said. “But we also know that we haven’t done anything yet and we’re going to have to have a big effort on Saturday to compete with these guys.”
The Ravens finished the regular season with an impressive record for penalty kills, and that was not any different for the game against McGill. They were four-for-five. Johnston said the team’s penalty kill was a crucial contribution to their win.
McNamee said he agreed the penalty kill was a key factor of the team’s success.
“I think our penalty kill is one of the top in the nation. It keeps us pushing, especially with our penalty troubles this year,” he said.
McNamee also said his team really stepped it up for the bigger stage.
“[There is] a lot of team work—guys are getting better at communication, realizing it’s playoffs, you see the young guys, the first-year guys, doing what they have to do and it brings us together more as a team. It’s good to see, it’s fun, and it’s awesome to get a win,” McNamee said.
The Ravens will host game two of the OUA East semifinals on Feb. 27 in the Ice House at 7 p.m.
