Breaking their four-game winning streak, the Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team lost 6-2 to the Queen’s Gaels at the Ice House on Saturday.
After taking a 2-1 lead early in the second period, the Ravens gave up five unanswered goals the rest of the way.
“It’s kind of just a bump in the road, but we’re looking to move past it,” Ravens forward Alex Johnston said after the game. “We need to play a tougher game … if we want to make the playoffs.”
The Ravens headed into the game with their heads high following a victory against the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks the night before.
“We’ve been really confident in our game,” Johnston said, reflecting on the team’s win streak.
As the puck dropped in the first period, the Ravens brought their all onto the ice, with Johnston quickly scoring the first goal of the game just 30 seconds in.
There’s “nothing like scoring on your first shift,” he said.
“We were the dominant team,” Ravens head coach Mark Cavallin said of the first half of the game. “We were playing exactly how we wanted to in the first period.”
Carleton ran into penalty trouble early, a theme that would continue throughout the game.
“All those penalties got us out of our rhythm,” Cavallin said.
Queen’s Colin Holmes tied the game 1-1 on the power play six minutes into the first period.
The teams were knotted heading into the intermission, though the Gaels held a 12-7 edge in shots on goal in a hard-fought opening frame.
Just three minutes into the second period, the Ravens successfully restored their lead, with Majid Kaddoura sniping in his third goal of the season to put the Ravens up 2-1.
But the lead didn’t last long, as the Gaels tied up the game once again only three minutes later, as Ante Zlomislic got the puck behind Ravens goalie Dylan Meilun.
“The game was totally ours … And then it flipped,” Cavallin said, as the Ravens began to lose their rhythm — with Zlomislic scoring again minutes later to bring the Gaels into the lead for the first time that evening.
Carleton took five penalties in the second, including two double minors.
“Guys that are killing the penalties are exhausted, and the guys that haven’t been killing the penalties are flat,” Cavallin said.
Heading into the third period down 3-2, the Ravens failed to build back momentum, as Holmes and Zlomislic both scored again for the Gaels early in the period to make it 5-2.
“Everyone gave it everything they had,” Cavallin said.
With five minutes remaining in the game, the Gaels extended their lead to 6-2 with Samuel Marburg finding the Ravens’ empty net.
As the Ravens look ahead to their next game on Friday against the UQTR Patriotes, they hope to be “a team that is going to be fighting all the way,” Cavallin said.
Puck drop is 7 p.m in Trois-Rivières.
Featured photo by Nathan Cox/the Charlatan
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