Despite their guaranteed playoff berth, the Carleton Ravens men’s hockey team continued to perform, powering to a 5-2 win against the Concordia University Stingers on Jan. 25.
The Ravens were flying on Saturday night, with much of their success stemming from odd-man rushes and fast breaks.
“I’m happy for the win,” Ravens head coach Shaun Van Allen said after the game.
“I didn’t like how the game finished by us, but other than that, it was a good one.”
From the first whistle, the Ravens applied the tireless speed that would stifle the Stingers all night long. Eleven seconds into the game, the Ravens registered their first shot attempt which rang off the crossbar and over the glass.
More Carleton attacks ensued, but fifth-place Concordia impressively countered them and actually capitalized first.
Exploiting a clumsy Carleton change, Concordia forward Alexander Katerinakis received a pass alone at the Ravens’ blueline, entered the zone unchallenged, and launched a laser off the right post and in for the 1-0 lead.
The Ravens did not let their mistake go unredeemed for long. Less than two minutes later, the game was equalized 1-1.
The first period ended 1-1, and the outset of the second period showcased the Ravens’ dominant speed.
In the first three minutes, the Ravens enjoyed three two-on-ones but failed to score. Minutes later though, Brogan O’Brien fired a cross-ice pass from the left wall to forward Parker AuCoin, who feigned receiving the puck, but tipped it off for Matthew Forchuk to send a shot sailing high glove-side for the 2-1 lead.
Concordia responded through Stingers’ captain Philippe Sanche, who beamed a shot off Justin Nichols’ shoulder and behind his line of sight, Sanche burying his own rebound and tying the game 2-2.
The game-winning goal followed a dazzling effort by Carleton’s leading scorer Cody Caron.
Beside Concordia’s net, Caron received a pass at the edge of the crease and proceeded to swing around the entire arc, unblinking until he saw empty space to slide the puck in and regain the lead at 3-2.
The Ravens added one more goal in the final minute of the frame to extend the lead to 4-2. Seconds after an offensive zone faceoff, the puck found defenceman Evan de Haan’s blade, who whizzed a pass at Ryker Cole, who was parked beside the net and redirected it past Jessiman. The play, however, was no fluke.
“We discussed the play off the draw,” de Haan explained, “and it worked out. It’s one of those that we practice in the mornings … it’s always nice when those go in when we worked so hard.”
De Haan shone as an effective puck-mover Saturday night.
“He looks like a young man playing with confidence and skating really well,” Van Allen said.
The veteran de Haan said his improvement in the defensive zone has come with challenges.
“You know, guys are big and strong in this league, so you really just got to think of ways to outsmart them. I’m an undersized guy, but I think my defensive game has really came since I’ve been here,” he said.
Late in the period, the pot boiled over. The Ravens sealed the win with an empty netter from Cole Carter, but the insults and hacks escalated before the next face off. Everyone on the ice was swinging at someone else, resulting in three roughing penalties. Since the game was already sealed 5-2, Van Allen was unimpressed.
“I really would have preferred we just shot it into the empty net and skated off and given a high five.”
Despite the scuffling at the end, the Ravens controlled play throughout, thanks to their swift skates. They defended their top spot in the province and will look to ride the same winds on Jan. 31 against Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières.
Feature image by Spencer Colby.
