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Ravens snap Redmen record 19-game win streak at home
MONTREAL - The upstart Carleton Ravens men's hockey team
accomplished what no visitors were able to for more than a year at
McConnell Arena. They walked into the lion's den at McGill on the
hill with fresh legs and waltzed away with two points, handing a
depleted Redmen lineup a surprising 3-1 setback -- the first loss
on home ice this season for the No.5-ranked squad in the
nation.
The third-place Ravens (11-6-2) were playing for the first time in
eight days and McGill was coming off a hard-fought 2-1 win over
UQTR the night before and playing in their fifth game in eight
days. The loss snapped a team record, 19-game win streak that the
Redmen had amassed on home-ice, since a 4-3 overtime shootout loss
to York on Jan. 9, 2009. The team's previous mark had been 11
consecutive victories at home, dating back to 1986.
After a scoreless opening period, the Ravens struck twice in the
middle frame, getting goals from Orono, Ont., native Justin Caruana
at 7:06 and left-winger Ryan Berard of Niagara Falls, on the
powerplay, at 15:35.
McGill awoke from their slumber in the final period and outshot
Carleton 19-5 but Ravens netminder Alexander Archibald held his
ground. The 6-foot-1, 190-pound sophomore from Ottawa lost his bid
for a shutout with less than six minutes remaining when McGill
rookie Jean-Francois Boisvert of Mirabel, Que., converted a nice
pass from Marc-Andre Daneau and found an unguarded left corner of
the net for his seventh of the season.
Redmen first-year head coach Jim Webster pulled sophomore
goaltender Danny Mireault for an extra attacker with 62 seconds
remaining in a bid to force overtime but a costly turnover at the
Carleton blueline gave defenceman Christian Bourdeau-Mifflen of
Ottawa, an opportunity for a long shot at the open net and he
risked a potential icing call to register his fifth marker of the
campaign.
The Redmen went 0-for-4 on the power-play and played without the
services of their blueline quarterback, Marc-Andre Dorion, the
league's top-scoring rearguard with 6-19-25 points in 19 games.
Dorion had suffered an upper body injury against UQTR the night
before and may be scratched from the lineup for another week or
two.
The lone goal by the high-scoring Redmen was their lowest offensive
output in 18 league games since a 2-1 road loss against the Ottawa
Gee-Gees in the final contest before playoffs last year.
McGill (16-3) will get only a few days of rest before making the
two-hour bus-ride to Trois-Rivières on Wednesday, where they
have a return engagement with the second-place UQTR Patriotes
(14-3-1). The Pats are expected to be without the services of head
coach Jacques Laporte, who incurred an automatic one-game
suspension after being assessed a game misconduct penalty at the
conclusion of Friday's 2-1 loss to McGill.
REDMEN RAP: Francis Verreault-Paul, who was held pointless for only
the fourth time this season, continues to lead the OUA in goals and
points with 17-19-36 in 18 games... He is one point ahead of
Western's Keaton Turkiewicz, who has a 17-18-35 dossier in 20
contests...The loss to Carleton snapped a four-game win streak that
McGill had put together against the pesky Ravens since the last
loss, a 4-1 setback in the nation's capital on Oct. 18, 2008...
McGill is 11-10-1 lifetime against Carleton, outscoring them 78-77
dating back to 1968... Since the re-birth of the Ravens in 2006,
McGill owns a 10-3 overall record in head-to-head competition.
SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman, McGill Athletics & Recreaion
