CIS men's hockey Sunday roundup: Battle of the Capital lives up to its name

Photo credit Richard Whittaker

OTTAWA - The latest instalment of the intense rivalry between the uOttawa Gee-Gees and the Carleton Ravens came on Sunday afternoon at the uOttawa Minto Sports Complex, living up to its name and providing the Gee-Gee faithful with a convincing 4-1 home win.

The struggling Gee-Gees set the tone early on in the game with a goal from captain Matthieu Methot (Ottawa, Ont.), his 11th of the season. Methot blocked a Ravens point shot and used his long stride to get a jump on the Ravens defence, sending him in all alone on the Carleton goaltender that had no chance on Methot’s top shelf wrist shot.

There was no shortage of physical play between the squads, resulting in numerous penalties and exchanged power play opportunities for both teams. However, it was the Garnet & Grey who took advantage of one of those opportunities with a rebound goal from second year forward Stephen Blunden (Ottawa, Ont.).

Gee-Gee forward Alexandre Touchette (Gatineau, Que.) also chipped in on the offensive output with a one-time slap shot that slid under the Ravens goaltender and put the Gees up by three. “It was very important to get goals from more than one line, and it’s going to be very important to have that depth going down the stretch too,” explained Gee-Gees head coach Réal Paiement.

With all of the momentum and crowd support in their favour, the Gee-Gees dictated the rest of the match. Frustration eventually boiled over for the Ravens though, who committed a costly five-minute major in the middle of the third period on a charging call, during which Maxime Chamberland (Chateauguay, Que.) scored on a one-on-one rush, using the Raven defender as a screen and going upstairs on Raven goaltender.

“Playing Carleton is a motivating factor, but for us to make the playoffs we need to play every remaining game as a do-or-die situation, so it was great to see the guys respond the way they did” said Paiement.

Two third period line brawls resulted in more ejected players, a penalty box that was at full capacity, and depleted benches for both teams. Needless to say, there was no love lost between the cross-town rivals. A late third period Ravens goal by Linden Bahm spoiled the shutout for Gee-Gees goaltender Russell Abbot (Mill Bay, B.C.), who stopped a total of 24 shots on the afternoon.

“It’s unfortunate that Russell didn’t get the shutout because he played a very solid game and made all of the saves that he needed to,” said Paiement. “With the number of goals we have been giving up lately, for him to give up only one goal against is really good.”

The Gee-Gees will look to carry over the momentum from Sunday’s win when they travel to Concordia on Saturday, February 4th, to take on the Stingers at 2:00 p.m.

Source: Ottawa sports info