In a game hyped for its fanfare and history, the men’s hockey team suffered a heartbreaking loss to the RMC Paladins.
Queen’s fell 2-1 to their oldest rival in the 28th annual Carr-Harris Cup, a regular season game dedicated to celebrating a rivalry dating back to the 1880s. The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for Queen’s in the game and hurt their chances of moving up past fourth-place in the OUA East playoff standings.
With just two games left in their season, the Gaels remain tied with Carleton at 37 points, but the Ravens have two games in hand and the inside track on third place in the division.
“When you lose to anyone, especially RMC, it’s disappointing,” said Gaels captain Corey Bureau. “They played a better game than we did.”
The winning goal was scored with just 2:44 remaining in the third period by RMC’s Kyle Phillips.
The victory was just the third of the Paladins’ season, but perhaps their most satisfying to date.
Paladins goalie Evan Deviller was the game’s X-Factor, stopping 52 Gaels shots to keep RMC in a game which few expected to be close heading in. Despite the high shot total, Bureau believed his team could have challenged Deviller with better scoring chances generated from higher quality shots.
“He played a good game,” Bureau said. “Their whole team played better than we did. We weren’t getting to the middle, we weren’t getting quality shots from inside. We were just skating around the outside and shooting pucks and that’s not good enough.”
The game started off rather slow, with no goals through the first 15 minutes of the game, but it was a five on three power play goal by forward Joey Derochie with 4:40 left that allowed Queen’s to break through.
RMC responded with a power play goal of their own less than three minutes later, when Brendan Wright fired a puck past Queen’s netminder Kevin Bailie.
Both teams were held scoreless in the second, but Queen’s held a 34-16 shot count lead through two.
Phillips’ goal in the final frame was the nail in the coffin, completing the shocking upset.
“We’re going to have to learn how to score goals and finish games, and get a lead to play with,” Bureau said.
Bailie was relatively solid for the Gaels in net, stopping 22 pucks but getting beaten on twice on goalmouth scrambles, which was ultimately the deciding factor.
Head Coach Brett Gibson was displeased with his team’s inability to score despite the high shot totals. In two games against RMC this season, his team totaled 103 shots, yet was only able to muster four goals.
“Shots don’t matter; goals matter,” he said. “At the end of the day, when you win a hockey game you deserve it. We got to get to the interior and we never did. They’re not good shots from the exterior. Their two goals were in the blue paint. When you win a hockey game, you deserve it.”
The Gaels now will finish off the regular season with what can be viewed as either a curse or a blessing. Their final two games come against UQTR, currently the league’s top team with 40 points. However, it will give the Gaels a chance to match up against a strong opponent and potentially earn momentum as they head towards the playoffs.
“We just have to find a way to get our game back,” Gibson said. “We’ll get back to the drawing board.”
Tags
Carr-Harris, Gaels, Gibson, Men's hockey, RMC
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