LONDON, Ont. – A pair of power play goals, including a backbreaking goal in the final minute of the second period, helped lead the Carleton Ravens over the Western Mustangs by a 4-1 score on Thursday night at Thompson Arena.
 
Special teams proved to be a major factor in the contest, with Carleton not only scoring twice with the man advantage, but also killing off all six power play attempts from the Mustangs.
 
"Obviously the power play has to be better," said Mustangs head coach Clarke Singer. "We have to score when we get an opportunity. Especially in big times in games, when you can go in the lead or bring the game back to one goal game you have to score on the power play."
 
After a quiet opening frame, Carleton struck quickly in the second when wrist shot trickled through Mustangs netminder Greg Dodds. The puck lay calmly along the goal line until forward Alexandre Boivin found it in a flurry of sticks and skates and tapped it home.
 
The Ravens controlled play for the ensuing three minutes before defenceman Evan de Haan fired a puck into the mesh, leading to a Western timeout and a 2-0 lead for the visitors.
 
However, Western seemed to gain some energy after a crucial penalty kill late in the period. Rob Polesello streaked up the ice and across the offensive zone and scored from the slot just moments after the penalty ended.
 
But Western's Achilles heel – discipline – resurfaced when Austin Adam took a high-sticking minor with 45 seconds left. Given their third power play of the game, the top-ranked Carleton unit finally capitalized. After a frantic rush and some slick tic-tac-toe passing, Ryan Van Stralen shelved the puck to restore Carleton's two goal lead.
 
Carleton's leading scorer Michael McNamee would add an empty-netter for good measure with 33 seconds remaining.
 
Fortunately for Western, they will be right back on the ice tomorrow night against RMC.
 
"We're on a two game slump so we're definitely not gonna take them easy," said Polesello. "Every game is a good game in this league, everybody plays hard, so hopefully we just come and bounce back after this game tonight."
 
Game time tomorrow is set for 7 p.m. at Thompson Arena. Fans can tune in live on OUA.tv and the Rogers Super Sports Pack, while the game will be shown on Rogers Cable 13 on tape delay at 10 p.m.