Queen's Men's Hockey returned to winning form with a gritty 5-2 victory over the Carleton Ravens on Saturday night, rebounding from a split homecoming weekend to improve their season record to 6-1-0.

The Gaels set the tone early, seizing their first lead 17 minutes into the opening period. Liam Tanner (Kinesiology) pounced on a loose puck to net his second goal of the season, giving Queen's a 1-0 advantage and energizing the bench.

Queen's doubled its lead just seconds into the second period when defender Ante Zlomislic (Applied Science) found the back of the net, with helpers from Jack Duff and standout rookie Ethan Larmand (Arts & Science). Carleton responded quickly, cutting Queen's lead to 2-1 with a goal from James Mayotte. However, the Gaels countered on the power play in the final minutes of the period, as Cameron Tolnai (Business) executed a slick toe drag before firing glove-side past the Carleton goaltender. Tolnai's goal, his second of the season, capped a productive night for Larmand, who assisted on both goals.

The Ravens made things interesting early in the third, capitalizing on a power-play opportunity with a goal from Madoka Suzuki. Yet Queen's kept its composure, responding shortly after with a key insurance marker from Dharan Cap, his first goal of the season, set up by Kolton Cousins (Arts & Science) and Charles-Thomas Larochelle (Commerce). Goalie Christian Purboo (Arts & Science) held strong through multiple penalty kills, denying Carleton's offense late in the game.

Holden Katzalay (Computer Science) sealed the victory with an empty-net goal in the final minute, assisted by Hayden Fowler (Arts & Science) and Owen Lalonde (Arts & Science), rounding off a resilient performance by Queen's, despite 12 penalty minutes.

The Gaels, maintaining momentum after a strong season start, will look to continue their defensive prowess and improve on special teams as they play tomorrow after noon Oct. 27th against uOttawa. The game can be streamed on oua.tv