Photo by: Marc Lafleur

Waterloo Warriors defenceman Stephen Silas (Georgetown) scored a huge third-period goal, and added the winner in a shootout to lead his team to a massive road victory.

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Silas was the hero for the second straight night, scoring a beautiful shootout winner after his goal tied it in the third, as the Warriors topped the Carleton Ravens 3-2 on Saturday night in Ottawa.

The win comes a night after Silas cemented a Warriors victory against the RMC Paladins, when the veteran defenceman kickstarted the Warriors comeback with a third period goal, before adding the winner in the eighth round of the shootout. 24 hours later, Silas scored the game-tying marker with under seven minutes to play in regulation, and then undressed Carleton goaltender Justin Nichols for the game's deciding goal.

Eric Diodati (Niagara Falls) also scored a goal in regulation, added an assist on Silas' tying goal, and scored in the shootout for Waterloo, who moved to 10-11-3 on the season with their third straight win. Mike Morrison (Hamilton) was outstanding when called upon in the Warriors net, stopping 36 shots in the victory. Morrison also added two more saves in the shootout, and has now stopped 12 of 13 shootout attempts this season.

The Ravens suffered their second consecutive loss, albeit with a depleted lineup – four Ravens forwards and head coach Marty Johnson are in Kazakhstan for the FISU winter Universiade. The Warriors were also shorthanded, as defenceman Mike Moffat (Waterloo) and head coach Brian Bourque are part of Team Canada at the University Games.

Curtis Meighan and Alexandre Boivin scored for the Ravens in regulation, as the hosts fell to 15-8-2 on the season. As good as Morrison was in the Waterloo cage, Nichols matched him save-for-save, stopping 36 shots of his own.

The Ravens came out of the gates carrying the play, and they were rewarded when Meighan fired a loose puck over the glove of Morrison to make the score 1-0. The Warriors were quick to push back, but they couldn't find the equalizer in the opening 20 minutes.

However, the visitors kept coming, and they were eventually rewarded on a rare play early in the second period – a breakaway by a defenceman. With the puck up high in the Waterloo zone, Diodati picked off a cross-ice pass and went in alone from his own blue line, beating Nichols with a gorgeous top-shelf shot to even the score at 1-1.

The game stayed tied until midway through the third, when Boivin's goal made it 2-1 for Carleton at 9:46 of the final frame. But the Ravens' Josh Chapman took a kneeing penalty just over three minutes later, and the Warriors made them pay when Silas took the Diodati feed, walked in off the line, and zipped one past Nichols to square things at 2-2. Rookie Zac Coulter (Owen Sound) added an assist on the goal, giving him a team-leading 11 assists and 16 points.

The final moments of the third and the four-on-four overtime were relatively calm and measured, but the pace picked up in the three-on-three extra session. Boivin made an unbelievable move to get in alone before hitting the post, only to see the Warriors' Nick Halagian (St. Catharines) ring one off the iron at the other end just seconds later. But despite the overtime theatrics, neither team could find the winner, and the Warriors were off to their second consecutive shootout.

After Boivin and Waterloo's Michael Morgan (Scarborough) were both stopped in round 1, Morrison shut the door on Nathan Todd before Diodati roofed one bar-down to give the visitors a lead. Brett Norris briefly equalized when he beat Morrison through the five-hole, but Silas once again played hero – he drew Nichols in with a fake shot, then made a gorgeous move to the forehand to get Nichols down and out, salting away the Warriors victory with a wrister over the fallen Carleton keeper.

The win vaults Waterloo into 7th in the OUA West division, one point ahead of the Lakehead Thunderwolves for eighth, and five clear of the Western Mustangs for a final playoff spot. The Warriors will now welcome the Thunderwolves to Waterloo for a huge back-to-back series next weekend – puck drop is scheduled for 7pm on Friday, February 3, and at 4pm on Saturday, February 4.