The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team suffered a ghastly 5-3 loss to the rival McGill Redmen on Halloween afternoon at Ed Meagher Arena. Goaltender Trevor Cunning received the worst trick from the Redmen, allowing 5 goals on 31 shots. The Stingers eventually outshot the Redmen 35 to 31.
Coach Kevin Figsby had a positive outlook on the game, “I thought the team played a really good game. We worked really hard on Sunday…We didn’t get the bounces that McGill got.”
Two of the goals allowed had unusual bounces that had the pro-Stinger crowd wondering if the ghouls of Halloween had sided against them. In the second, an errant point shot by Daniel Jacob hit the boards behind the net and tricked everyone on the ice but forward Jean-Michel Daoust, who luckily had the puck bounce onto his blade for an easy goal. With 9:06 remaining in the contest, Trevor Cunning made the initial save on Matthew Leclerc, but failed to cover it up as Leclerc put his own rebound in the net.
It was not all frightening for the Stingers in this contest. The Stingers opened the scoring at 5:22 in the first period, when Yannick Noiseux put a shot between the goalie’s five-hole.
After finishing the period in a deadlock, the Stingers began the second with much difficulty. The team allowed two quick Redman goals by Greg LeBlanc and Daoust. Coach Kevin Figsby refused to rest on his laurels as he used a time-out to refocus his squad. This resulted in the Stingers turning the tables on their foes, playing some truly inspired hockey. “We were playing well at that time. I just wanted to calm them down,”Figsby said.
The line of Matt Armstrong, Phillipe Lacasse and Guillaume Berube were the first to elevate their play and had numerous opportunities thanks to their crisp passing in the opposing end. The Stingers were finally rewarded for their hard work, with a powerplay goal by Trevor Hawkins, whose point shot appeared to have been redirected by a McGill skater. Lacasse tied the game with eight minutes remaining in the second, after taking a cross crease pass from Berube.
Despite keeping the game close, the Redmen were relentless in taking advantage of Cunning’s mistakes and the defence’s inability to clear the puck. Sebastien Langlois gave the Redmen the lead by beating Cunning in tight on his left side, causing the Stinger goalie to throw the puck in anger. After the Leclerc goal made it 5-3, Coach Figsby pulled him in favour of Patrick Lepage.
The loss dropped their record to 1-2 on the season. They play the first of three road games on November 6 against Queen’s.
