Stingers win season opener against McGill

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Charles-Eric Legare scored three regular-season goals against McGill. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

A chippy performance by Concordia led the team to a 3-2 win

The Concordia Stingers men’s hockey team started their season off with a 3-2 win against their crosstown rivals, the McGill Redmen, at McConnell Arena on Oct. 13.

“We played a good game, but we made a lot of mistakes,” said Stingers head coach Marc-André Élement. “There were a couple of parts of the game I didn’t like, but it’s two points so we’re happy about that.”

The game started off with both goaltenders standing tall in their respective nets. Stingers goaltender Marc-Antoine Turcotte made some big saves early and was a difference maker for the Stingers. He made key saves to keep his team in the game.

Turcotte’s brilliant play was accentuated in the third period while the Stingers were up 3-2, trying to cling to their lead. Concordia took some late penalties, giving the Redmen a five-on-three powerplay with less than five minutes left in the game. However, Turcotte turned aside a barrage of shots, allowing his team to keep the lead and ultimately win the game.

“This is what you need from a goalie,” Élement said. “He played an awesome game.”

Alexandre Gosselin skates past a sprawling McGill defender on Oct. 13. Photo by Alex Hutchins.

“The guys played well in front of me,” Turcotte added. “They let me see the puck all night. I’m pretty proud of the guys today.”

In the first period, the Stingers were down 1-0 off a goal by Redmen defencemen Dominic Talbot-Tassi. Nine minutes after the opening goal, Stingers forward Scott Oke popped in a goal off a wrist shot to tie the game before the end of the first period.

The second period had both teams going back and forth with the Redmen taking an early lead. However, rookie forward Alexis Pépin scored the tying goal in his first game as a Stinger.

“Getting that first goal in the first game is always good for confidence,” Pépin said. “I had trouble getting points in the pre-season, and I got two tonight so it was pretty good.”

A few minutes after Pépin scored, Stingers forward Charles-Eric Légaré buried a cross-crease pass to give the Stingers a 3-2 lead. First-year forward Massimo Carozza and Pépin picked up the assists. The team never looked back and left McConnell Arena with the victory.

For Pépin and his teammates, beating a rival like McGill was important. “It’s a big two points for us to start the season with,” he said

The Stingers will play the Redmen three more times this season, but are now off to Ottawa to play the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 7 p.m.

Main photo by Alex Hutchins.

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