Last week the Stingers beat the Ottawa Gee Gees 8-7 in overtime.
The Stingers looked to have turned a corner but in the three games following that win, they have gone winless, with a 0-1-2 record in that stretch.
“It’s two big points. It’s not an easy weekend,” said head coach Marc-André Élément. “It’s not an easy weekend, we gotta work on some things but overall I’m happy about the way we played this weekend.”
Whenever Concordia faces Carleton, things get chippy — fast. Last night’s game was no exception to that rule.
Everyone knows about the rivalry with McGill which comes naturally as they are the Stingers’ crosstown rival. Those games always make for high intensity, fast paced hockey.
The one with Carleton is just different. These games always contain some form of controversy. In this edition, the controversy came in the third period when Chase Harwell made a seemingly clean hit but was given a five minute penalty and an ejection for a slew-foot.
On the ensuing powerplay, Carleton took full advantage and notched a goal off the stick of Alexandre Boivin. Exactly six seconds after the penalty was over, Boivin scored again
About two minutes after that, the Ravens’ Cody Caron took a double minor for high sticking. Right off the faceoff win by Félix Lauzon, Bradley Lalonde one timed a puck past Mark Grametbauer, the netminder for the Ravens. A minute and 50 seconds later, Liam Murphy streaked down the right wing side and fired home the tying goal.
Before their match with Carleton, the Stingers’ hadn’t scored a powerplay goal since they played RMC on Nov. 23. They scored all three of their goals last night with the man advantage. Captain Philippe Sanche scored the first goal of the game — his first goal since Oct. 12.
“I think that was my hardest shot ever,” Sanche laughed. “I was so angry at myself for not scoring goals on so many chances in the last few games. It was a great play from all five guys on the ice.” The players were in a light mood after, not dwelling on their losing streak. But the fact remains that they will need to start winning games if they want to be taken seriously in the playoff conversation.
“We gotta score more goals. When we have the chance we have to put it in,” said Élément. “We have to be hungrier around the net.”
The Stingers will resume play on Jan. 18 when they take on the Nippissing Lakers, a team they have yet to face this season, at home. Puck drop is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Ed Meagher Arena.
Feature photo by Cecilia Piga
