The Stingers men’s hockey team bounced back in the second half of back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, and got the win in their first home game in 2022.
The Concordia Stingers’ team effort persisted throughout 60 minutes, as they came together to take the 5-2 win over the Ottawa Gee-Gees on Feb. 26.
This was the Stingers’ second game in two nights, bouncing back after a 0-4 defeat against the UQTR Patriotes on Friday.
The Stringers struck early with Maxim Trépanier opening the scoring only a minute and a half into the game. The first period ended with shots 13-11 in favour of Ottawa, while Concordia’s goaltender Jordan Naylor stood on his head and kept his team in the game.
“In the first period we were a little hesitant, we had to get our legs back,” said Tyler Hylland, centre for the Stingers. “We hadn’t played back-to-back games in a couple of months, so I think the guys were feeling it out, but I think we found our legs in the second period, and we finished strong, so it went well.”
Right at the beginning of the second frame, Ottawa scored twice in a minute and took the lead in what was a pretty back and forth game up to that point.
About seven minutes into the second frame, two Ottawa players collided with Naylor. Trainers joined him on the ice to evaluate him, but he remained in net until the end of the period.
It didn’t take too long for Concordia to tie the game afterwards, with a goal by Alexandre Desgagnés around the midway mark of the period, which gave the Stingers some momentum back.
They found themselves on the powerplay a couple of minutes later, where Jeffrey Durocher capitalized and gave his team the lead again.
Naylor didn’t return for the final period, and Jacob Delorme came in instead after having played the previous night as well. Stingers head coach Marc-André Elément said that Naylor didn’t sustain an injury and that he will be okay.
Hylland doubled the Stingers’ lead around 12 minutes into the third period after creating a turnover and having a breakaway chance.
“It was kind of a broken play in the d-zone, a turnover, and I kind of saw the opportunity that I could maybe get it by them, and I took it, and then I went in on the goalie and put it five-hole,” Hylland said.
The Gee-Gees pulled their goaltender with two and a half minutes remaining, leading to Trépanier, who had opened the scoring early on, to seal the win for the Stingers with an empty-net goal.
Delorme continued Naylor’s effort and stood tall, stopping all 11 shots he faced in that period, while the defence also did their job and kept blocking shots.
Although the final shots were 39-30 in favour of the Gee-Gees, the Stingers weren’t giving them many good scoring opportunities, and if they did, the goaltenders made the saves.
“I think we were ready for tonight’s game,” Elément said. “We have a good team and we needed to compete tonight, and I think the guys showed a lot of character when we were down… And [when] you’re losing your goalie going into the third period, and your other goalie steps in, that’s a big big team effort there.”
Elément added that Delorme kept them in the game in the final frame. He also mentioned how important the defence was in the game, highlighting Kyle Havlena and Marcus Tesink’s performances in particular.
“It was a big team effort tonight and I’m really happy about the win.”
Photograph by Kaitlynn Rodney
