Men’s Hockey: Les Patriotes get the Last Laugh

UQTR and Stingers Engage in High-Scoring Back And Forth Affair

SportsJordan Stoopler — Published February 11, 2016

Patriotes captain Martin Lefebvre scored 52 seconds into the second overtime period.

Lefebvre accepted a pass from league scoring leader Guillaume Asselin before letting go of a shot that beat Stingers goalie Miguel Sullivan, who replaced starter Robin Billingham in the second period.

“I’m proud of my guys,” said Stingers head coach Marc-André Element. “It would have been easy to quit after a couple goals down but we didn’t. This is the identity I want from my guys.”

The Stingers never led at any point in the game. The team did manage to overcome a pair of two-goal deficits to force a deciding overtime period, capped off by a goal from Jessyko Bernard with 2:49 remaining in the third period to knot things up at five goals apiece.

“The team played a hell of a game,” said Stingers captain Olivier Hinse. “Our defensemen were in their face. Our forwards were working hard. That’s the key to win. We were very close tonight.”

Two consecutive goals by the Patriotes, scored within two minutes of each other, spelled the end for Billingham. The goaltender gave up five goals on 17 shots and has now been pulled in his last two starts. When pressed concerning the reason behind his goaltender’s quick exit, Element simply said he was “looking for a spark.”

Despite the loss, the Stingers still managed 48 shots.

“If we want to score some goals, we need to shoot the puck on net,” said Element. “That’s what I tell my forwards; you need to shoot the puck and drive the net. We did that tonight and that is why we scored five goals.”

The Stingers moved within only one point of Nipissing for sixth spot in the East Division.

On Friday, the 29th annual Corey Cup game. Last year, Concordia lost to the Redmen 4-3 in double overtime.