Concordia 5, Ottawa 4: Powerplay once again comes up big in the fight for first

Stingers goalie Jordan Naylor picks up first career win

SportsMaxime Cadotte — Published February 24, 2022 2 minutes

The Stingers started hot as Alexander Katerinakis scored his fifth of the season on the powerplay with just over two minutes played in the game.

However, the Gee-Gees struck right back as Mathieu Desgagnés—brother of Stinger defenseman Alexandre Desgagnés—tied the game with his second goal of the season.

With the Stingers back on the powerplay, Tyler Hylland took advantage of the strength in numbers with his fourth goal of the season.

With exactly two minutes left in the first period, the Concordia Stingers managed to double their lead thanks to a shorthanded breakaway converted by Maxim Trépanier to score his fourth of the year.

The powerplay struck again late in the second period as Isaiah Campbell converted a two on one from a pass from Tyler Hylland to score his team-leading sixth of the season to make it 4-1.

The third period saw the Stingers be called for five penalties and the penalty kill—while very successful through the first two periods—crumbles, letting in two goals by Ottawa.

The first one occurred in the middle of the third period as Nicolas Mattinen of the Gee-Gees buried a one-timer for his fifth goal of the year from the point to cut the Stingers' lead to 4-2.

Less than three minutes to go, the net empty and on the powerplay, Nicolas Mattinen struck again and made it a one-goal game. 

With time winding down and Ottawa pressing to get the tying goal, Isaiah Campbell scored his second of the night in an empty net to ice the game and make it 5-3.

However, Justin McRae made it close again with his second goal of the season with less than a minute to go to reduce the lead to one.

The Gee-Gees tried to complete the comeback but goaltender Jordan Naylor stood strong as he saved 46 of the 50 shots that he faced to earn his first win in his first-ever start as a Concordia Stinger.

The Stingers now head to the Université de Québec à Trois-Rivières for the first game of a back-to-back on Friday, February 25th to face the Patriotes. The next home game will be on Saturday, February 26th at 5 p.m. against the same Ottawa Gee-Gees at Ed Meagher Arena.