Stingers 5, Gaels 2: Concordia men’s hockey churns out another win
The Stingers widened their division lead over Queen’s in a physical matchup
The Concordia University men’s hockey team took home a 5-2 victory on seniors night in a heavyweight matchup with the Queen’s University Gaels on Sunday, Jan. 19.
Concordia improved to a record of 18-2-2, while Queen’s fell to 16-5-0, six points behind the Stingers in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) East.
On a night when the Stingers honoured six graduating players, Concordia head coach Marc-Andre Elément celebrated the chance to recognize their contributions.
“It's always fun to celebrate these guys,” Elément said. “They've done so much for the program. So it’s just a little something for us to celebrate them, and I'm proud of them, what they've done, and the way they played tonight.”
The matchup between the top two teams in the OUA East did not disappoint. A back-and-forth first period saw Concordia forward Charles Savoie sent to the penalty box for interference, only to emerge into a Stingers attack two minutes later and hammer in a one-timer from the face-off circle. Forward Edouard Charron doubled the lead with a minute to play on a bardown finish, but Queen’s winger Hayden Fowler quickly added a goal to keep the scoreline at 2-1.
However, Concordia’s slim lead would explode in the second period. Stingers forward Nicholas Girouard cleaned up a Gaels turnover and played a quick give-and-go with teammate Mikael Huchette to fire the puck into an open net less than two minutes into the frame.
Girouard recognized the team’s quick response after a tight first period.
“I think we had a good first period, so we just built on it,” Girouard said. “I feel like there were some penalties and we had momentum, and we just had to score some big goals, and I feel like it brought their motivation down a bit. So, we just kept going from there.”
Forward Vincent Nardone stretched the lead by finishing a backhand over the shoulder of Gaels goaltender Christian Purboo, and forward Julien Anctil added the third goal in five minutes with a slapshot from the faceoff circle. Forward Daniel Michaud’s tap-in to cut the deficit provided a small moment of positivity for the visitors, but the game would remain at 5-2 throughout the rest of the second and entire third period.
Unable to impact the Stingers on the scoreboard, Queen’s resorted to physicality as the third period slipped away. Late hits and shoving matches finally boiled over when Savoie knocked away Queen’s forward Cameron Tolnai’s stick during a break in play. Tolnai went after Savoie in front of the Concordia bench, and the ensuing brawl resulted in four misconduct penalties and an overflowing penalty box. Overall, the teams combined for 74 total penalty minutes on 21 infractions.
Stingers goaltender Nikolas Hurtubise stopped 16 shots, including several clutch one-on-one blocks to halt the Gaels on the breakaway. He pointed out the extra effort teams utilized when facing the Stingers.
“I think that teams will want to be on top—it’s tough to stay on top,” Hurtubise said. “So teams probably play a bit harder against us—especially them, who are trying to catch up to us. But I think we stayed composed and we played a good game.”
Elément acknowledged the importance of holding off Queen’s in a tight conference race.
“That game was important because you never know at the end of the season if there's a tiebreaker,” he said. “So we needed to get that win. We needed these points to play in the standings.”
Concordia next travels to Thunder Bay, Ont. for a matchup with the Lakehead University Thunderwolves on Friday, Jan. 24. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. at Fort William Gardens.