The Lakehead Thunderwolves were dominated twice by the Western Mustangs earlier this month when the teams met in back-to-back games at Thompson Arena.

Western won both games Jan. 8 and 9 by scores of 7-2 and 8-3 respectively.

Mustangs head coach Clarke Singer said he knows the Thunderwolves - winners of all of their following four regular-season games - will have that in the back of their minds when they host Western Jan. 29 and Jan. 30 in Thunder Bay, Ont.

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"They've really played well since that weekend down here," Singer said. "Their goaltending has been very good and they have won four straight since we beat them. To get us up in their barn, they play much different up there. It's going to be a test."

Fort William Gardens, site of the 2009 and 2010 CIS National Tournament, is a tough place for any team except Lakehead to play.

"I think their fan support is great for them there," Singer said. "And the ice is smaller and they play more aggressively up there and a much more physical style at home."

Western will look to goalie Keyvan Hunt (Coquitlam, B.C) to continue to shine against the Thunderwolves. He earned the win in both early-January victories and has settled into a solid groove, with the support of Josh Unice (Holland, Ohio, U.S.A.) in a strong tandem.

"For both Keyvan and Josh, the key is to have both of them ready for playoffs," Singer said. "You need two strong goalies and two guys you can go to. It's something we have been working on since (CIS top rookie goalie) Anthony Grieco went down."

"And Keyvan played great against Lakehead earlier this year and was great the other night versus UOIT. He is very experienced now at this level and overall he has played very well against Lakehead in the past."

This is a very important road trip for the CIS No. 3 ranked Mustangs. With five of their last six games on the road - the first four of those games being played over seven days as far west as Thunder Bay and as far east as Guelph - Western knows it will be a physical and mental test.

"It's probably the toughest schedule out of the top four teams in the West right now with the two Lakehead games and then finishing with the Laurier game," Singer said. "It's going to be a tough battle and we're going to have to play a lot better and lot more consistently to get more points and remain in first which we obviously want to do."

"I think these (Western) guys are pretty good. The travel makes you a little more tired, but we'll be able to manage it this weekend," Singer said. "Only two or three guys (will experience their) first trip to Lakehead, most of the other guys have done this trip before."

"The most important thing is once the puck is dropped that you play your game, your style."

If nothing else, Singer said he thinks this will be good playoff preparation for the Mustangs.

"With all the teams we are playing, they will be great games. Windsor is fighting for a playoff spot, Lakehead is fighting for first place. Overall the teams we are playing are very, very motivated. We have to match our work ethic with their motivation to win. And all of these games are going to be like playoff games. Brock played a playoff style game and they beat us (Jan. 19)."

Singer has made one significant change recently to the line-up, re-uniting last year's Fab Freshman line of Kevin Baker-Keaton Turkiewicz-Aaron Snow last weekend against UOIT

The veteran coach said the line is staying re-united. 

"Those three guys are pretty dynamic offensive players and they all played very well last year in playoffs," Singer said. "We saw some of that same chemistry from last year as they played a great game together on Saturday night (Jan. 23)."

Turkiewicz enters the weekend riding an 18-game point streak with 34 points. He also has seven goals in his past five games and overall has five game-winning goals, second in the OUA.

Last year, Singer said Turkiewicz was injured in the second part of the first half of the season. After coming back from injury, Singer said it takes a fair bit of time to adjust, especially for a rookie. 

"Keaton did not have a full season last year. And obviously he's shown great maturation from first year to second year, he's more comfortable now and doing what he does really well," Singer said. "He is shooting the puck a lot and getting into good places and is just a lot more confident."

Western's special teams are ranked high in the league - the powerplay is ranked No. 2 in the OUA and the penalty kill is ranked No. 4 in the province - but Singer said numbers mean little in this case and that along with the team's overall defensive play, special teams are a major concern with playoffs approaching.

"We have to be better," Singer said. "The coaches were really happy in the first half, but neither the powerplay or penalty kill is where we want it to be in the second half." 

"Special teams are so important in the post-season and we have to make a point of improving before the playoffs arrive."

Western closes out its regular season with five of their last six games on the road, including a pair of games at Lakehead, Jan. 29-30, then back-to-back games at Windsor (Feb. 3) and Guelph (Feb. 4), before a week off and trip to Oshawa to play at UOIT on Feb. 12.

The Mustangs finish the regular season at home on Feb. 13 at 7:30 at Thompson Arena against division rivals Wilfrid Laurier.