With first-place Ryerson (15-7-0) and second-place Lakehead (14-5-1) trading wins in their weekend series, the Mustangs still remain within striking distance of first place in the OUA West, sitting two points behind Ryerson with two games in hand. Standing in the way of the top spot are Guelph (9-8-4), who the Mustangs face on Thursday, and Toronto (11-8-2), who come to town on Friday. 

Victories against Ryerson and Brock (9-9-3) last week extended the Mustangs win streak to three games, a feat they have accomplished three other times this season. When Western takes to the ice in Guelph on Thursday they will have an opportunity to put together a four-game winning streak for the first time this season.

It's hard to pinpoint one particular reason for the Mustangs recent success as the squad has been firing on all cylinders as of late, but one of the most notable improvements has been the play of fifth-year net-minder Josh Unice. After a rough start to the year, Unice has turned his season around, putting together a five-game win streak of his own while compiling a save percentage of .946.

Also putting up big performances since the beginning of the New Year is fourth-year forward Zach Harnden, who began his current five-game point streak on January 3 and put on a show against Brock on Friday with a hat trick and one assist. Over that five-game span Harnden has had two multi-point games while compiling five goals and one assist, giving him 28 points on the season.

The veteran forward's play as of late has him sitting tied for eighth in the OUA in scoring, second on Western's roster to Daniel Erlich, who has a five-game point streak of his own during which time he has registered one goal and seven assists. The sophomore forward now has eight goals and 25 assists on the season, placing him third in league scoring with 33 points behind Ryerson's Jamie Wise and Dominic Alberga. 

Western vs. Guelph – Thursday, January 23 at 7:30 PM - Listen Live on CHRW Radio 94.9 FM 

There are two ways to look at Guelph's start to the New Year: on one hand, the Gryphons have lost four of their last six games, including two matchups to teams currently below them in the standings—Laurier and York; on the other hand, they have also managed to walk away from four of those games with points, beating Nipissing and Windsor while taking Ryerson and Laurier to overtime and a shootout, respectively.

In any case, the team across the rink from them on Thursday also knows what it's like to lose to Laurier—the last-place team in the OUA West Division—as the Mustangs fell to the Golden Hawks 3-2 just recently on January 10. So you can be sure that neither team will be taking too much for granted when the two teams step on the ice to go head to head at the Gryphon Centre Arena in Guelph.

The Gryphons boast only one player on the OUA's list of top 30 scorers but their addition to the leader board—sophomore forward Nicklas Haurd—has been an effective one, sitting seventh in the league with 29 points in 19 games. Heading into Guelph's 2-1 loss to York on Friday, in which he was held pointless, Haurd had put together a four-game point streak with three goals and three assists over that span.

Another player to look out for on Thursday will be defenseman Kenneth Peroff, who is currently on a four-game point streak of his own with two goals and four points in as many games. The fourth-year blueliner has never had a point-per-game season in his OUA career—his highest point total being 13 in 2011-12—but he's getting close this year, tallying six goals and eleven assists for 17 points in 20 games.

Western vs. Toronto – Friday, January 24 at 7 PM - Watch Live on Mustangs TV

With their four-game win streak in November the Varsity Blues solidified their place as one of only ten teams in the OUA to put together a winning streak of more than four matchups. Unfortunately for Toronto, the next five games would see them establish an entirely new streak: with their five straight losses from November 23 to January 4 the Varsity Blues tied last-place Laurier for the most consecutive losses in the OUA West.  

Their luck looked like it may have turned around again when they followed those losses with two consecutive wins over Laurier and Windsor, but an 8-4 loss to Waterloo last week has Toronto back in the dog house and looking to get back on the winning track when they head to London on Friday. The two teams have met only once this season when the Varsity Blues defeated Western 5-3 at home on October 18.

Toronto is led on offense by Michael Markovic, whose 26 points in 21 games put him in a tie for twelfth in OUA scoring. Also scoring at a point-per-game pace for the Varsity Blues is sophomore forward Tyler von Engelbrechten, who has eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points in Toronto's 21 games. Markovic and von Engelbrechten have been scoring on and off for the Varsity Blues since the New Year, both alternating productive and non-productive games since January 3 while combining for nine points in those five games. Both forwards had productive nights against Waterloo on Friday with Markovic potting two goals and von Engelbrechten adding one assist.

In net, Garrett Sheehan and Brett Willows have split the load for Toronto this season, with Sheehan playing just under 500 minutes while Willows has cashed in nearly 760. Sheehan holds a slight advantage in save percentage at .917 (compared to Willows' .906), but Willows has been a workhorse for the team nonetheless, playing in four more games and leading the team to seven wins compared to Sheehan's four.