LONDON, Ont. — If Greg Dodds was tired from making his second start in as many nights he certainly didn't look it on Saturday, as the sophomore goaltender turned aside all 31 shots he faced to steal the show and shut out the Brock Badgers 3-0 at Thompson Arena.
 
The shutout was Dodds' second of his OUA career and helped him earn his second straight win, which puts him almost halfway on his way to his total of five during the 2013-14 season. Backing up Josh Unice last year, Dodds showed a ton of promise, posting a 2.18 goals against average and a .929 save percentage through nine regular season games.
 
But Dodds wasn't the only Western player that impressed in the back-to-back. After the game Mustangs' head coach Clarke Singer talked about what he saw from his team during their opening two games of the season.
 
"I thought it was a pretty good weekend for us overall and a good start to the season," Singer said. "I thought coming back from [the team's pre-season trip to] Alaska last week, we were pretty tired and I wondered how these two games would go. But you know the guys stuck to the game plan and I thought they did a great job last night and tonight."
 
Luke Karaim was particularly solid for the Mustangs, turning in a two-goal effort for his first two points of the season. He was helped out by fellow sophomore Noah Schwartz, who added an assist on Karaim's first goal and is quietly putting together a stellar start to the season with three points in two games. The two players didn't factor much into the Mustangs offence last season, totaling just eight points between the two of them, but seem more than happy to change that this season as they take on bigger roles with the team.
 
Speaking of offence, Brock showed up for Saturday's game sporting a bit of a different roster than last year, with last year's leading scorers in Matt Abercrombie and Thomas Stajan having moved on. But even with their absence Brock has a number of talents to look forward to, not the least of which is third-year centre Andrew Radjenovic.
 
While Radjenovic, like the rest of his teammates, wasn't able to get on the scoresheet, he did give Dodds a tough time on the night, highlighted by a slick outside-in move on a Western defender in the second period that left him all alone for a chance. But Dodds was there to make one of his 14 saves in the period, a recurring theme on a weekend that saw him turn aside 50 of the 52 shots he faced to establish a .962 save percentage.
 
Those 14 second-period shots came courtesy of four straight Western penalties— two of which occurred within 33 seconds of each other to give the Badgers a one minute and 27 second 5-on-3 with two of Western's most reliable defence men, Colin Macdonald and Stephen Gaskin, in the box. But the Badgers power play units just couldn't seem to solve Western's penalty kill, which has yet to give up a goal through two games and ten opportunities this season.
 
For the most part, however, it was Brock that found themselves in penalty trouble on Saturday night. The second period was the only one that didn't see them head to the box, as they took three straight penalties in the first period before adding four more in the third. Goalkeeper Real Cormier was absolutely stellar on the night, robbing the Mustangs on chance after chance to keep his team in the game, especially during Western's seven power play opportunities.
 
After being shut out on the man advantage through the first two periods of play, the Mustangs would finally solve Brock's penalty kill in the third, as Karaim took a couple of whacks at an airborne puck in front of the net before he was finally able to bat it in for his second goal in as many nights. After the game, Singer spoke about how the Mustangs are adjusting to life without two key pieces of last year's power play in Daniel Erlich and Zach Harnden.
 
"I think it's taken some steps," Singer said. "We changed the format and structure of it this year as well and you know it's taken a little bit of time for the guys to get used to it. But I thought they moved the puck very well tonight— we had some good looks and some good chances, I mean we just got the one power play goal but I thought we had a number of other good looks."
 
One of the new members of the power play unit is freshman and former London Knight Jake Worrad, who looked comfortable manning the point on Saturday and wasn't afraid to use his big shot through traffic. Two other big power play weapons in Steve Reese and Kyle De Coste have appeared to click extremely well in the first few games, and their chemistry gave Cormier all he could handle Saturday, highlighted by a slick pass from Reese to De Coste in the third that saw Brock's goaltender have to come up with a big glove save in tight.
 
The Mustangs will have a bit of a break before they take back to the ice at Thompson Arena on Thursday to face off against the Ryerson Rams. Post-game, Singer spoke about what he expects when the Rams roll into town.
 
"We've got a great team coming in here— Ryerson is very dynamic," Singer said. "They had a great recruiting year, they're a very, very offensive team so it's going to be a real tough team on Thursday."
 
Notes
Colten Mayor's second period goal was his first in the OUA and it also marked the first OUA point for Trevor Warnaar, who assisted on the effort along with Matt Marantz… Veteran defenceman Matt Paltridge didn't have a point on Saturday after recording an assist on Friday but he continued to show why he's one of the most reliable defencemen in the OUA, breaking up a number of Brock chances and showing off his above-average skating ability… Dodds is no stranger to shutouts early in the season, as he kicked off his OUA career last year with a 29-save shutout against Laurier on October 31… The Mustangs are now on a three-game winning streak against Brock after going 2-0 against the Badgers last season…