LONDON, Ont. — A near-perfect performance on the power play helped carry Western to their third consecutive win on Thursday night, as the Mustangs converted three of five man-advantage opportunities on their way to a 4-3 victory over the Ryerson Rams at Thompson Arena.
 
"Power play is a little bit about some luck some times," Mustangs head coach Clarke Singer said post-game. "I thought the other night actually we may have moved the puck a little better on the power play but didn't find the back of the net as much as tonight. [Tonight], we had a little bit of trouble the odd time but we moved the puck well."
 
Steve Reese was a big part of the Mustangs power play success on the night, tallying a pair on the man advantage for his second and third goals of the season. Ryerson, on the other hand, failed to score on any of their four power play opportunities, sending the Mustangs into their game against Waterloo on Saturday a perfect 14-for-14 on the penalty kill to start the season.
 
Two of those penalty kills would come in an exciting final frame, as Ryerson came out of the intermission down 4-2 and proceeded to dominate the Mustangs for large parts of the period. But they would only be able to manage one of the two goals they needed, as the penalty kill prevailed once again thanks to a couple of game-saving saves from backstop Greg Dodds.
 
"Special teams [success]— especially on the [penalty kill]— says a lot about goaltending," Singer said after the game. "A lot of credit to our guys— our [defencemen] and our forwards—they did a great a great job blocking shots, they were in lanes, but also when pucks got through Greg was there— he made some big saves for us throughout the game."
 
One such save came on a play late in the third period that saw Domenic Alberga— Ryerson's second-leading scorer from last year— stickhandle his way out of Western coverage in the corner to find Andreas Tsogkas all alone in front. Dodds was there though, robbing Tsogkas with a stellar glove save for what was perhaps the flashiest of his 32 saves on the night.
 
With Dodds and the rest of the Mustangs shutting the door on the penalty kill, Ryerson was forced to create their offence at even strength— something they were having little trouble doing in the first. The Rams haven't been too solid on the power play this season— as they entered the game with a mediocre 21.1% success rate and finished at just 13%— but they've had no problem making up for those stats five-on-five, scoring 14 of their first 18 goals at even strength.
 
The Mustangs were reminded of that early, as the Rams opened the scoring with a goal from Daniel Clairmont just over eight minutes in before Kyle Blaney responded to Reese's power play goal with Ryerson's second of the game at 7:58. But Julian Cimadamore would tip in a shot from Noah Schwartz with less than two minutes left in the period to send the two teams into the intermission all tied up.
 
That goal was just the latest note on a long list of contributions from the veteran—sophomore—sophomore line of Cimadamore, Schwartz, and Luke Karaim, who have started off the season red-hot with 11 points over the first three games. All three players had four-point seasons last year— totals that both Cimadamore and Schwartz have already matched in three games this year. Karaim, a solid presence on left wing, is right behind with three points.
 
"That whole line… those guys have probably been our most consistent line throughout the year," Singer said. "They all play a pretty powerful game… they don't do a lot of cute stuff. They play real powerful, they're courageous, they forecheck, they finish and so you know we thought that putting those guys together would be a good combination and so far they have."
 
With the win, the Mustangs become the third team in the OUA— alongside UQTR and Windsor — to kick off the season with a 3-0 record. Ryerson, on the other hand, now find themselves on their first losing streak of the season after losing to Nipissing last week. Western will have a chance to jump out to a 4-0 start when they visit Waterloo for their first road game on Saturday.
 
Notes
 
Rookie defenceman Jake Worrad now has three assists through his first three games after assisting on both of Reese's power play goals on Thursday. The former Belleville Bull (and London Knight) was known to contribute from the back end during his time in the OHL, as he registered 62 points through 159 regular season games with the Bulls… Speaking of offence from the back end, Western was able to keep rookie defenceman and OUA assist-leader (7) Alex Basso off the board Thursday despite a number of good chances. Basso is no stranger to London hockey fans, as he comes to Ryerson fresh off a 44-point season with the London Knights. Basso is also a Bulls alumnus, having played there in 2009-10 and 2010-11… Adam Mckee was back on the ice on Thursday and didn't show much rust after an injury kept him out early in the season… Stefan Salituro had the only other tally for the Mustangs on the night, beating Troy Passingham on an unassisted play for his first of the season.