It's been quite a start to the season so far for the undefeated Mustangs.
 
The young team has overcome loads of adversity, highlighted by a number of injuries to key players, to post a 3-0 record. Last week, they picked up two victories over Laurier and the Ryerson. This week, they'll look to keep going against Toronto and Guelph.
 
To say that injuries have been a problem for Western so far this year would be an understatement. The purple and white went from dressing a full 20 players in their season opener to dressing 19 on Friday and just 18 on Saturday.
 
With a lack of roster players comes a load of penalties. The exhausted Mustangs have taken a combined 17 infractions through their last two games but have only allowed a single power play goal through their three games this season. While the team has been incredibly effective on the penalty kill, they haven't been as successful when they have the man advantage, going 0-for-4 on the power play so far.
 
But they have been able to score surprisingly well this year, even despite the lack of firepower from the special teams. After scoring just three in their opener against Brock, the Mustangs let loose for a combined 13 goals over the weekend, nine of which came in the third period alone.
 
Rookie Ray Huether led Western's offensive outburst last weekend, registering two goals and five points, while Luke Karaim and Trent Ouellette both had a goal and an assist in each game. Trevor Warnaar got the game-winner for Western on Saturday for his second goal of the game, helping get Greg Dodds his second win of the season.
 
Peter Delmas got the win on Friday night for his first OUA victory. He stopped 22 of 23 shots against the Golden Hawks, while Dodds faced a total of 28 against Ryerson. Their counterparts in Vinny Merante and Taylor Dupuis faced 41 and 33 shots, respectively, from the Mustangs.
 
Western is hoping that they can get some players back for this weekend's games. Head coach Clarke Singer noted on Saturday that the team would be reassessing the status of their injuries on Monday morning. Some good news would be more than welcome; Western may have won two straight games understaffed, but they can't do that for much longer.
 
Friday, October 23 – 7:30 p.m. – Western at Toronto
 
Toronto has split their four games so far, picking up victories against the likes of Concordia and Laurier and falling to UQTR and Waterloo. Both of their wins have come at Varsity Arena, where the two teams will face off on Friday night. Last year, the Mustangs won both matchups, with a 5-2 victory at home and a 4-3 win on the road.
 
Like Western, the Varsity Blues also have 16 goals on the season—albeit in one more game. They're led by veteran Andrew Doyle (4g, 2a) on offence and have split time between junior Michael Nishi (1W, .928 SV%) and senior Brett Willows (1W, .826 SV%) in net.
 
They've also allowed the second-most power play goals against on the season at six (in 16 opportunities), so this weekend might be the time for Western to break out on the man advantage. On the flip side, they've only scored two power play goals on 18 chances.
 
Saturday, October 24 – 7 p.m. – Guelph at Western - Watch Live on OUA.tv
 
Guelph has played just three games this year and stand at 1-2 heading into the week. They'll play Ryerson in Guelph on Thursday before travelling to London on Saturday. The Gryphons have lost both of their games on the road this season but beat Waterloo at home last week. Western will look to get a good start on the season series after splitting it last year.
 
The Gryphons are currently at the bottom of the league in offensive production, although it is a small sample size. They've scored just three goals through three games, going 1-for-7 on the power play. But their goaltending has been strong thanks to Andrew D'Agostini, who bounced back from a rough first game to allow just two goals over his next two games.