LONDON, Ont. – Shaun Furlong has done a lot for Western in his OUA career but there's one thing that he hadn't done before Thursday night: record a hat trick.
 
The London native scratched that off his list in impressive fashion on Thursday, teaming up with linemates Andrew Goldberg and Ray Huether to register a natural hat trick and lead the Mustangs past the Lakehead Thunderwolves 5-3 at Thompson Arena.
 
"Kudos to Shaun," head coach Clarke Singer said. "Shaun has worked so hard to come back from his injury. It's nice to see him finally get rewarded for all the effort and work he put in, not only over the spring and the summer but this year. He hasn't found the back of the net very much but it's great to see him get three tonight and hopefully that gets the monkey off his back a little bit."
 
"It's definitely a good feeling," said Furlong. "It's always nice to help the team out and get the W but it was definitely a 19-guy performance so we're happy to get the win."
 
It almost didn't end up that way thanks to two quick goals from Lakehead to end the second period. Dylan Butler scored first, kicking the puck up to his stick and sliding it through Peter Delmas' pads on a break, and Carson Dubchak made it a one-goal game soon after. They'd keep pushing until Alex Micallef scored an empty-netter late in the third.
 
In other words, the winless Thunderwolves may have been denied a victory for the ninth straight time this year but they sure made the game interesting.
 
"They're a lot better than their record is, that's for sure," said Singer. "We talked a lot about that the last couple days. Lakehead's had probably the toughest schedule in the country to start off the year. They've played very well but they haven't got a win yet and we're very happy to get two points against them tonight."
 
No one deserves more credit for that win than the line of Furlong, Goldberg, and Huether, who combined for ten points. Goldberg scored the opener before adding assists on all three of Furlong's goals while Huether finished with three helpers. Huether and Furlong are now on a point-per-game pace with 10 points apiece while Goldberg has seven.
 
"It's always nice when you find some chemistry with linemates early on in the season," said Furlong. "We were just happy to get things rolling here finally so it's a good fit for us."
 
Delmas got the start in net for the Mustangs and put together a solid effort, overcoming some tough luck late in the second to secure a win. His 12-save third period was highlighted by a sprawling save on Lakehead's Cody Alcock, who took a breakaway pass from linemate Kelin Ainsworth and tried to go left-to-right only to be robbed. 
 
Western's backstop got some support early, as Goldberg opened the scoring just under six minutes in and Furlong closed out the period with his first of the night. In between those two goals was a marker from Lakehead's E. J. Faust, who tipped in the Thunderwolves first goal with the man advantage.
 
The power play goal was the fourth that Western's allowed in two games after giving up just one through their first seven. But there was no faulting the penalty killers on a night when they were able to kill off a crucial five-on-three in the second.
 
"The penalty kill was great tonight," said Singer. "Tough tip goal for the five-on-four goal to give them their first one but [killing off the five-on-three] was a big turning point for us because they could have really jumped back in the game at that point and taken the lead."
 
Meanwhile, the power play didn't register a point on two power plays to break a two-game streak for the unit. Western entered the game one of the best teams in the league with the man advantage but were stymied by Lakehead's Jeff Bosch on a number of occasions.
 
"I thought we were okay tonight," said Singer about the power play. "I didn't think we were as crisp as we usually are on the power play or would like to be but we only had a couple, so hopefully we can find a way to get a power play tomorrow."
 
Western will have less than 24 hours to prepare for Friday's matchup, which will kick off at 7 p.m. in Thompson Arena. While Western looks for their second straight win and ninth of the season, the Thunderwolves continue the search for their ever-elusive first win.
 
NOTES: Defenceman Alex Micallef scored an empty-netter to register his second multi-point effort of the season. With seven points in his last seven games, he's now just two points away from his career high of 11 from last year… Stephen Gaskin left with an injury for the third period and will be a game-time decision tomorrow… Matt Marantz has now been held off the score sheet for two consecutive nights after starting they year with an eight game point streak…