If there's a game you don't want to miss this season it's Western's matchup against York on Saturday, as the two top teams in the OUA West duke it out for top spot in the division.
 
The Lions will be a highly motivated team when they hit the ice at Thompson Arena. Not only are they looking to avenge a recent loss to the Mustangs and stay in first place, but they're also looking to prove the CIS rankings wrong being bumped from this week's list while Western earned a spot.
 
The Mustangs are the only team from the OUA West to make the most recent CIS Top Ten. At eighth, the purple and white are three spots below the McGill Redmen, who they beat 4-2 last week, and five below the UQTR Patriotes—the highest OUA team on the list. York is on the outside looking in despite holding down the division lead since November.
 
Still, it's hard to keep Western off the list when they've won five in a row, including one against the CIS No. 3 Redmen last weekend. The Mustangs also own the best goal differential in the West Division at +17 and are scoring at the fourth-best rate in the league at 3.83.
 
Western has relied on some familiar faces for offence lately. Junior Noah Schwartz (2-8-10) has put up seven points during a four-game point streak while veteran Shaun Furlong (8-11-19) is also on a four-game streak, registering six points during that stretch.
 
Furlong is now tied for second in team scoring with rookie Spenser Cobbold (5-14-19), who has also put together a nice stretch for Western lately with four points on a four-game streak and six through his last seven. Fellow freshman Jonathan Laser (3-4-7), a defenceman from the OHL's Barrie Colts, is also hot with three points in his last three games.
 
Greg Dodds and Peter Delmas were both excellent again over the weekend. Dodds picked up the victory on Thursday, stopping 28 pucks to earn his third straight win, while Delmas faced 50 shots and made 48 stops for the win on Saturday. The duo has allowed two goals or less during Western's five-game win streak with a .952 save percentage during that stretch.
 
If Western can keep up this level of goaltending into the playoffs, they could prove to be unstoppable. You'd be hard-pressed to find another duo in the OUA with as high a pedigree as Dodds and Delmas, and they're catching fire at just the right time to do some damage.
 
Western vs York – Saturday, January 30 at 4:00 p.m. – Watch live on OUA.tv

The last time Western met with York the Mustangs picked up a 3-2 victory on the road, with Laser, Cobbold, and Schwartz scoring and Dodds registering the win. Both squads have gone undefeated in their two games since then to give added importance to Saturday's matchup.
 
The Lions have four players with 20 points or more, with Derek Sheppard (9-19-28), Justin Larson (6-17-23), Greg Milner (10-13-23), and Trevor Petersen (13-10-23) all scoring at a point-per-game pace or higher. York has two strong offensive pieces on their blueline in Sheppard, a sophomore, and veteran Tyler Mort (5-11-16).
 
In net, they're led almost exclusively by Chris Perugini with a .920 save percentage and a 12-9-0 record. Perugini has only gotten a night off twice this season and enters this week with eight consecutive appearances and two straight wins under his belt.
 
York boasts excellent special team numbers so far this season. Their power play is ranked third in the OUA at 27.7% while their penalty kill is tops in the league at a rate of 87.4%. The Lions lived up to their special teams reputation in their last meeting with Western, scoring two power play goals and killing off all three of their penalties.