The Western Mustangs play their final games of 2017 on home ice as they welcome the Ryerson Rams and Windsor Lancers to the Thompson Arena on Thursday and Friday nights.

The purple and white will look to build momentum heading into the winter break after they snapped a six-game losing streak last Saturday against Queen's.

Left winger Trevor Warnaar scored the last three goals of the game against the Gaels as the Mustangs scored four goals for the third time in the last four games. Warnaar has scored five goals in Western's last two games and is building on the best season of his OUA career; he has already scored a career-high in goals and is one point away from matching his 2015-2016 total of 13.

Western Goaltender Brendan McGlynn earned the first victory of his OUA career, quickly bouncing back from allowing five goals the night before to stop 39 of 40 shots he faced.

Finding stability from the defence and goaltenders have been a challenge for the Mustangs all season as they currently allow the second-most goals per game and their 70.6% penalty killing percentage is the lowest in the OUA – though eight of the 15 goals they have allowed on the penalty kill came in their first two games.

Ryerson won't make it easy for Western to improve on their defensive statistics; the Rams pressure opposing goaltenders with the fourth most shots in the OUA and fourth highest goals per game.

Led by OUA goal-scoring leader Matt Mistele, the Rams scored five goals on Saturday against the Carleton Ravens' tough defence that sits fifth in the OUA in goals against average. Mistele is following his impressive rookie season with a points-per-game ratio close to two and has multiple points in seven of his last eight games, surely making him a top concern for Mustang defensemen.

The Mustangs take on the Lancers the following night looking to sweep the season series between the teams.

Western defeated Windsor 4-2 in their first matchup earlier this month thanks to strong discipline and balanced scoring. They only found themselves on the penalty kill once, an opportunity goaltender #Zach Springer and the Mustangs were able to stifle. Playing for the first time in four games, center Ray Huether# scored the game winner in the third period. The goal marked the fifth time in the first six games of the season that Western was able to score at least three goals, though this was only second victory of the season at the time. With a position near the bottom of the playoff standings, Western will look to repeat their performance and shorten the gap between themselves and the sixth-placed Lancers.