LONDON, Ont. – Four power play goals helped carry the Mustangs over the Windsor Lancers on Friday evening, securing a 7-3 win over the Windsor Lancers for their final game of 2017.
With the win the Mustangs head into the December break with a 5-9-2 record and only one point away from a playoff spot. The loss pushes the Lancers record to 5-6-4, maintaining their sixth place standing in the OUA West.
The Mustangs' special teams contingent stole the spotlight tonight, killing off two penalties and registering four power play goals.
"On both ends of special teams, our power play was good also, but penalty kill especially," said Cody Brown, "I took a four-minute penalty and we killed that off thankfully, and that put us in a good position for the rest of the game."
Brown put two goals on the board for Western, with both coming on the power play. Warnaar,
Mitchell Brooks,
Kyle Pettit,
Kolten Olynek, and
Anthony Stefano rounded out the scoring effort with one goal each, while #Rob Polesello# racked up three assists.
"Especially with the effort last night when the first two periods weren't good against Ryerson, but we played a good third…we tried to carry that into tonight which I think we did a pretty good job of," said Warnaar. "Everyone played well from the goalie out, [McGlynn] made some good stops and we were able to put up seven spots. You can win many games with those numbers."
Windsor put up 45 shots against Brendan McGlynn, but could only get three past the newest Mustang goaltender, with only Chris Scott, Brennan Feasey, and Ryan Shaw were successful in beating McGlynn.
The Lancers took two penalties to start the game, allowing Western to surge ahead to a two-goal lead within the first 10 minutes of play.
All three of the first period goals came courtesy of special teams, with Brown starting off the scoring only three minutes into the game with a power play marker. Brooks would knock his second of the season halfway through the frame, followed by Pettit to end the period with a 3-1 advantage.
The Mustangs put up two more goals in the second, with Warnaar's goal coming a mere minute into the period, before Olynek notched his fourth goal of the season midway through the period to give the Mustangs a 5-1 lead. Feasey hit the back of the net for the Lancers in the final minute of the frame to send the game into the third with Western up 5-2.
Western didn't wait long to extend their lead to four goals as Brown scored his second power play goal of the night less than a minute into the period.
The Lancers responded late in the frame by flexing their skills on special teams and added a third goal to their total on a short-handed breakaway.
That would be as close as things would get, as Stefano would score an empty net goal with a little under three minutes remaining to give the Mustangs a 7-3 win.
The Mustangs are now halfway through the season and will be on a break until the new year. Western will face off at home against the Waterloo Warriors on January 5, in Thompson Arena at 7 p.m.
"[The break] comes at a great time for us," said assistant coach Patrick Oullet. "The guys battled really hard and our record, we're not too happy with our record. But with what we've gone through, the break is the best Christmas we could have right now."
