KINGSTON, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team normally doesn't go long between victories. So three winless games to start the OUA season had to be frustrating for a group with high expectations. The Gryphons released some of that emotion Friday night and got their first "W" of the 2018/19 campaign in style, riding a four-goal, second-period outburst to defeat the Queen's Gaels 7-1 in Kingston.
 
Cody Thompson, Todd Winder, and Marc Stevens each had two goals, while captain Scott Simmonds also tallied for Guelph, to go along with two assists. First-year goaltender Evan Cormier earned the first win of his OUA career, stopping 22 of 23 that came his way.
 
The Gryphons began the second period tied 1-1 with Queen's and after successfully killing off a two-man advantage, blew the doors open with four unanswered goals. Simmonds started the barrage with his third of the season on a play where he got to the net and put one past goalie Jack Finn. Guelph continued to get bodies around the Queen's goalie and Winder made it 3-1 when he drove to the net and scored before being taken out by a Gaels defender.
 
Queen's took a five-minute major and the potent Guelph power play made the hosts pay. Stevens buried a one-timer at 14:35 of the second period to stretch the lead to three goals and less than a minute later, Thompson scored his second on the same man advantage, putting the game out of reach for the Gaels.
 
The Gryphons were desperate to register their first win of the season and were on their way after scoring on the power play for a 1-0 lead at 10:41 of the first period. Mark Raycroft chipped the puck off the boards to Thompson, who gathered it and made a nice move to his forehand before notching his third of the young season.
 
Grahame Brown tied it up for Queen's late in the period with a point shot that got by Cormier.
 
Winder and Stevens would add a goal each in the third period. Guelph finished the night with three power-play markers.

 
Gryphon Take
"It was a real solid effort from top to bottom. We had timely saves when we needed it, our D corps moved the puck well and our forwards moved to positions to put us in great scoring situations. Our special teams came to life. We've been pushing to get better every game and we were rewarded with the result. We have to continue to push." – head coach Shawn Camp

 
The Record
Guelph is 1-1-0-2.

 
Next up
@ RMC, Saturday, Oct. 20, 7 pm