LONDON, Ont. – The Guelph Gryphons men's hockey team square off in another home-and-home series with the Western Mustangs this weekend. The first leg came in London Friday evening (March 4), with the Gryphons aiming to keep their 2022 playoff hopes alive. The visiting team wasted no time pulling away in this one as a three-goal first period helped the Gryphons bury the Mustangs and head home with a decisive 7-0 victory. The Gryphons had 7 different players with 2 or more points, including
Jaxon Camp and
Michael Little earning 3 points each.
Colton Incze made 35 saves to earn his first shutout of the season for the Gryphons.
The Gryphons made sure to send a message to the Mustangs early, hemming the Mustangs in for much of the first period, and shutting down any attack produced by the home team. The Gryphons got on the board when an offensive zone faceoff win led to a point shot from
Duncan Penman, who found the back of the net through traffic. The Gryphons would put two more goals past Mustangs goalie, David Ovsjannikov in the 1st period, chasing him out of the net. The second Gryphons goal started with an aggressive Cam Searles forecheck, Searles then found
Michael Little trailing who was able to slide the puck over to
Ted McGeen, giving him an open net.
The third goal once again saw Cam Searles using his size to work the puck along the boards, with
Michael Little supporting him again, who found
Cole Cameron on the point.
Cole Cameron sent a laser past the Mustangs goaltender, to put the Gryphons in control and up 3-0 after 20 minutes.
The Gryphons came into the 2nd period looking to build on their lead, and keep the Mustangs from finding their way back into the game. Just after the 17-minute mark, captain
Ted Nichol found the puck in the neutral zone and was joined by two other Gryphons on a 3-on-1 heading into the Mustangs zone. Nichol showed great patience waiting out the Mustangs defender, and slid a backdoor pass to
Jaxon Camp who had fought his way to the net to tap it in. The Mustangs responded with a lot of pressure for the rest of the 2nd period, looking to get back in the game heading into the 3rd, but the Gryphons held them off, and Gryphons netminder
Colton Incze stood tall for the Gryphons, ensuring they went into the third period maintaining their 4-0 lead.
The 3rd period threw some adversity at the Gryphons, as they had to kill off two separate 5 on 3 powerplays, and a 4 minute powerplay for the Mustangs. However, the Gryphons penalty kill, that has been strong all season, gave the Mustangs no room to breathe and the Gryphons put home three more 3rd period goals to take home the first half of the home-and-home in a shutout victory.
The Gryphons victory Friday night, combined with a Lakehead loss, means the Gryphons are still well in the hunt for a playoff spot. The defending OUA champions will look to use the momentum from this win, heading back home for a Saturday night to face off against the Western Mustangs. Puck drop at the Gryphon Centre on Saturday night (March 5) is set for 7:30pm. The Gryphons now have four games remaining on their 2021-22 regular season schedule, all of which will come on home ice.
