WATERLOO, Ont. - New night, same story for the Laurier Golden Hawks as they won a 2-0 decision against the visiting Waterloo Warriors on Saturday night. It also came on the back of great goaltending, an efficient penalty kill, and secondary scoring for their third straight win.
Confidence is high for the Golden Hawks at the moment, as Patrick Brown remarked after picking up the game-winning goal.
"In the locker room, we feel like we can beat anyone on any night," Brown said after the game.
It's not just confidence, either. Manager of Men's Hockey Operations & Head Coach Greg Puhalski mentioned how his team "wants it more than ever, and the drive to win is sky high" after seeing how quickly a season can disappear because of COVID.
Adding his first OUA career shutout to the list, Christian Propp (Burlington, Ont.) has been a literal wall in the net during the winning streak. Over the last three games, Propp has a 0.66 GAA and a .978 save percentage. Furthermore, his 1.86 GAA and .937 save percentage for the season are good for second and third in the OUA, respectively.
The penalty kill remained solid, going 2 for 2 in the game, while team discipline was also better as they limited power-play opportunities for the Warriors.
Laurier got scoring across its lineup, with different players providing each goal. Notably, rookie Evan Benwell had a career-high three points in the game after getting an assist on each tally.
Similar to Thursday's game, the teams started in a neck-and-neck battle trading chances, but the goalies turned away everything in the first to keep it scoreless after 20 minutes.
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The Golden Hawks were flying to start the second as they controlled the ice with a relentless forecheck. They continued to dominate the pace of play with 17 shots on net - more than the rest of the game combined, while only allowing three Warriors attempts.
Eventually, a rebound found its way to the slot where Brown turned and fired a bullet into the top corner for the game's first goal. Adrian Nabuurs picked up his first assist of the season on the play.
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Laurier continued the offensive onslaught as they peppered the Warriors goalie with shots and wore out the defence as they were left chasing the puck. After Waterloo finally got the puck out of their zone, Laurier clogged the neutral zone for a turnover, which Mack Graham scooped up and led a two-on-one the other way.
With Justyn Gurney on his wing, Graham fired a shot on the net that squeaked through Sime, and Gurney crashed the net to seal the goal for his team-leading fifth of the season. Gurney now has back-to-back games with a goal for the second time this season.
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After the second Laurier goal, tempers flared for the Warriors as they handed the Golden Hawks their first power-play. However, the man advantage remained cold as they could not muster any goals, going 0-for-2 on the night.
Although the power-play had another goose egg, Coach Puhalski was impressed with the effort he saw from the unit.Â
"The whole point of the power-play is to drive opportunities and momentum, and I think we did a great job of doing that," he said, adding, "If we continue to play like that, we'll start to score."
In complete control, Laurier surrendered a penalty late in the second but kept the Warriors to the outside while generating even more momentum with a couple of shorthanded chances.
Not to be outdone by his linemate Brown, Matt McJannet scored after a flurry of chances less than a minute into the third period.
Brown streaked down the wing for a grade-A chance, which McJannet followed up with not one but two second-chance efforts. Then, with a wide-open net on the third shot, McJannet made no mistake to extend his team lead in points to eight (3-5-8).
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After building a 3-0 lead, the Golden Hawks didn't allow the Warriors a chance to get back into the game as they locked it down defensively. Not even a penalty late in regulation saw Laurier let its guard down, as it only gave them more fuel to pull through for their goalie, who was in search of his first OUA shutout.
It was an all-around team effort, as the Golden Hawks got contributions from across the lineup. In addition, the Warriors' offence was no match for the Laurier defensive structure, which kept Waterloo to a season-low 19 shots in the game.Â
When they did get a chance, Propp was there to shut the door with a calm demeanour that makes it easy for his team to play with confidence in front of him.
Players of the Game
Laurier
Patrick Brown - C
The rookie scored his second goal of the season, the game-winner, and moved into a four-way tie for second in team points (2-4-6). After the game, Brown talked about the strength of Coach Puhalski's game plan and his eagerness to step up and contribute when given the opportunity during this recent run.
Waterloo
Julian Sime - G (Mississauga, Ont.)
With 30 saves, the third-year goalie gave his team a chance to win tonight and was their best player in the final 40 minutes as Laurier outshot the Warriors 26-10 to finish the game.
Next Up
The Golden Hawks will be back on the ice Thursday when they take on the Guelph Gryphons in the 12th annual Frosty Mug. Head-to-head this season, the away team has gone home with the victory, with Laurier taking the first game 5-3 and Guelph winning 2-1 in the second. Catch the game live on OUA.tv.Â
