It was a Thanksgiving feast for the Guelph Storm at the Sleeman Centre.
The Storm got goals from eight different scorers in an 8-0 shutout of the Erie Otters on Friday night.
The Storm took a 1-0 first period lead on a short-handed goal by captain Braeden Bowman (1 goal, 2 assists) before lighting it up in the second. Four goals were scored in the middle frame including three in a span of 2:41, putting Guelph up 5-0.
14 Storm players recorded at least one point in the game.
“The (Parker) Snelgroves, (Hunter) Mackenzies, (Gavin) Grundners, (Wil) McFaddens were some of our best players tonight,” said head coach Chad Wiseman.
“Nice to see a variety of guys on the scoresheet. A lot of guys deserved the opportunity there and scored some goals and made some plays.”
Erie goaltender Nolan Lalonde (14 saves) was pulled after the fifth Guelph goal in favour of Jacob Gibbons (10 saves) who went the rest of the way.
Bowman says he likes how the younger players on the team have contributed to their success three games into the OHL season.
“Obviously, they are stepping it up big and playing like they have been in the league for a couple of years. It’s really impressive.”
The third period saw plenty of chippy play. Six of the nine game penalties occurred in the final frame. Bruce McDonald of the Otters took two penalties in the third, the last one was a major for boarding with the game already out of reach for Erie.
“I didn’t like our lack of discipline especially by our older players,” said Wiseman. “To become a winning team… you need to be disciplined in everything you do.”
Brayden Gillespie was the first star of the game and stood on his head in the first half making some big saves when the game was still close. He finished with 30 saves and the shutout.
The Storm are off to a 3-0-0-0 start despite not having forward Matthew Poitras in their line up. Poitras is still in camp with the Boston Bruins and is expected to be with the NHL club when the season starts next week.
“When we watch him play, we’ll be hollering and screaming at him when he gets on the ice,” Bowman said. “It’s a dream come true. We’re all looking up to him, it’s unreal. Good luck to him as he keeps going.”
The Storm head to London on Saturday night to face the reigning Western Conference champion Knights. Game time is 7 p.m. and you can catch all the action on 1460 CJOY beginning with the pre-game show at 6:45 p.m.