By Rob Vona
The Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold men’s hockey team defeated the Western Mustangs on Wednesday night by a score of 4-1 at the Mattamy Athletic Centre.
With the win, the Bold sit just three points behind the Brock Badgers for first place in the Ontario University Athletics (OUA) West division and have won five of their last six games.
“I think we’re starting to really fire on all cylinders,” said Bold head coach Johnny Duco following the game on his team’s recent hot streak. “In all aspects, we’re starting to play the way we’re capable of.”
A 10-minute misconduct penalty for a hit to the head was assigned to Mustangs first-year forward Owen Saye just 12 seconds into the game.
Although the Bold failed to capitalize on their first powerplay of the game, they dominated the entirety of the first period with lots of time in the offensive zone and great scoring chances in front of the net.
Captain and third-year forward Chris Playfair broke the ice with a powerplay goal with just under seven minutes left in the period, burying his own rebound to put TMU ahead by one.
After a one-sided 20 minutes of action, Mustangs goalie Dylan Myskiw kept his team in it. The third-year netminder turned away 23 of the 24 shots he faced in the first period as the visitors trailed by one heading into the second period.
“We knew against a team like Western we wanted to get on their defence a lot,” said Bold second-year forward Connor Bowie.
“For us the focus is on taking care of business”
The Mustangs came out of the dressing room with a come-from-behind mentality.
Western headed to their first powerplay of the game after TMU fourth-year forward Zach Roberts was assessed a two-minute penalty for roughing.
Bold goaltender Kai Edmonds made a sprawling save to turn away a backdoor scoring chance from the Mustangs—preserving the one-goal lead and serving as a catalyst for the eventual penalty kill.
Just under six minutes into the second period, Bowie scored his 10th goal of the year off a deflection from second-year defenceman Evan Brand’s slapshot from the point.
“[Brand] is an awesome teammate, he’s a great penalty killer and he’ll really do anything we ask of him,” Bowie said.
After two periods of play, TMU racked up a whopping 34 shots and owned a 2-0 lead.
It took less than five minutes for the Bold to continue to pressure Western as third-year forward Kevin Gursoy beat Myskiw via the five-hole and made it a 3-0 game.
Third-year Western forward Andrew Bruder took a high-sticking penalty just before the halfway mark of the period, but the Mustangs made the most of their situation despite being down a man.
A breakout pass from Western third-year defenseman Jack Sander sprung first-year forward Noah Danielson on a two-on-one while shorthanded.
Danielson elected to keep the puck and pick the top-left corner, beating Edmonds short side to get his squad on the board and cut it to a two-goal lead with just under nine minutes to go.
However, less than three minutes later, third-year Bold forward Kyle Bollers put the nail in the coffin, scoring his 17th goal of the year. Bollers, with an incredible effort, slid the puck home past Myskiw while falling to restore the three-goal Bold advantage.
The Mustangs pressured late but it was to no avail as the Bold cruised to a 4-1 win as they inch closer to a first-round bye in the OUA playoffs.
“For us, whether we come first or second, that’s the priority,” said Duco on receiving the first-round bye. “Getting that first-round bye and putting ourselves in a position where we’re in the semi-finals…for us the focus is on taking care of business.”
With the win, Edmonds moves to fourth all-time in TMU men’s hockey wins as a goalie, tallying his 27th win in his two years with the Bold.
“They’re kind of team wins at the same time,” said Edmonds on his accolade. “It’s definitely nice to know.”
The Bold now sit in second with a five-point lead over their cross-town rival, the University of Toronto Varsity Blues with just three games to go.
“We got to make sure we’re at our absolute best Friday night and not leave any points on the table down the stretch here,” said Duco.
UP NEXT: The Bold take a quick trip on the subway and head to Varsity Arena for a matchup against the Varsity Blues. Puck-drop is set for 7:00 p.m. on Feb. 2.
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