It's been a roller coaster of a season for Guelph Storm goaltender Brayden Gillespie.
The third-year netminder has had his share of rough patches, including several starts where he got the early hook, but lately the Oakville native has been looking more like his former self.
Gillespie played a solid game Sunday as the Storm fell 4-0 to the London Knights in front of 4,700 at the Sleeman Centre.
One of the goals came on a rebound after he stopped a breakaway and another came on a London power play. As is often the case against London, many of his 29 saves came on high quality scoring chances.
"At the start of the season I was really up and down. I felt good but the results just weren't there in my play and I feel bad because I wasn't helping the team. But just recently I found a step ... more excitement and a new life and we've been playing really good."
Success breeds confidence which helps create consistency.
"Yeah it does. It just feels like every puck you see you're going to stop and you build from there."
Bad games can snowball.
"You have to talk to the people you trust," Gillespie said, giving a shout out to the team's mental health coach Ashwin Patel for helping him through the tough spots.
"It's all in the head. Some games are going to be bad and some games are going to be good. Just focus on those really good games, find what makes them good and just go from there."
Gillespie also has the weight of being the veteran expected to shoulder the load while 15-year-old backup Colin Ellsworth adjusts to this level.
"I just want to be a good mentor, show them the way and show them how to compete and be a good teammate."
Easton Cowan scored the only goal London would need at 5:10 of the first period. London added one in the second period and two in the third to round out the scoring. Austin Elliott earned his first OHL shutout with 27 saves.
Easton Cowan, Oliver Bonk, Nathan Read and Denver Barkey had the goals for London. Two of the London goals were the direct results of careless Storm giveaways near their own blue line.
Guelph had its fair share of chances to get on the board, particularly by the big line of Vilmer Alriksson, Jett Luchanko and Max Namestnikov, but failed to solve Elliott.
The Storm power play went 0-for-3.
"It was a very different game. I felt better in there, more confident," Gillespie said, referring to an 8-7 loss last Sunday to the Knights, also on home ice. Gillespie added you always want to play a team right away after they had their way with you in a game.
"That's the whole thing. I think if we go against them again right away we have a good chance of beating them. They're a really good team, but when we play our best we can beat any team in the league."
The Storm called up free agent Daniel Berehowski from the Ayr Centennials for Saturday's game. Daniel is the son of former Toronto Maple Leafs first round pick and OHLer Drake Berehowski.
Guelph hits the road this week for games in North Bay Thursday and Sudbury Friday. Next home game isn't until Nov. 29 when Windsor visits.
