Ryan Callahan pointed them in the right direction and the Guelph Storm did the rest.
The former Guelph Storm great was honoured in a pre-game ceremony Saturday before the Storm faced off against the Kitchener Rangers, earning a roar from the Sleeman Centre crowd when he ended his brief speech with "one of my favourite things to do when I played was beat the Kitchener Rangers."
The Storm did just that, downing Kitchener 5-3 in a game that wasn't really as close as that score might suggest.
Back-to-back wins finally put some smiles on some faces in the Storm dressing room.
Guelph jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, holding the visitors to just two shots on net. It was 5-1 after two periods.
Matt Poitras lead the way with his second-consecutive four-point game, two goals and two assists.
"We had a tough start but it seems like things are coming together," said the Boston Bruins draft pick. "We're playing the game the right way and there's some reward for us.
"At the start of the year when you're losing so many games in a row, there's not much confidence., but we had two good games last week, even if we didn't get the results we wanted, but just to build off that and get the two big wins this weekend."
Jake Karabela, Cam Allen and Max Namestnikov had the other Storm goals. Jacob Oster made 17 saves in the Storm net.
Poitras said it's also nice to get an early lead, something that hasn't happened much this season.
"Playing behind is really hard in this league. When you're down two quick, playing catch-up the entire game is kinda' tough. Getting the lead right away and staying with our style helps."
Storm coach Chad Wiseman could sense the relief in the room.
"It's a little bit more fun when you're winning," Wiseman said, "and confidence plays a big part of that ... The guys worked hard this week. They earned it."
Wiseman agreed that the game is much easier when you have a lead.
"We got behind the eight ball early in the season when we were chasing a lot of games and that's a tough way to play the game. You can't chase the game.
"It's a huge step in the right direction, these two games."
Callahan, joined by wife Kayla and children Evelyn, Domenic and Charlotte, had his number 24 jersey raised to the rafters Saturday, joining fellow Storm greats Jeff O'Neill and Todd Bertuzzi.
Guelph has a home and home with Owen Sound next weekend, Friday in Guelph and Saturday in Owen Sound.
