James McEwan probably doesn’t ever want to see another milkshake in his life.
The Guelph Storm forward returned to the lineup Friday night, scoring the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over the Peterborough Petes at the Sleeman Centre.
McEwan missed four weeks and eight games recovering from a broken jaw he suffered when hit in the face by a shot against the Owen Sound Attack.
“It felt pretty good,” said McEwan, who lost seven pounds over the month and still can’t eat many foods.
“I skated on my own this morning and thought I felt pretty good. It was a game-time decision. I thought I could go so I played,” he said.
“When you’re out of the lineup like that you can’t be negative, you have to look at it positively. I watched a lot of games and saw a lot of little things that could make my game better - and a few milkshakes in the stands here and there.”
Not only did McEwan supply the game winner, an off-wing wrister on a shorthanded two-on-one break in the second period, but he was also on the ice to take many key faceoffs.
He also got the tap on the shoulder from coach Jarrod Skalde in the final minute of play, a hectic 60 seconds with the Petes buzzing the Storm net.
“Especially first game back after not playing for a while,” McEwan said. “That shows the coach has a lot of confidence in me.”
Guelph led 1-0 in the first period on a Liam Stevens wrist shot, then went up 2-0 on McEwan’s shorty in the second.
Things got interesting when Semyon Der-Argochintsev scored a power goal with 8:37 left in the third period.
Despite taking the play to the Storm big time in the final 10 minutes of the third but couldn’t connect for the tying goal.
The game was a grinding, tight-checking affair with Guelph outshooting Peterborough 25-24, a very low shot aggregate by Guelph standards.
“I thought at the start of the game we looked good but then we took our foot off the gas pedal and in the third they had a lot of scoring chances,” McEwan said. “It’s important for us to play with the lead. Today we’ll learn from it and move on.”
Guelph will host the London Knights in a rare 4 p.m. start on Saturday.
It’s Todd Bertuzzi day, with the former Storm great and longtime National Hockey League veteran on hand for a pre-game jersey raising ceremony.
Many other Storm alumni will also be on hand.
Sunday the Storm wraps up a busy weekend with a game in Saginaw.
