After getting blanked last Friday, men’s hockey rebounded in spectacular fashion in a blowout win the following night.

Queen’s exploded for a 14-4 win over the RMC Paladins at home on Saturday, one night after losing 1-0 to the Carleton Ravens in Ottawa.

The Gaels’ (5-4-0) dominant performance over the Paladins (0-10-0) was keyed by forward Blair Wentworth, who scored two goals in the first period before completing his hat trick in the third.

“It’s nice to put the pucks in the net,” said Gaels captain Corey Bureau, who potted a goal and three assists against RMC. “It’ll help us get the confidence up moving forward.”

Forwards Yannick Laflamme, Patrick McGillis and Darcy Greenaway all had two goals each for the Gaels, who boasted nine different goal scorers on the night. Defenceman Spencer Abraham contributed four assists, bringing his season total to 12 points in nine games.

“We obviously buried our chances when we could,” Wentworth said. “For us to get that many goals, hopefully it jumpstarts a little run for us offensively.”

The rout was apparent from the beginning as the Gaels tallied six goals in the opening period. They jumped out to a 10-0 lead before the Paladins could net any offence.

Goaltender Chris Clarke made 28 saves on 32 shots for the Gaels, earning his second victory of the season in as many starts. Wentworth said it was nice to make the job easier for Clarke.

“We rely on our goalies a lot, so for us to put that many pucks in the net, it’s a big confidence booster,” he said.

Gaels head coach Brett Gibson said that while it was nice to get the victory over RMC, injuries on the goaltending front have forced the Paladins to start inexperienced first-year netminder Paul Mazzolin, who was clearly overmatched.

“You feel really bad, that’s all you really do as a coach,” Gibson said. “I respect their program a lot — it sucks.”

In addition to the strong showing against RMC, Gibson was pleased with his team’s game against the Ravens (8-2-0). Despite losing 1-0, Gibson said it was the best game Queen’s had played all year.

“I think it’s going to be the turning point of our season,” he said. “I was real excited about the effort. I’m not a guy that believes in moral victories, but I think we took a turn in the right direction.”

Gaels goaltender Kevin Bailie stopped 32 shots, but it was the lone goal by Carleton’s Michael McNamee that proved to be the difference.

Coming up next, the Gaels take a weekend trip to Toronto where they’ll play against two Western division opponents: the Ryerson Rams (6-3-1) on Friday and the Toronto Varsity Blues (4-6-0) on Saturday.

“Ryerson’s a great team, especially playing in Maple Leaf Gardens you have to be excited,” Gibson said. “U of T’s always tough at home. Hopefully we’ll come back with two wins.”