Travis Blanleil would be a 50-goal scorer if somehow the Westside Warriors could schedule more home game on a Sunday afternoon.
Blanleil scored three times Sunday, leading the Warriors to a 6-3 victory over the visiting Salmon Arm Silverbacks and a weekend sweep over the Interior Conference rivals.
A week ago, Blanleil had two goals and an assist in a 10-2 thumping of Victoria.
"We were actually joking about that during the intermission. I don't know what it is," says Blanleil.
"Maybe I just don't have all day to think about it so I just come out here and play."
And play he did.
Blanleil's first goal was a highlight reel goal in any league. He deked two defencemen and starting netminder Kurt Williams before roofing a backhand for his 9th of the year.
"I think it was a one-on-two, I just slipped by the D-man, I really don't know how. The goalie went down so I put it backhand upstairs."
His second was the result of some brilliant work by linemate Seb Lloyd who corralled a high lob pass and somehow managed to find Blanleil in front of the net for an easy tap in.
Blanleil hat-trick goal came on a wrister from the top of the right faceoff circle during a Warriors power-play.
Max French, Ben Betker and Connor Dempsey also scored for the Warriors. Lloyd, Marcus Basara and David Pope all chipped in with a pair of assists.
The Silverbacks opened the scoring and had a chance to double the lead when Myles McCauley was hauled down on a breakaway – resulting in a penalty shot.
Dwayne Rodrigue appeared to get a piece of McCauley's shot, sending it wide to keep Westside within one.
The Warriors, who held a majority of the play up until then, dominated from there on out.
Blanleil scored goals 1:40 apart before French made it 3-1 less than a minute later.
The Warriors outshot Salmon Arm 25-10 during a loosely played opening period.
Williams was given the hook after the opening period in favour of back-up Adam Clark.
The Silverbacks cut the deficit to one 13:35 into the second before the Warriors again gained control with two more before the end of the second.
Sunday's tilt was the second meeting between the two teams in less than 48 hours and the first since the clubs combined for 146 minutes in penalties during a fight filled third period on Friday night.
That game resulted in two-game suspensions to Warriors Peter MacIntosh and Reid Simmonds as well as Mike Berry and Devin Muller of Salmon Arm.
The only hint of retribution came just eight seconds after the opening whistle, when Braden Pears of the Silverbacks tangled with Warrior Devon Hascarl.
The Silverbacks were looking to settle the score after Hascarl's rough treatment of Morgan Zulinick during a line brawl in Friday's tilt.
Westside has now won three in a row, outscoring their opponents 20-5 in the process.
The return of forwards Lloyd and Pope and defenceman Josh Monk has certainly made a difference.
"They are all offensive guys and they're all power-play guys," adds Blanleil.
"I think it really helps our confidence and our momentum having those guys back. Everybody is excited for them and we're just playing for each other right now."
Blanleil says it's kind of an 'us against the world mentality.'
The weekend wins move the Warriors into a sixth place tie with Salmon Arm, five points in back of fifth place Vernon and 10 behind Chilliwack.
The Warriors have 21 games left in the regular season.
They'll put their modest three-game winning streak on the line when they play in Merritt Wednesday and Penticton Friday, before hosting Vernon on Saturday.
Visit The General’s Report for more coverage of the Westside Warriors.
