
Rorke Applebee turned away 22 shots to earn his second shutout of the season, leading the West Kelowna Warriors past Salmon Arm 4-0 Saturday at Royal LePage Place.
Applebee wasn't called upon to make many big stops on the night...the best chance by the Silverbacks coming on a shot that rang off the post during a first period power play.
The back end did a solid job much of the night clearing away the front of the net and keeping the Silverbacks to the outside for much of the night.
They held Salmon Arm to just six shots in the final period while protecting what was at the time a 3-0 lead.
After a slide through the first half of November, the Warriors are 2-0 to kick off December including what was Saturday one of their best efforts, top to bottom all season.
"I loved our consistency, I loved the way we played," said Warriors head coach Simon Ferguson.
"I thought it it was right up there with one of the most consistent games we've played. We played hard, played the right way and got great goaltending as well."
The win was also their fifth in a row and sixth in seven outings.
The Warriors could have had a couple during what was a scoreless first but came out flying in the second, scoring twice in a 40 second span early in the period while peppering netminder Eli Pulver with 12 shots over the first seven minutes.
"I didn't think we got to the hard areas. We talked about getting inside their zone, get shots on their net and found those hard areas and made plays in there."
Brennan Nelson opened the scoring two minutes in on the Warriors fourth power play of the night. Pulver seemed to stop Michael Salandra's initial shot from the point but it somehow squeezed behind allowing Nelson to help the puck the rest of the way for his fifth of the season.
Shortly thereafter Trent Wilson notched his sixth wiring a shot from in close off a feed from Jack Pridham.
Caden Kemkaren-Humble made it 3-0 three minutes later when Eliot Compton sprung the Calgary native free for his third of the season.
Rookie defenceman Zhenya Miles closed out the scoring three minutes into the third with a shot through traffic for his first career goal.
The third period devolved into a series of penalties and post-whistle tussles. Brennan Nelson was helped off the ice after taking a punch to the head during what the officials deemed a fight between he and Silverbacks defenceman Tristan Allen.
It was the only punch thrown.
The skirmish followed a check from behind by Michael Salandra that brought the teams together.
Saturday's game was the fourth meeting between the division rivals with the Warriors winning three including a pair of 4-0 shutouts.
The win moved the Warriors three points up on Salmon Arm and one back of the second place Vernon Vipers.
The Warriors are off until Saturday when they host the Trail Smoke Eaters in the team's annual Teddy Bear Toss game.