Vancouver Giants outplayed defending WHL champions Moose Jaw Warriors Saturday night, Nov. 2 inflicting a 6-2 defeat before 4,321 at Langley Events Centre.
Giants forward Cameron Schmidt scored his 15th, 16th and 17th goals, Tyus Sparks scored his first career Western Hockey League goal in the first period, while Adam Titlbach and captain Mazden Leslie also found the back of the net.
Matthew Hutchison picked up his sixth win of the season with 19 saves.
Warriors got goals from Rilen Kovacevic and Ethan Hughes.
G-Men are now 9-4-2 on the season, including a run of 4-0-2 over their last six contests. Vancouver outshot the Warriors 34-21, a new season-best.
Giants Head Coach Manny Viveiros called the enthusiastic fans "outstanding, again."
"It was electric," Viveiros said.
"Whether we're up a goal or down a goal, or whatever, the crowd is always into it. It gives our kids an extra boost. We love playing at home."
Viveiros described the difference between Friday's 7-6 win and Saturday's 6-2 win as a "completely different game."
"We went over it (Friday) and talked to the kids and we challenged them. We said we're going to clean some things up in our game and they certainly did tonight. It was a solid game. We caught a team that is tired, but we've been on that side of it too, so you don't feel sorry for that – you've got to go out and play the game. They competed hard, but I thought structurally our game was really solid tonight."
Sparks was "really excited" to get his first WHL marker.
"I was pumped for the rest of the game," Sparks remarked.
"We were just playing our structure very well and not allowing a lot of shots on our own net."
All three stars of the game were Giants, with Schmidt first, Titlbach second and Sparks third.
Schmidt's hat-trick was his sixth multi-goal game of the season.
Next, Giants are on the road for two games against the Prince George Cougars on Saturday, Nov. 9 and Sunday, Nov, 10.
They return home Friday, Nov. 15 to host the Kamloops Blazers at LEC. Game begins at 7 p.m.
