Campbell River goalie Tyler Bachmeier made 49 saves, but it was Kyle Bixby, the only player on the ice able to bulge the twine, scoring twice to lead the Oceanside Generals to a wild 2-0 win over the visiting Storm Saturday night.

The hometown Save On Foods Generals had their foot on the gas in this one, going after the Storm in waves, mounting a full-on body assault, and keeping the visitors hemmed in their end for most of the game. The Gens out-shot the Storm 18-8 in the opening period, but Bachmeier made one big save after another to keep it a 0-0 tie after 20 minutes.

Bixby (Nolan O’Brien, Sam Corcoran) scored the only goal of the second period, and salted the win at 14:13 of the third.

In his third season with the Gens, the hard-nosed 19-year-old power forward is riding a six game point streak.

As of Monday, Bixby leads the team in scoring with eight goals and 13 assists for 21 points to go along with 42 penalty minutes in 23 games

“He’s playing great,” Johnston said of Bixby. “He’s just becoming one of our go-to guys that we knew he’d become.”

The Storm, now 5-18-1 and still last in the North Division, threw a scare into the Gens Friday night in front of a loud crowd numbering 600 strong at George Pearkes Arena. However, Jason Wark shoveled in a rebound with 11 seconds left in the game, and the G-men escaped with a 5-4 win.

“I was really happy with the way we played last night,” Johnston said Sunday, adding, “we had a pretty matter-of-fact pre-game meeting and the message was clear, that there are a number of guys who have a very small window to start playing the way we want them to play.”

Oceanside leveled a season high 51 shots at the opposition’s cage Saturday, while the Storm could only muster 14 the other way.

As for Wark, 17, the big winger from Campbell River was a force along the boards Saturday, knocking the stuffing out of any Storm player in his path.

“He’s showing improvement — he has shown flashes of brilliance,” said Johnston, adding that at 6’3” 190-plus, “that’s how he needs to play to be effective. When you’re a big body and skates as well as he does, you have to physically dominate teams.”

Johnston also had props for forward Tuff Pierro-Zabotel “who had a really strong weekend for us,” and for big local blueliner Mark Pearce who played “probably his best game as a General Saturday night.”

Oceanside out-shot CR 39-24 Friday night. Braedan Johnson was in net for the Gens for both games, as was Bachmeier for the Storm.

“He was exceptional both nights,” Johnston said of the opposing goalie, adding, “we didn’t capitalize on our power play — that was the only reason the game was that close.”

Winners of nine of their last 10 games and five straight, the weekend sweep ups Oceanside’s VIJHL regular season to 13-9-1 and pulls them within six points of the Kerry Park Islanders who have been struggling of late, for first in the North.

GAME ON

The Generals are in for a big test this week as they travel to Victoria on Thursday to tangle with the VIJHL’s first place Cougars (19-2-3 overall and 8-2 in their last 10), and return to Oceanside Place for the back end of the home-and-home Saturday (7:30 p.m. start).