Tate Olson's bomb from the blueline was right on target.
It hit nothing but net and provided the Prince George Cougars all they needed to complete a come-from-behind 3-1 win victory over the Everett Silvertips Friday night in Everett.
The 17-year-old defenceman teed off on a pass back to the point from Zach Pochiro for his fourth goal of the season and it couldn't have come at a better time for the Cougars, 14:55 into the third period.
Chase Witala provided icing on the cake for the Cats with a minute left, stealing the puck behind the Everett net and dumping it into the net with goalie Austin Lotz on the bench for the extra skater. It was Witala's team-leading 17th goal of the season.
Trailing 1-0 after the second intermission, the Cougars needed just 90 seconds of the third period to tie it up. Brad Morrison created a turnover in the offensive end and fed a pass to Jansen Harkins in the slot that the 17-year-old North Vancouver native buried past Lotz. That left Harkins with 10 goals and 35 points in 32 games, one more point than he managed in 67 games as a rookie in 2013-14.
Harkins also came to the aid of a teammate near the end of the first period and dropped the gloves in a scrap with Silvertips winger Dawson Leedahl, the first fight of Harkins's WHL career.
The Silvertips and Cougars started the game at opposite ends of the scale in total penalty minutes. Through 31 games, the Cougars were the league's most penalized team with 649 minutes in the box, an average of 20.9 minutes per game. Everett, the WHL's least penalized team had only 245 minutes of penalty tie through 29 games, an 8.4 average per game.
For the most part, the Cougars bucked that trend and stayed disciplined. The Silvertips went 1-for-4 on the power play while the Cougars were 0-for-3. Everett outshot the Cougars 27-20.
The Silvertips opened the scoring with the only goal of the opening 40 minutes, scoring on a 5-on-3 power play 18 minutes into the first period. Kohl Bauml had an open net to dump in a rebound behind Ty Edmonds after a shot from the point from Noah Juulsen. That came with Cougars forwards Aaron Macklin and Zach Pochiro serving minor penalties taken 25 seconds apart.
It was the fourth straight victory for the Cougars (17-15-0-0) who remained third in the B.C. Division, just two points behind the Victoria Royals (17-1-5-2-0), who lost 6-3 Friday to the Vancouver Giants in Victoria. The Cougars have two games in hand over the Royals.
The Cougars will be in Spokane tonight to take on the Chiefs (15-12-3-0), who beat the Portland Winterhawks 4-3 Friday in Portland. The Chiefs will travel to Prince George to face the Cats at CN Centre Tuesday and Wednesday.
