Ty Edmonds must like the spotlight of a national TV audience.
With all those eyes watching him perform miracles for the Prince George Cougars, the 18-year-old goaltender came up with his finest performance of the season Friday night in Kelowna, where he made 37 saves to backstop the Cougars to a surprising 4-3 victory over the first-place Rockets.
That's not to say he didn't get plenty of help from his teammates, who scored timely goals and sacrificed their bodies to block shots on numerous occasions while holding off the league's top power play. But Edmonds left no doubt he was his team's best penalty-killer and made that clear in the final two minutes when the Cats were forced to kill off two minor penalties. His glove save off Riley Stadel was a thing of beauty, and while the Rockets did eventually cash in on one of the chances when Rourke Chartier made it a one-goal game with 1:15 left, Edmonds made sure that's as close as it got.
But it was a nailbiter to the end. With 34 seconds left, Cats defenceman Tate Olson put a clearing shot over the glass and on the ensuing power play the Rockets came within a Chartier goalpost of tying it. The Rockets went 1-for-8 on the power play, including a five-minute advantage in the third period.
The win left the Cats with a 14-15-0-0 record, while Kelowna dropped 23-4-3-0.
Down 2-0, the Cougars responded with four unanswered goals to take a two-goal lead into the second intermission. Marc NcNulty triggered the comeback with a power-play shot from the point that ticked the crossbar and dropped in behind Jackson Whistle. Witala tied it at the 5:06 mark, banging in a rebound in the crease after linemate David Soltes nailed the crossbar.
The Cats stood up to the Rockets' pressure and grabbed the lead late in the period with goals 63 seconds apart. Defenceman San Ruopp, who was a physical presence all night, collected his second goal of the season on a one-timer set up with a pass from behind the goalline from Zach Pochiro. Then with 12 seconds left in the period, Pochiro batted down a high pass from Soltes and got the puck on net and Witala picked up his fourth point of the game, chipping in the loose puck with his second shot off the rebound.
It took just 35 seconds for the Rockets' top line to connect. Nick Merkley picked up his 10th goal and league-leading 50th point when he got his stick on linemate Tyrell Goulbourne's long cross-ice pass while standing close to the post. The Rockets made it 2-0 on a shot from the slot from Justin Kirkland that snuck under the glove of Edmonds.
The Cougars take their road show to Kamloops to face the Blazers tonight.
