On Heroes Night at CN Centre, the Prince George Cougars were looking for somebody in a black jersey to come to their rescue and lead them out of danger.
Chase Witala and Nick McBride both stepped to the head of the line to answer the call, leading to a come-from-behind 4-2 win Friday over the Edmonton Oil Kings.
When the Cougars needed a goal to break a 2-2 deadlock late in the third period, Witala made the most of his chance, hammering in a behind the-net pass from linemate Brogan O'Brien for the game-winner on a Cougars power play, 15:04 into the third period.
Witala sealed it in the final minute of the game with his second of the night, deflecting the puck past goalie Patrick Dea. Witala also picked up an assist for a three-point night.
McBride, the 18-year-old Cougars goalie acquired Thursday in a trade from Prince Albert, was called into service 8:16 into the second period when starting goalie Ty Edmonds got hurt and was unable to continue.
With his new teammates rallying around him on the ice, he ended up pitching a 10-shot shutout to earn his first victory in a Cougars' uniform.
The win improved the Cougars record to 9-7-1-0. They remain fifth in the Western Conference. The Oil Kings (7-10-3-0) had their winning streak halted at three games.
After a scoreless first period, the Oil Kings struck for two quick goals in the second period. Andrew Koep took advantage of giveaway in the Cougars' end and got the puck on his stick all alone just outside the crease.
Koep drifted across and tucked the puck into the open side behind Edmonds. Brett Pollock made it 2-0 a couple minutes later with a wrist shot from just inside the face-off circle that found its way through a crowd.
The Cougars got one of those back at the 8:16 mark of the second period. Jansen Harkins was perfectly positioned in the slot as linemate Witala drew two Oil King defenders just before he fed Harkins a perfect pass.
It was the second goal of the season for Harkins, who led the Cougars with 79 points in his sophomore season last year.
Edmonds got hurt just before that, while the Cougars were starting their second power play of the game. Oil Kings winger Luke Bertolucci took off with the puck and with a burst of speed got behind the Cougars defence and was in alone by the time he reached the blueline and he got the shot away as he got slashed from behind by Gabrielle.
Edmonds went down and appeared to hurt his knee as he dug his skate in to get to the opposite side to make the save.
The 19-year-old Prince George goalie stayed in the game but was obviously favouring his left leg as he got into his crouch. Right after Harkins scored, Cougars athletic therapist Craig Hyslop came out for the second time to check on Edmonds and he helped him skate to the bench.
Edmonds started the game with a league-leading .937 save percentage and 2.10 goals-against average, fifth-best in the WHL.
Gabrielle tied it 31 seconds into the final frame after a face-off win by O'Brien. Gabrielle's quick shot from a sharp angle found a narrow seam high on goalie Patrick Dea.
With McBride into his first game action this season, after missing more than month awaiting the trade from the Prince Albert Raiders, the Cougars tried to make it easy on him and tightened up considerably on defence, rarely allowing the Oil Kings to penetrate the offensive zone.
Tate Olson returned to the Cougars lineup after missing six games with an upper-body injury.
The 18-year-old Vancouver Canucks draft pick was second in team scoring when he got hurt, with eight points in 10 games.
The Cougars were without 17-year-old defenceman Josh Anderson, who suffered an eye injury when he got high-sticked last week.
LOOSE PUCKS: The rematch goes tonight at 7. The Cougars will board the bus right after the game and head to Kamloops, where they play the Blazers Sunday night... Pollock (a Dallas Stars draft pick) and Arizona Coyotes prospect D Dysin Mayo each scored for Team WHL in this week's Canada Russia Super Series. Pollack's goal came in Tuesday's 4-2 win in Kelowna, while Mayo scored Monday in Kamloops to help the WHL to a 7-3 victory... Oil Kings RW Davis Koch returned to action Friday after missing 13 games with a lower-body injury and RW Tyson Gruninger played after three games sidelined with a lower-body condition... Payton Lee backed up Dea on the bench in his first game with Edmonton. The Oil Kings acquired the 19-year-old on Thursday in a trade from the Vancouver Giants for a sixth-round bantam pick in 2016.
