In case you haven't noticed, the Prince George Cougars are making advances in the chase for a WHL playoff spot.
And on Saturday night, a guy named Chase put them right into the thick of that race.
Chase Witala couldn't have picked a better time to have one of his most productive games of the season, with two goals and two assists in a 4-2 win over the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Playing on a line with Jansen Harkins and Zach Pochiro, the 19-year-old Witala thrived in his role as an offensive catalyst and combined with his linemates to limit the Warriors top forward trio - Braden Point, Alex Blomquist and Jack Rodwald to one goal.
"Those guys (Witala, Pochiro and Harkins) played a double role tonight, providing offensively and defensively - they've really been on their game lately and it's much needed and we appreciate it," said Cougars 20-year-old left-winger Jari Erricson.
Moose Jaw took the Cougars by surprise 1:39 into the game when Austin Adams blasted in a loose puck from the slot but Witala had an answer for that a couple minutes later, set up by a pass from Harkins after a steal along the corner boards.
Josh Connolly gave the Cougars the lead late in the first period with a point blast and scored his 11th of the season early in the second with another low shot that found its way past a screened Brody Willms. Point, a Tampa Bay prospect, was left unchecked in front and cut the lead in half 8:05 into the second and the Warriors had three power-play opportunities in the second half of the game to try for the equalizer but ran into roadblock named Ty Edmonds.
Edmonds, who has been in top form all month, was at his best in the third period, when he stopped all 17 shots he faced for a 32-save total. In eight games in February, the 18-year-old from Winnipeg has a 2.95 goals-against average, .926 save percentage and a 3-2-1-1 record. That's a far cry from his January numbers (4.53 GAA, .864 save percentage) while the Cougars were in the midst of an 11-game losing streak. That lengthy skid is starting to seem like a distant memory for the Cougars.
"We wouldn't be winning the games we are now without our goalies, they're really running the bus for us and they're coming up with the timely saves we need," said Erricson. "Guys are playing desperate hockey on this team, we all want to make playoffs."
With the Cougars ahead 3-2, Erricson had a chance to add to the lead on a penalty shot with 44 second left in the second period after he got hauled down from behind by Brett Howden on a breakaway. But Willms, the Warriors 16-year-old rookie goalie, stuck out his leg to stuff Erricson's deke attempt. Erricson came close to scoring again while shorthanded on a 2-on-1 early in the third period but wired his snapshot off the crossbar.
Witala chipped in the insurance goal, his 30th goal of the season, off the leg of an outstretched Willms with 4:25 left. That came right after Cougars defenceman Tomas Andrlik saved a goal midway through the period when he got his chest in front of Tanner Eberle's shot in a mad scramble in front, which took Edmonds out of position.
The Warriors were playing their fourth game in five days, ending a seven-game, 13-day road trip and for the most part the Cougars played like they were the better-rested team. They had nearly a week to work out the bugs in practice since their game Monday in Edmonton.
"I thought their goalie played well, we just didn't dig in at the right times and made a couple mistakes and P.G. made us pay for it," said Warriors head coach Tim Hunter. "They're a good team and they caught us at the end of a road trip, not that I'm making excuses. This was a winnable game for us. I wished we would have capitalized on some of those power plays."
The Cougars are the league's most penalized team, averaging 19.1 minutes per game, and played shorthanded five times against the WHL's fourth-most disciplined team. The Warriors reduced their penalty average to 12.2 minutes per game, having to kill off just one penalty.
Now with points in six of their last eight games, the Cougars (24-33-2-2) clawed closer to a playoff position. They stayed three points behind the Vancouver Giants, who were 1-0 winners Saturday at home over the Kamloops Blazers. The Giants are third in the B.C. Division and eighth overall in the Western Conference. The Cougars are now five points behind the seventh-place Tri-City Americans for a possible wild-card spot.
"When we were losing all those games we had no confidence and we ended that slump with a win over Edmonton and we've just built on that since then," said Connolly. "Obviously (Edmonds) has been incredible."
The Warriors (24-31-4-1) went 3-3-1-0 on their trip and remained five points out of a Eastern Conference playoff spot.
With the Canada Games resuming this week, the Cougars are taking to the road for practices in Quesnel, Williams Lake and 100 Mile House, where they will spend time with minor hockey players in various functions planned for those cities.
"I remember playing against those teams - Quesnel and Williams Lake - as a little kid and it will be nice as a northern team giving back to the northern communities " said Erricson.
The Cougars' next game is Friday in Seattle.
