CUT TO THE ‘CHASE’
In 295 career games in the WHL Chase Witala has put forth some memorable performances and Tuesday night in Prince George was another one for the books. The 20-year-old Prince George, B.C. native had two goals and an assist in regulation and then ended the game in Round 6 of the shootout helping the Cougars complete the 5-4 comeback shootout victory over the Vancouver Giants. Brad Morrison chipped in with two assists while Cougars goaltender Ty Edmonds turned aside all six shots he faced in the shootout to help the Cougars to their 34th victory of the season. Alec Baer had a goal and two helpers in response for the Giants.
58 seconds into the game the Giants took a 1-0 lead when Alec Baer knocked home a Trevor Cox pass and home for his 19th. Ty Ronning then doubled the Giants lead at 11:43 with his 30th of the season off a failed Cougars clearing attempt.
Late in the first though the Cougars answered when Chase Witala raced down the right wing and placed a perfect shot past the blocker of Giants netminder Ryan Kubic and home for his 37th of the season. Witala’s marker came at 17:55 of the period making the score 2-1, which is how the first would end.
24 seconds into the second though the Giants regained their two goal cushion when Ben Thomas scored on a power play.
Jesse Gabrielle responded just over three minutes later for the Cougars when he took a Brad Morrison pass in the slot and managed to sneak his team leading 39th of the season past Kubic. Joe Carvalho then knotted the score at 3-3 less than three minutes later on a power play, and again it was Morrison playing the role of set-up man as he found Carvalho back-door for the 20-year-old defenceman’s second goal of the season.
Back came the Giants though when Taylor Crunk took an Alec Baer pass, made a quick move to the backhand and shovelled a shot past the arm of Ty Edmonds for his sixth to give the Giants a 4-3 lead, which is how the second would come to an end.
Chase Witala pushed his team back even four minutes into the final period with another gorgeous play. He took a drop pass from Brogan O’Brien down the right wing, cut to the middle and out-waited a sprawled Kubic before firing home his 38th of the season. With that goal, Witala matched his previous season high for goals which he set a season ago. He wasn’t done.
Neither team was able to score for the remainder of regulation, and after a few close calls at both ends of the ice in over time, the stage was set for the shootout.
Neither team was able to strike on their first five chances. Ty Edmonds and Ryan Kubic were both excellent, and admittedly both got a little help from their goal-posts, but heading into Round 6 neither team had scored via the shootout.
Enter Chase Witala. Late in overtime, the Cougars sniper left the ice with an apparent lower body injury. During the shootout he paced up and down in the tunnel before returning to the bench in the sixth round.
Mark Holick gave Witala the green light, and Witala made the Giants pay by making a great backhand forehand move down the right wing to finally solve Kubic giving the Cougars the 1-0 shootout lead.
Giants captain Thomas Foster had a chance to tie it for the Giants but was denied by the right pad of Ty Edmonds giving the Cougars the victory in a game that they never once led. Mark Holick’s team improved their record to 34-26-3-1. Their 72 points gives them a five point edge on the Kamloops Blazers for third in the B.C. Division and now moves them nine points up on the ninth placed Tri-City Americans who lost 7-2 Tuesday in Seattle.
Next up: A rematch for the Cougars against the Giants on Wednesday night in Prince George.
