Cats’ Witala has magic touch around the net

Can Chase Witala pull a rabbit out of his hat again tonight?

With six goals and seven points in his last two games, another three-goal performance tonight in Portland would be the rarest of hat tricks for the 20-year-old Prince George Cougars left winger.

The Cougars have been on a white-hot ascent up the Western Hockey League standings the past two weeks and Witala sees no reason why they trend should come to an end tonight (7 p.m., 943 FM The Goat), when the Cougars put their streak of nine games without a loss in regulation time on the line against the Winterhawks.

“It’s been going pretty good and I’m just doing my best to try to keep it going and just get the wins first,” said Witala, while traveling Thursday on the team bus to Portland.

“The wins are fun and that’s what I’m having the most fun with and it’s nice to get rewarded too (with goals). This is definitely the most successful team we’ve had and it’s fun to be on a team that’s a success.”

Now in his fifth WHL season playing for his hometown Cougars, Witala has a reputation as streaky goal-scorer and he’s followed that pattern this season. He had five goals in three-game stretch in November and now has a team-high 17 goals in 29 games. With 25 points in 29 games, he ranks second in Cougar scoring behind his linemate, Jesse Gabrielle, who has 29 points.

The Cougars (18-9-1-1) have won six straight, including Tuesday’s 7-2 triumph at CN Centre over the Kootenay Ice. That left them just two points behind their B.C. Division rivals, the second-place Victoria Royals, and seven back of the Kelowna Rockets, who lead the WHL with 45 points.

Being that close to the division leaders, nine games above .500, with the season now one-third complete – no Cougar team has had that kind of success since the 1999-2000 season.

“It’s pretty exciting, I’ve never been part of that before,” said Witala.

“That’s our goal, to get that B.C. Division title this year and we just want to get up there as soon as we can.”

“We’ve got some important games before the (Christmas) break so we’re just looking to keep the streak going here. It’s going to be tough on the road but we know we can beat them. I like playing in Portland, it’s a cool city and cool atmosphere. It’s a fun place to play,” said Witala.

The Cougars swept the series in Prince George against Portland, Dec. 1-2, winning 3-2 and 5-3.

Last season the undrafted Witala led the Cougars with 38 goals and was second on the team with 69 points. That earned him a summer tryout with the Dallas Stars and he played for Dallas at the NHL rookie tournament in September in Traverse City, Mich. The six-foot, 170-pound Witala had just three goals in the first 13 games this season and while he was getting plenty of chances, his struggles to put the puck in the net were bothering him.

“It was definitely a little frustrating but I knew it wasn’t going to last to the end,” said Witala.

“I’m on a line with two really good players (Gabrielle and Brogan O’Brien) and they’re fun to play with. They’re good in the offensive zone and we’re improving in the D-zone as well, our plus/minus has been getting better here lately.”

Cougars head coach Mark Holick said Witala is finally getting rewarded for all his hard work and that line is setting the tone for the team’s other go-to scorers to follow.

“I like his game right now, I like that he’s a shoot-first type of player, he takes pucks to the net and he usually gets results,” said Holick. “I’d like to see the other two (scoring lines) get better. They think they’re struggling a bit but they just have to get their game in order offensively. Our other unit (Jansen Harkins, Brad Morrison and Jared Bethune) has been skating real well lately and their contributions offensively have helped.”

Holick plans to start Ty Edmonds in goal tonight. Edmonds, who won the CHL’s top goaltender award this week, leads the WHL with a .937 save percentage and ranks second overall with 1.98 goalsagainst average.

“Everything seems to be clicking,” said Holick. “We’ve done some pretty good things, got good goaltending and solid play in all three zones and timely scoring and the special teams have been pretty good.

“Portland is obviously a team in transition, missing all those guys from the last two or three years but they still have some dangerous players. They’re strong in goal and I like their defence so you’ve got to be prepared. We’re n no position to take anybody lightly.”

The Winterhawks (14-14-0-0) are coming off a 7-5 road victory over the Everett Silvertips Wednesday night. LW Rihards Bukarts had a four-point night, with three goals and an assist. The 20-year-old Latvian has seven goals and nine assists in 14 games with Portland since he arrived from Brandon in a trade from Brandon Oct. 30 for two conditional third-round draft picks. He now ranks second in Winterhawks scoring.

Portland could be without one of its top forwards this weekend. Paul Bittner, a second-round pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2015, is still nursing an upper-body injury he suffered in the Dec. 2 against the Cougars. Bittner, who ranks fourth in team scoring with 10 goals and 21 points in 25 games, is on the preliminary roster for the U.S. world junior team camp, which starts Sunday.

C Rodrigo Abols, who has eight goals and 20 points, has already left Portland to prepare for the world junior tournament playing for Latvia.

Also on the injury shelf this weekend are Winterhawks D Carter Czaikowski (lower body), D Jack Dougherty (upper body) and F Keegan Iverson (lower body). RW Alex Schoenborn (San Jose Sharks, third round, 2014) is back after missing five games with an injury.

D Shaun Dosanjh (upper body) and D Max Martin (shoulder surgery) are the two injured Cougars.

The Cougars will remain in Portland for the rematch on Saturday – the Winterhawks’ Teddy Bear Toss game. A nearcapacity crowd of 12,000 is expected at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. On Tuesday the Cats will be in Kent, Wash., to play the Seattle Thunderbirds in the second of four meetings this season. They lost 4-1 to the T-birds, Oct. 3 in Seattle.

LOOSE PUCKS: The Royals sent the rights to 18-year-old G Evan Smith along with a fifth- and ninth-round bantam draft pick in 2018 in a trade Thursday to Saskatoon for the Blades’ third-round pick in 2016. Saskatoon also traded former Kelowna Rocket G Jake Morrissey, 18, to the Vancouver Giants for a seventh-round pick in 2017.