Taylor Gauthier hadn’t played a game in two weeks when he got between the pipes Wednesday night in Regina.
The 16-year-old Prince George Cougars goalie made up for lost time in a hurry. In 60 minutes he faced two games worth of shots by the time shelling stopped.
The Regina Pats put 60 pucks on Gauthier while pounding out a 4-1 victory, handing the Cougars their fourth loss in four games on their WHL East Division tour.
He did all he could to keep his team in the game, making 56 saves as the game’s second star, but couldn’t do much to help the Cougars at the other end of the ice.
Former Cougar Jesse Gabrielle, in his first game against the Cats since the deadline trade which brought his rights to Regina, opened the scoring with his seventh goal, one-timing a setup in the slot from Nick Henry. That came just 80 seconds into the game on a Regina power play.
The Cougars got that one back seven minutes later while shorthanded when Jared Bethune forced a turnover and took off on a breakaway, fooling goalie Max Paddock with a backhand deke.
The Pats (26-22-5-0, seventh in the Eastern Conference), scored twice in the second period to take command. Robbie Holmes beat the Cougars to the puck off the end boards to win a face-off in the Prince George end and put a perfect pass onto the stick of Sam Steel, who snapped it in.
Matt Bradley made it 3-1, 11:17 into the second period, cashing in on a give-and-go pass play with Emil Oksanen.
Outshot 60-30, it would have been much worse for the Cougars had Gauthier not been on his game. He wasn’t all that sharp in his previous outing, a 6-2 loss to Lethbridge on Jan. 19.
Special teams were a factor which contributed to the Cougars’ 26th loss of the season as they fell eight games below the .500 mark. They went 0-for-8 on the power play and gave up one shorthanded goal.
The Cougars coaching staff especially did not like the circumstances which led to the Pats’ fourth goal, while shorthanded, 1:36 into the third period. The Cougars started the period on the power play and had the same five skaters on the ice when Steel seized the puck in his own zone and caught pointman Bethune flatfooted, setting up a 2-on-1 chance that Cameron Hebig finished for his 35th goal – a tap-in past Gauthier.
“We didn’t make good decisions, we had a group that stayed out on the power play for 1:36 and we got scored on shorthanded,” said Cougars associate coach Steve O’Rourke. “That’s inexcusable for the guys who did that.
“You may let (Swift Current Broncos 93-point scoring leader Aleksi) Heponiemi stay on for 1:36 because he’s the best player in the league. But when your leading scorer has less than a point a game, everyone’s equal and five guys need to step up for the next minute, shift after shift, and that’s what we’re trying to get through to these guys.”
The Cougars (18-26-4-4) headed east to Brandon after the game to prepare for the Wheat Kings, who they will face Friday (5:30 p.m. PT). Then it will be off to Moose Jaw to take on the Warriors, the top team in the WHL. Moose Jaw (39-7-1-2) will host Red Deer on Friday.
The Cougars started their six-game, nine-day trip with a 6-2 loss Friday in Prince Albert, lost 4-3 in a shootout Saturday in Saskatoon and were shut out 4-0 Tuesday in Swift Current.
While fatigue might have been a factor in Wednesday’s one-sided loss, O’Rourke wasn’t buying it as an excuse.
“Our compete level just wasn’t there from the start,” O’Rourke said. “No one’s going to give us wins in this league. Regina got it handed to them by Swift Current (last weekend) for two straight games and they came in here hungry, sitting here waiting for us. Right now we’re playing the four best teams in this division and no one’s going to feel sorry for us.
“(In Swift Current) we competed from start to finish and special teams was the difference. It was again tonight, but again we have to compete, no matter what the travel, no matter what the team we’re seeing.”
LOOSE PUCKS: Regina will host the MasterCard Memorial Cup, May 18-27... Regina goalie Paddock made 29 saves Wednesday for his seventh win of the season. The 17-year-old from Brandon is the nephew of Pats head coach John Paddock... The Cougars are back on home ice at CN Centre Feb. 9-10 for a weekend set against the Kamloops Blazers.
