Taylor Gauthier is quite used to being picked the first star in hockey games in Prince George.
But getting a shutout in a playoff game, like he did Tuesday night at CN Centre? That’s something entirely different for the 21-year-old Calgary native.
The only problem with that, from a Prince George Cougars’ perspective, is Gauthier no longer gets his kicks stopping pucks for the Cougars.
He’s a Portland Winterhawk now and he’s a big part of the reason they lead the Cougars 3-0 in their WHL Western Conference quarterfinal series. In front of 1,821 witnesses at CN Centre the Cats fired 28 shots at Gauthier and he blocked them all in a 2-0 victory.
“Obviously it feels really good,” said Gauthier. “I thought the guys played a really complete game tonight and made my job easy back there and it was nice getting out there for the three stars and showing my appreciation. I love this city so much and I’ve always said since Day 1 they’ve given me so much love and opportunity and I’ll never be able to repay them.”
The Goat made his best save with about five minutes left when Ethan Samson let go a point shot and the rebound came out into the slot for Connor Bowie, and somehow he kept it out.
“The Cougars played a helluva game, they were right with us to the end and we played a really mature game in the second and third and didn’t give them a whole lot,” said Gauthier. “Everyone did their jobs tonight.
“Obviously you want to take teams out as quick as possible. Rest is a weapon in playoffs and we were hoping we could get in this position. We know tomorrow is going to be the hardest game yet. Winning the last one is always the hardest.”
The Winterhawks got all the offence they needed in the second period and Gabe Klassen was the one holding the smoking double-barrel shotgun. His two-goal effort pushed the Cougars to the verge of elimination in the best-of-seven series.
“We knew we had to have a hot start tonight in their building and I though all four lines and our d-men were playing well and we came out on top,” said Klassen, a native of Prince Albert, Sask.
“It’s playoff hockey and you know you’re going to have to work hard for every chance you get and I was lucky and Stefan made a great play on my first goal and the second one I got nice bounce.”
One positive for the Cougars was their penalty killing and their shot blocks, which helped them kill off all three Portland power plays, continuing on the success they had in Game 2 in Portland when they held off all five Hawks’ chances. Not counting a 10-second Cougars’ power play at the end, Portland played shorthanded just once in the game and that one two-minute chance was not enough for the Cougars to gain any traction with the man advantage.
“We’ve got to be more efficient if we want to win, especially in the playoffs because that’s what it takes,” said Cougars defenceman Jonas Brondberg. “We kept them to two goals, which is good. We’ve got to outwork them to draw more penalties. We didn’t work hard enough today.”
The first period was fast and furious with both sides generating quality chances that highlighted how dialed-in Gauthier and his Cougar counterpart Tyler Brennan were, right from the opening puck drop. The Cougars matched the Winterhawks’ intensity, and both teams came out banging bodies at every opportunity and neither team scored. Shots were even at 12 when the horn sounded to start the break.
The Winterhawks came out the aggressors in the second period and that’s when the scored both goals. They built a 5-0 edge in shots and one of those five, a quick one from the slot from Gabe Klassen after a nifty backhanded feed from James Stefan, sailed in through a screen over Brennan’s right shoulder.
Gauthier kept it a 1-0 game a minute later when he took away a labeled drive off the stick of Hudson Thornton, who used his speed to get in behind the ‘Hawks defence.
Already missing their top defenceman and power-play quarterback, Clay Hanus, who got hurt in Game 1, the Winterhawks got a scare five minutes after the goal when Riley Heidt went knee-on-knee with Portland defenceman Luca Cagnoni on an open-ice collision. Cagnoni dropped to the ice and needed help getting off while Ryan McLeary dropped the gloves with Heidt. The Cougar centre, who led the team in scoring in the regular season, was issued a five-minute major for kneeing and a game misconduct. That left the Cougars with 10 forwards and seven defencemen for the rest of the game.
The Cougars’ situation went from bad to worse when Winterhawks centre Luke Schelter took a shot from the right wing boards that ticked off the stick of Cats defenceman Bauer Dumanski and nailed the goalpost near the top of the net. The puck ricocheted off the ice just outside the goal line and out the other side to Klassen, who was all alone to dump it into the open net while Brennan had his back to the crease looking for the loose puck.
The Hawks have done that throughout the series, seizing their opportunities and finding more finish around the net than the Cougars have showed.
“Tonight was more of a physical defensive battle and I was happy with the way our guys played defensively, I didn’t think we gave them much and it was tough to get chances at both ends of the rink tonight,” said Winterhawks head coach Mike Johnston. “I thought both teams played well in their own zone and minimized rush chances against. P.G. plays a trapping series where they don’t give you a lot off the rush so you have to earn your chances and I commend them in how they’ve played in that department.”
Picking up where he left off after stopping 44 of 46 shots in Game 2, Brennan was excellent again throughout the game Tuesday and was by far the busier of the two goalies in the middle period while his team outshot 16-6. Down by two with 20 minutes let, without their top scorer, it was a tough hill for the Cougars to climb, knowing how difficult it is to score on Gauthier, who allowed just three goals in the first two games of the series.
“We were right there with them the whole game,” said Brennan. “We had our scoring chances and we were right there. If we keep playing like we are, I think we can beat them, no problem. Obviously we’re down 3-0, so we’re in a bit of a hole, but I think our team can climb out of it, our team has faced adversity before.
“We’re waiting for something to go our way, we’re not getting the good bounces a team wishes for, but that doesn’t mean we can’t win games. We just have to keep wearing them down, keep hitting them, and I think we’ll win.”
The ‘Hawks outshot the Cougars 36-28.
“I just go out there every night and try to give my team a chance to win,” said Brennan. “I’ve been playing some of my best hockey lately and I just go out there every day and try to be as perfect as I can and help the team win.”
The Winterhawks have been virtually flawless (37-1) at protecting leads heading into the third period. Comebacks have not been the Cougars’ forte; they’ve rallied to win just once in 39 games when trailing after 40 minutes.
Cougars head coach and general manager Mark Lamb certainly couldn’t find fault in how hard his troops fought to get back in the series. They simply got beat by a Winterhawks team that knows how to win and finds a way to convert its scoring chances, which were few and far between in the last two periods.
“I’m really happy with the effort,” said Lamb. “The guys worked hard when Heidt got kicked out and they played hard right to the end. We just have to regroup and come back tomorrow and play hard.”
The Winterhawks will have a chance to complete the series sweep Wednesday night at CN Centre. Game time is 7 p.m. If the Cougars win, Game 5 would be played Saturday in Portland.
“We’ve got nothing to lose (in Game 4), and they’ve got everything to lose,” said Brondberg. “We just have to come in relaxed and focused and let’s see what happens.”
LOOSE PUCKS: After his tussle with Heidt, McLeary was at first told he’d drawn game misconduct and went to the dressing room, took off his hockey and was in the stands in warm-up duds during the third period until somebody informed him he was eligible to return to the ice after serving a minor, major and 10-minute misconduct… In the third period, the officials also made a phantom call on Cougars Carter MacAdams for tripping Josh Mori, which was later rescinded after the play was blown dead… The Winterhawks were without injured D Clay Hanus and LW Aidan Litke, who did not make the trip north. RW Blake Eastman (knee) is the only Cougar sidelined due to an injury. They were also missing veteran LW Craig Armstrong, who served the second of a two-game suspension for a high hit in Game 1... Slovakian D Viliam Kmec returned to the Prince George lineup after missing the first two games with an unspecified injury.
WHL playoffs
Western Conference quarterfinal
Prince George Cougars vs. Portland Winterhawks
(Winterhawks lead best-of-seven series 3-0)
Tuesday summary
Game 3
Winterhawks 2 at Cougars 0
First Period
No scoring
Penalties – Kmec PG (holding) 11:42, Zakreski Por (holding) 14:55.
Second Period
1. Portland, Klassen 2 (Stefan, Smythe) 2:46
2. Portland, Klassen 3 (Schelter, Bevington) 13:36
Penalties – McLeary Por (instigating, fighting, misconduct), Heidt PG (kneeing major, fighting, game misconduct) 7:46.
Third Period
Penalties – Thornton PG (tripping) 11:48, Alscher Por (unsportsmanlike conduct, fighting), Ziemmer PG (checking from behind, fighting) 16:47, Hanas Por (hooking) 19:50.
Shots on goal by
Portland 12 16 8 -36
Prince George 12 6 10 -28
Goal – Portland, Gauthier (W,3-0); Prince George, Brennan (L,0-2).
Power plays – Por: 0-3: PG: 0-2.
Attendance – 1,821.
Referees – Brian MacDonald, Fraser Lawrence; Linesmen: Nick Albinati, Anthony Maletta,
