Taylor Gauthier did what he was supposed to do, supply lights-out goaltending.
His actions in the crease Saturday night in Victoria played a huge role in the Prince George Cougars earning their first point of the season.
Heading into Friday's game at CN Centre against the Kelowna Rockets, the Cats are still seeking their first win and that will be much more likely if Gauthier continues to play the way he did last weekend in a two-game series against the Victoria Royals.
He stopped 33 of 35 shots and was picked as the game's third star in a 2-1 loss Friday. He also took a post-game twirl around the rink Saturday as the game's second star after 31 saves in regulation time and overtime and three more in the shootout before Victoria shooter Gary Haden scored in the fifth round to seal a 3-2 Royals' victory.
"Taylor is a highly-touted goalie and he's the backbone of our team, so from our standpoint that's what we expect out of him," said Cougars head coach and general manager Mark Lamb. "We expect him to lead our team and play strong goal and that's exactly what he did.
"We've kind of talked about what type of team we have and that's the strength, from the back there. Our (lack of) offence is what it is, but if we play a strong team game, just like we did on the weekend, we'll get our share of points."
After opening the season with a pair of losses to the Vancouver Giants at CN Centre that were closer than the 5-3 and 4-1 scores would appear, Lamb said the Cougars continued to show improvement on the Victoria trip against an older, more experienced Royals team.
"We played well, especially that second game, we really did a lot of good things," said Lamb. "We had a few adjustments after the first game and I thought the second game was one of the most complete games we played this year, a lot of positives in all areas.
"We had bright spots everywhere. We had some rhythm with our lines, everybody played; our special teams are starting to come around a little bit. Our team game and our work ethic has never been questioned and it's very apparent it's a hardworking team."
Lamb was encouraged to see his top scoring line - Ethan Browne centring Josh Maser and Reid Perepeluk - clicked for the first time this season. Browne's goal opened the scoring in the first period Saturday.
"More than just scoring, out team created a lot of chances, especially in that second game, it was a big step for our team," said Lamb. "Hopefully we'll have a good week of practice and look at Kelowna and keep some momentum going."
The Kelowna Rockets pay their first visit to CN Centre for the start of a two-game series Friday and Saturday and Lamb expects the team that will be hosting the Memorial Cup national championship in May will be much-improved over last season and will offer stiff opposition.
Already missing veteran defenceman Cole Moberg and top-line centre Ilijah Colina, both out with shoulder injuries, the Cougars lost 19-year-old winger Jackson Leppard. He suffered a lower-body injury early Friday and finished the game but didn't play Saturday. None of the three are expected to be back this weekend to face the Rockets.
"They've made some off-season changes and they're a lot better team than the were last year already," said Lamb. "We're expecting a team that's going to progress. I know it's early in the season but they're building a Memorial Cup team and it's going to be a tough challenge.
"They have a lot of good pieces and they're a lot better team than a lot of people are giving them credit for."
The Rockets added firepower when they acquired 2000-born left winger Dillon Hamaliuk, the San Jose Sharks' second-round draft pick in 2019 (55th overall) as well as 18-year-old defenceman Jake Lee in an off-season trade from Seattle.
Other players to watch this weekend are D Kaedan Korczak (Vegas Golden Knights, second round 2019, 41st overall), left winger Nolan Foote (Tampa Bay Lightning, first round 2019, 27th overall), and C Kyle Topping, who led the Rockets in scoring with 69 points in 2018-19.
Game time Friday is 7 p.m.
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