Taylor Gauthier knew the challenge his Prince George Cougars faced.
They had Dylan Cozens and the rest of his sharpshooting gang of Lethbridge Hurricanes invading their home turf Wednesday night at CN Centre.
Gauthier and Cozens were teammates a year ago playing for Canada at the IIHF under-18 world championship in Sweden and Gauthier knew what the talented Buffalo Sabres prospect was capable of achieving with a hockey stick in his hands and proceeded to give the Whitehorse native a rude welcome on his visit to Prince George.
Gauthier was great for 60 minutes and made 37 saves to back the Cougars to a 2-0 shutout victory. Mitch Kohner's eighth goal of the season in the second period was all the offence the Cougars needed to end a four-game losing streak. Vladislav Mikhalchuk added an empty-netter for good measure as the Cats neutered the second-best offence in the WHL's Eastern Conference.
Cozens, who came into the game with 36 goals and 81 points in 48 games, had five shots on goal, none more dangerous than one that came late in a 1-0 game that Gauthier used his stick to stop.
The Cougars survived a Lethbridge power play that came 12:33 into the third period and held the Hurricanes' power play scoreless in five opportunities.
Kohner tipped a pass from linemate Filip Koffer past Thomson to open the scoring 2:36 into the second period. Jack Sander, in his return to the lineup after missing two games with a facial cut, made the outlet pass to Koffer. Sander's veteran presence on defence was a significant difference-maker for the Cougars in holding off the Hurricanes, who came to Prince George averaging 4.5 goals per game in their last 19 games.
With Cozens in the penalty box and goalie Bryan Thomson on the bench, Ethan Browne, facing an empty net, passed to Mikhalchuk on a 2-on-0 and the Belarusian winger made it count for his 12th of the season to seal the win.
The Hurricanes outshot the Cougars 37-20.
The Cougars will now focus on the Vancouver Giants, their opponents Friday and Saturday at CN Centre in what will be the Cougars' last home games of the regular season.
Wednesday's win ended a five-game home-ice skid and allowed the Cats (18-34-4-4) to creep to within nine points of the Seattle Thunderbirds for the second wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference. Prince George and Seattle each have eight games left.
