Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Gauthier calms Hurricanes

Taylor Gauthier knew the challenge his Prince George Cougars faced.
Gauthier and Cougars shut-out Hurricanes - IN PHOTOS_10
Prince George Cougars goaltender Taylor Gauthier raises his arms in celebration at CN Centre after he made 37 saves to shut out the Lethbridge Hurricanes in March.

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 and they needed something extra to stop a four-game losing streak.

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.

"I think whenever you go up against a guy that you know personally, even though you don't say it to him, you have a bit of a grudge against him, you don't want him to get the upper hand on you and the next time you see him off the ice you want to  kind of rub it in his face a bit," said Gauthier.

"He had a couple great chances tonight, he's a great player and makes everyone around him better and I think I just got the  best of him tonight."

Mitch Kohner's eighth goal of the season in the second period was all the offence the Cougars needed. 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 when 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.

Gauthier wore a new set of pads that he'd used in just a couple practices and they worked well for him as he recorded his second shutout of the season.

"I'm not too superstitious with that kind of stuff," said Gauthier. "I think last year when I debuted new pads I got my first shutout. I wasn't too worried about it tonight and things just went the right way. I have to talk to Chico (Cougars equipment manager Dhanjal) about getting a new pair of pads every game if I'm going to play like that."

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. Gauthier was the obvious first star, making several tough saves early on.

"I think this is getting quite common for Taylor in how he's played, the maturity in his game, the recognition he's getting from a lot of people, not just in this room but his teammates, the coaching staff and people in the hockey world," said Cougars head coach and general manager Mark Lamb.

"He's been doing it for a long time for us and sometimes we ride him too hard. He's progressing as a goalie and he's been around here a long time (but) he's still a young goalie improving."

The Cougars were coming off a difficult stretch of the schedule that had them playing six games in nine days  and they were missing veterans Sander and Marco Creta, who went home to Oak Bluff, Man., for personal reasons.

"I thought that was one of the most complete team efforts we've had this year against a real good hockey club," said Lamb. "That was probably the best night our penalty-kill had, there were just so many good things. I really sensed it (in the morning skate).

" Last week was real tough for our hockey club, we battled a a lot of injuries and a lot of fatigue and it showed in the games. I was really hoping the team would rebound and when you go out and play a solid game like that, there's the proof."

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.

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.