With each playoff win, Taylor Gauthier is checking off all the boxes for the Portland Winterhawks.
In a must-win game for the Prince George Cougars, the 21-year-old from Calgary, Alberta made several key stops including a pair on Craig Armstrong to secure a hard-fought 2-1 victory in front of 1,727 fans at CN Centre on Wednesday.
Portland claims the best-of-seven Western Conference quarter-final series 4-0 and will await their second-round matchup.
Gauthier was money for the Winterhawks posting a sterling 1.00 goals against average along with an eye-popping .965 save percentage.
Not bad for a guy who never had a taste of post-season hockey until five days ago.
“They have been real emotional games, really tightly contested but I thought we did a good job in every game to shut them down whenever we needed to. They played a really tight game that didn’t give us a lot but we capitalized when we needed to.”
“It was a really bittersweet couple of moments tonight but I’m really happy that we finished it off tonight, get some much-needed rest and get ready for the next series,” added Gauthier.
We know @Fraser_PG isn’t the only one welling up right now 😢
Once more, from everyone in the organization, THANK YOU @tgoats_35! We don’t have enough kind words. We love you, good luck in round 2, and hopefully beyond. ❤️🖤🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🖤❤️ pic.twitter.com/FjTMQJm6Gw
— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) April 28, 2022
The Pittsburgh Penguins prospect has taken his game to new heights following a blockbuster trade involving the Cougars.
Since that time, Gauthier went 24-4-0-0 in the regular season for Portland.
Not to be outdone, his former teammate and counterpart Tyler Brennan enjoyed a coming out party of sorts during the series posting a 1.86 GAA and .954 save percentage.
Gauthier had nothing but high praise for Brennan, who is currently the top-rated North American goalie by Central Scouting ahead of this year’s NHL Draft.
“He gave them a chance every single night. To watch him grow and see the goalie he is now knowing I had a small piece of that success he is having is kind of rewarding.”
For the fourth consecutive time, the Winterhawks opened the scoring at 8:22 of the first period as Gabe Klassen led a 2-on-1 rush into the Cougars zone, later finding his linemate James Stefan who made no mistake giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.
Nine minutes later, Portland doubled the advantage courtesy of Luke Schetler who drove hard to the Cougar crease and re-directed a Jonah Bevington feed.
A first #WHLPlayoffs goal for @SchelterLuke and a first WHL point for Nick Johnson! 👊#PORvsPG | #WHLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/mN8BOg1Yl9
— Portland Winterhawks (@pdxwinterhawks) April 28, 2022
PG came alive at 6:55 of the second period as a mad scramble in front of the Winterhawks goal led to a hard shot by Jonny Hooker who’s slap shot went in between the wickets of Gauthier, cutting the deficit to 2-1.
The Cougars poured it on in the third, playing like a team facing elimination but the only thing standing in the way of an equalizer was their nemesis Gauthier.
His biggest save came with just over seven minutes remaining where a Hudson Thornton point blast was stopped and then followed that up by getting a piece of a Craig Armstrong rebound.
🎥 SAVE OF THE NIGHT 🎥
Late in the game, up one. No moment too big for Taylor Gauthier. @RealCdnSS | @pdxwinterhawks | @penguins#WHLPlayoffs | #SaveoftheNight pic.twitter.com/oYlDduJqwt
— The WHL (@TheWHL) April 28, 2022
Armstrong also rang one off the post a couple minutes earlier.
The Cougars had a golden opportunity to tie it in the dying following a delay of game penalty by Cross Hanas but simply ran out of time.
Portland outshot PG 42-30 overall.
Winterhawks head coach and general manager Mike Johnston noted it was a gutsy effort given the fact they were missing two key players.
“We had two of our 20-year-olds out of the lineup tonight in (Jaden) Dureau and (Clay) Hanus but what I think you saw tonight was two teams with a lot of young players getting their first playoff experience and it was a hard fought series. Personally, players grow twice as much in the playoffs then they do in the regular season.”
“It was critical (we wrap the series up in four games) I thought because of the travel back and forth. You don’t want to risk going back home for game five before coming back here for game six and that can really dictate whether you move on in the second round.”
Portland is being led by a youthful blueline that includes four 17-year-olds in Josh Mori, Czech import Marek Alscher, Ryder Thompson and Lucas Cagnoni.
Johnson is quite happy with how they have handled the spotlight in the second half of the season.
“I think they have done a great job. It allowed us to get Gauthier and give up a guy like Brondberg (Jonas) because we thought those guys were making strides. I have never played four seventeen year-olds in a playoff series before but I like the group we have back there. I think they have come a long way.”
On the other hand, the loss was the final junior game for Connor Bowie, Hooker and Jonas Brondberg.
One last time for our 20’s, Jonny, Jonas and Connor ❤️🖤❤️🖤❤️🖤❤️🖤
Wherever the road leads you, wish wish you all the best. Forever Cougars, you will always have a home in Prince George. pic.twitter.com/YWHi8jhF2J
— PG Cougars (@PGCougars) April 28, 2022
Bowie, a Fort Saint John product, was acquired by the Cougars back in January of 2018 from Portland in a multi-player deal that saw Dennis Cholowski head to Oregon.
In that same deal, PG also received Ilijah Colina along with first and third-round draft picks in 2020, second-round picks in 2018 and 2019, and a conditional sixth-round choice in 2019.
While the odds were stacked against the Cougars, Bowie kept a glass half-full approach on the series.
“A lot of those games could have gone either way. We battled all four games we played and endured a couple of tough bounces and that’s the way it went.”
Here are the list of remaining playoff scores from around the WHL:
Saskatoon Blades 5 Moose Jaw Warriors 3 (Warriors lead series 3-1)
Brandon Wheat Kings 3 Red Deer Rebels 1 (Series tied 2-2)
Prince Albert Raiders 3 Winnipeg ICE 1 (Winnipeg leads series 3-1)
Everett Silvertips 6 Vancouver Giants 2 (Tips lead series 2-1)
Kelowna Rockets 3 Seattle Thunderbirds 2 (OT) (T-Birds lead series 3-1).