WHEELING, W.Va. -- Taylor Gauthier refused to go down without getting into the fight this postseason.
Gauthier, the Penguins' 23-year-old goaltending prospect, had been battling through a nagging lower-body injury for almost the entire season. It got to a point in mid-March when Gauthier felt like he couldn't play the way he wanted to, and he was sidelined. He missed the end of the regular season and the Nailers' first-round victory over the Indy Fuel. The Nailers lost their first three games against the Toledo Walleye to open the second round with Gauthier still sitting on the sidelines, not even ready to serve as a backup.
Entering Friday's must-win Game 4, Gauthier wasn't going to sit on the sidelines anymore. Not a chance.
"There's nothing that was gonna stop me from playing tonight," Gauthier told me. "I'm going to be out there battling with the guys, and I didn't want all the work that I've put in the last couple of months to go to waste."
The Nailers lost Friday's game in overtime, 3-2. Toledo completed the sweep and ended Wheeling's season. Gauthier stopped 33 of 36 shots, willing the Nailers to stay in the fight until a Walleye power play goal in the extra frame decided the series.
"He wanted it," Nailers head coach Derek Army said of Gauthier getting the last start. "He battled, and he was fantastic. I mean, it was like old Gauthier. There's a reason he's such a talented prospect."
Gauthier told me that he wasn't feeling great physically after the loss. And while he declined to get into specifics on the nature of the lower-body injury, he said that "surgery is on the table" this offseason, though he's hoping that evaluation over the next few days and weeks will determine that a summer of rehab will get him healthy for next training camp.
What Gauthier accomplished this season is that much more impressive now, knowing that he was battling through injury much of the year.
Gauthier won the award for ECHL goaltender of the year and was the goaltender on the first all-star team for the regular season. His .923 save percentage led the league among qualified goaltenders over 42 games. He tied for the league lead with four shutouts, and ranked second with a 2.23 goals-against average. Over the course of the season he won the ECHL's award for goaltender of the week four times, tied for the most in a single season in league history.
"He's been the backbone for our team," Army said of Gauthier. "He played in every huge game. We rode him hard down the stretch. The advanced analytics of it, his numbers on high, high-end chances are off the charts. No one in the league can even touch him. You saw his play. I mean, it's the reason he's arguably the MVP of the league."
This was the second professional season for Gauthier, who was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Penguins out of the WHL's Portland Winterhawks in 2022. He split his rookie year between Wheeling and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, posting an .896 save percentage 3.06 goals-against average and one shutout in 16 ECHL games and a .907 save percentage and 2.71 goals-against average in 20 AHL games.
ZACK RAWSON / WHEELING NAILERS
Army said that the difference in Gauthier between this season and last was just his consistency. He was always able to make the highlight-reel, ten-bell saves. But this year Gauthier has become more steady and reliable on a game-to-game basis. In his 42 regular-season games, he allowed two or fewer goals in 23 of them. Gauthier also put significant effort into the gym over the course of the season with strength coach Mark Gaydos, adding strength to his 6 foot 2, 208-pound frame.
Gauthier said he was "proud" of his season, and felt as if he made major strides on and off the ice as a professional.
"When I came down here this year, my goal was to make a statement," he said. "Be the best goalie in the league. That was just my mindset coming in every day. Worry about what I can control. When I get opportunities -- whether it was to go up or play lots of games down here, I just wanted to be ready for it. I think it was a good season of maturing and going through some things I'm not used to going through."
Going through a season-long injury was one of those new experiences. Gauthier estimated that the longest he's been sidelined by injury in his career so far was around two weeks -- nothing close to the frustration of playing through an injury most of the year, and being sidelined for two months of it.
That frustration grew in the playoffs. The Nailers' backup goaltender Jaxon Castor fared well when he took over the net -- the 27-year-old rookie played in all five games of the first round and first three of the third, recording a .913 save percentage, 2.73 goals-against average and one shutout before being pulled midway through Game 3 of this round.
"I was really frustrated," Gauthier said of not being able to play when the playoffs started. "You know, it's something that I pride myself on, being someone that's able to play through things, and be a workhorse and be reliable. There definitely was some tough days, and I think without the support of all the coaching staff and my teammates and my girlfriend, I wouldn't have had the motivation to keep pushing and come back and try and be the best I can to push through this game."
One thing that Gauthier wasn't too frustrated by was the lack of real AHL time this season. Obviously, he would have liked to play up. But Wilkes-Barre's goaltenders stayed healthy this season, and there just wasn't an opportunity for recalls until injury at the NHL level forced recalls from Wilkes-Barre, and from Wheeling to Wilkes-Barre as a result. He ended up playing just four games for Wilkes-Barre, recording an .889 save percentage, 3.87 goals-against average and one shutout.
"At the time when I first got sent down here, it was a tough couple days," Gauthier said. "But you just deal with the cards you're dealt. Obviously, (Joel Blomqvist) is a hell of a goalie. (Magnus Hellberg) is a great goalie, and then (Ludovic Waeber) came in and played really well. There wasn't really any injuries or anything. So I just tried to come with the positive attitude every day and worry about what I can control. I think that was something that I really tried to focus on this year. Sometimes you get the opportunities, and sometimes you don't. But overall I'm not unhappy with the year."
The way the Nailers players talk about the environment and closeness of the locker room that Army has cultivated as coach is reminiscent of the way Nailers players talked about the team back in 2016 during the team's run to the Kelly Cup Final -- back when Army was playing for the Nailers. It's been a feeling that had been missing for years in Wheeling, and a lot of prospects really were unhappy to end up there. The culture down there is one of the reasons why someone like Gauthier isn't sulking about not getting the call to get out of there.
"The group here, I've never been a part of a group that's tighter," Gauthier said. "I can honestly say I have 24 best friends on this team. They're a special group, I'm proud of the team. It sucks that it's over now. I don't think we thought it was going to be over this fast."
Gauthier has a big summer ahead of him -- first from an injury rehab standpoint, but then getting ready for next season. The fight to earn regular AHL-time probably isn't going to get any easier.
The goaltending situation throughout the system for next season isn't quite clear yet. Tristan Jarry is still under contract, and Alex Nedeljkovic is a pending unrestricted free agent. Kyle Dubas said at the end of the season that Blomqvist's emergence could determine what happens with Nedeljkovic this summer, implying that Blomqvist could be in line for the NHL backup gig. Dubas also noted that Blomqvist's performance in the then-upcoming AHL playoffs could play a role in that decision, and then Wilkes-Barre proceeded to get swept in two games in the best-of-three first round. The Penguins also signed Swedish goaltending prospect Filip Larsson to a two-year contract this summer, and Larsson is expected to be playing somewhere in the system next year too.
If Nedeljkovic is re-signed -- or any NHL backup goaltender is signed -- then Gauthier would be going into next training camp battling with Larsson for a spot in Wilkes-Barre's tandem with Blomqvist.
Gauthier is already looking forward to training camp and embracing that battle.
"I'm really excited, I think next year is going to be a big year for me," Gauthier said. "Obviously (Blomqvist) had a great year. He's an unbelievable goalie, he's going to be in the NHL for a long time. We have a great relationship. Going into camp next year is going to be a great battle to try and get as much out of myself as I can and show that this year and in the summer I'm going to be making some big jumps. I'll try and earn my way to get a full-time role in Wilkes."
Gauthier is someone who seems to thrive when opportunity is scarce and he has to prove himself. This is the guy who told me two years ago that he was glad he didn't get drafted by an NHL team, because it "lit a fire" under him and pushed him to get better. He scheduled a daily 6 a.m. notification on his phone that simply said "Get a contract" as a reminder that he still had a long way to go toward his goal of reaching the NHL. He simply became one of the best goaltenders in the WHL, got the contract, and took that next step.
It's not entirely unlike the situation Gauthier finds himself in now as he was passed over for a regular role in the AHL. That lit the fire, and he became the best goaltender in the ECHL. That next step will come. He's earned it.
ZACK RAWSON / WHEELING NAILERS
