The Anaheim Ducks keep finding new ways to make the Cutter Gauthier trade look like a steal.
On Sunday, Gauthier delivered his third hat trick in six games, piling up 13 goals over that stretch as the Ducks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 and stretched their winning streak to five. That run has pulled Anaheim right back into the Pacific Division race.
The numbers around Gauthier are getting ridiculous. Per the NHL Public Relations X account, he became the first player in NHL history to record three hat tricks in the first 10 days of a calendar month. His latest burst also pushed him to 15 goals on the season, which leaves him third in the NHL and just one behind the Edmonton Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl and the Minnesota Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov.
For Anaheim, that kind of production is exactly what made the six-year, $81 million contract Gauthier signed in September such a massive commitment. It also came after a tense offseason in which the Ducks had to lock up both Gauthier and Leo Carlsson. Carlsson’s five-year, $90 million deal, forced by an offer sheet from the Flyers, was the richest in the league at the time and left GM Pat Verbeek working to keep the roster together while nearly wiping out the team’s cap space.
So far, the investment is looking sharp.
Carlsson didn’t register a point against Pittsburgh, but he still has 26 points, tied for seventh in the league. That gives Anaheim a young one-two punch that could become the next great Ducks duo, following in the footsteps of Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya, and later Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.
The offense is humming, and Sunday’s five-goal outburst carried even more weight because it kept Anaheim on a rare run of scoring consistency. The Ducks became the first team since the 1988-89 Los Angeles Kings to score five goals in eight straight games.
They did it while unveiling their Hometown Remix uniforms, inspired by the 1992 movie “The Mighty Ducks,” and they didn’t need to break out the “Flying V” to make the statement.
The bigger question now is what happens when the rest of the team catches up. Anaheim has given up the fourth-most goals in the league, so the defensive and goaltending issues are still very real. But if those problems get sorted out, the Ducks may have the kind of core that can matter in the Pacific and beyond for a long time.
In Other News...
Flyers Frustrations Are Starting To Force Bigger Roster Questions
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Even with some encouraging signs from Jamie Drysdale and Denver Barkey, the bigger question is whether the current group is enough to steady the season. Around the team, there is already speculation about potential roster movement as the Flyers try to find a cleaner fit and more stability up the middle, and the recent results have only added urgency to those conversations. [Read more 🡒]
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One lingering issue is the blue line, where the Flyers have had to keep adjusting their mix while waiting for more stability. Rasmus Ristolainen is still on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, and his absence has only added to the challenge of building depth on defense. The Flyers are working to correct the slide as the schedule moves on, but until that side of the roster settles in, the pressure on the rest of the group will keep growing. [Read more 🡒]
Flames Grind Out The Kind Of Win They Desperately Needed
The Flyers left Calgary with another frustrating result after a game that had the feel of one they could have taken. Philadelphia traded momentum with the Flames all night at Scotiabank Saddledome, with both sides finding ways to answer and the goaltenders staying busy. Dan Vladar stopped 22 shots for the Flyers, while Calgarys Devin Cooley turned aside 32 as the home team tried to steady a season that had been searching for a spark.
For Philadelphia, the bigger concern is how often these tight games have slipped away. The Flyers are now 4-10-5, and a contest that featured multiple lead changes ended with Calgary improving to 8-9-1 in the kind of finish that can linger on a long road trip. The Flyers had enough chances to make this one theirs, but instead they were left chasing the next opportunity and wondering how many more of these close calls they can afford. [Read more 🡒]