- Cutter Gauthier scored three times in a 5-2 Ducks win over the Penguins, his third hat trick in five games
- He finished it with an empty-netter and has 13 goals in his last six games
- Read below for video of the hat trick and the records he picked up along the way
Cutter Gauthier has three hat tricks in five games, and the Ducks have no idea how to slow him down.
Gauthier completed his third hat trick of the season on Sunday with an empty-net goal at 19:26 of the third period, sealing a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Honda Center. That makes 13 goals in his last six games and 15 on the season through 17 games.
Watch the empty-netter that finished it off:
The first two goals came back to back in the second period. Gauthier scored on the power play at 6:28 with a no-look shot between Arturs Silovs’ pads, then beat him again from the slot at 9:11 to make it 3-0 Anaheim.
Take a look at the no-look goal that started the night:
The Penguins made it interesting with a pair of power-play goals from Kris Letang and Rickard Rakell, both with Silovs pulled, and got within 4-2 before Gauthier iced it.
Gauthier joined Corey Perry, Frank Vatrano and Teemu Selanne as the only Ducks with three hat tricks in a single season. He also became the first player in NHL history with three hat tricks in the first 10 days of a calendar month. The old record for the fewest days to three hat tricks in a month was 13.
Gauthier was asked about the run after the game and kept it simple.
“I’m just shooting the puck and they’re going in, so I’m just going to keep shooting it.”
Mikael Granlund was asked about Gauthier’s shot and said it’s impressive and fun to watch. “He’s so natural,” Granlund said. “You see those shots going five-hole, like that’s a goal-scorer’s goal.”
Granlund had a goal and three assists, and Jackson LaCombe added three helpers to stretch his assist streak to 10 games. Laurent Brossoit made 32 saves as Anaheim won its fifth straight and moved to 10-7-1.
Ten of Gauthier’s 15 goals have come on the power play. He opened the run with two goals against Buffalo, then went back-to-back with hat tricks against Ottawa and Vancouver. That was followed by a Ducks record nine goals in four games, and he had already reached 12 goals in six games before the empty-netter.
