Gauthier's Third Hat Trick in Five Games Powers Ducks Past Penguins 5-2

Cutter Gauthier is not just hot. He is doing things that put his name next to the best goal scorers in the league, and on Sunday night at Honda Center he did it again. The Anaheim Ducks winger scored his third hat trick in five games, added an assist for good measure, and powered the Ducks to a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins — Anaheim's fifth straight victory, and the latest chapter in a scoring run that is starting to look historic.

Gauthier now has 13 goals during a six-game goal streak, matching Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl and Carolina's Mark Jankowski for the longest goal streak in the NHL this season. His third goal of the night, an empty-netter with 34 seconds left, was his 15th of the season. The first two were the prettier ones, and both came off the stick of a linemate who is enjoying a remarkable night of his own.

Mikael Granlund opened the scoring at 8:27 of the first period, knocking in the rebound after Gauthier's point shot was blocked in front. Then Gauthier took over. He made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 6:28 of the second, taking a pass in the right circle from Granlund and wristing a shot past Arturs Silovs from the faceoff dot. Less than three minutes later, Granlund fed him again as he skated through the slot, and Gauthier beat Silovs through the five-hole to make it 3-0. Granlund finished with a goal and three assists, and Jackson LaCombe extended his assist streak to 10 games with three helpers of his own.

Tristan Luneau, whose point streak reached eight games, made it 4-0 with a power-play goal at 5:12 of the third, a high glove-side wrist shot from the high slot off a pass from Alex Killorn. At that point the game looked finished, and the Ducks looked like a team that had simply outclassed a tired opponent.

Pittsburgh, playing the second of back-to-backs after snapping a four-game losing skid with a 5-2 win at Los Angeles on Saturday, refused to go quietly. Kris Letang scored his first goal of the season at 8:05 of the third, a wrist shot from the point through a screen, and Rickard Rakell pulled the Penguins within 4-2 at 13:42, scoring from the slot off a pass from Sidney Crosby during six-on-four play. Evgeni Malkin had two assists, giving him five in two games, and for a few minutes the Ducks' comfortable night had an edge to it.

It never truly turned. Laurent Brossoit made 32 saves for Anaheim, steady through the third-period push, and Gauthier's empty-netter settled it. The Penguins had a five-on-three power play for 1:37 early in the second period and could not convert, a missed chance that loomed larger as the night went on. Silovs finished with 20 saves.

Five straight wins for the Ducks, and the story keeps coming back to the same player. Three hat tricks in five games is the kind of run that stops being a hot streak and starts being a statement. Gauthier is scoring at a rate matched by nobody in the league this season except Draisaitl and Jankowski, and he is doing it on a team that is winning with him. Anaheim will take the two points and the streak. The rest of the league will take note.