ANAHEIM, Calif. – It was a banner night for the Anaheim Ducks against the back-to-back banner-raisers, and this team is on a roll.
Cutter Gauthier netted his first career hat trick as the Ducks dropped seven goals on the Florida Panthers to sweep the season series with the two-time reigning Stanley Cup Champions in a week’s time with a 7-3 win at Honda Center on Tuesday.
Starting in Florida last week, the Ducks have now won four in a row and six of their last seven games overall.
“We’re super confident,” Gauthier said. “We have a really good team. A lot of depth, guys buying in this locker room. There’s no complaining. Coach Q says stuff, and we get it done. So it’s been a fun time this far here for the first (12) games here, and we just got to keep building.”
Ducks coach Joel Quenneville said that this particular week would be a good test for where his team was at, as the Ducks squared off with Florida and traveled to Western finalist Dallas and Pacific champion Vegas before welcoming Presidents Trophy winner Winnipeg to Honda Center on Sunday.
With Gauthier’s hat trick and goals from four more–Nikita Nesterenko, Jacob Trouba, Jansen Harkins and Chris Kreider–the Ducks have aced the first portion of that test.
“We had a great homestead,” Quenneville said. “We did a lot of good things each and every night against good hockey teams. I think our team’s improving on a game to game basis. Our D, we’re moving the puck well. Our possession game’s been better. Our D zone coverage is starting to get better. Our goaltending’s been rock solid.”
“So all aspects in our game have been–we’re pleased, but I think we’re not (content)… We want to get better.”
Anaheim was without No. 1 center Leo Carlsson–who extended his point streak to seven games, along with Gauthier–for the final 19 minutes of the game, as Carlsson was levied a five-minute major for interference and a game misconduct for head contact.
The Ducks (8-3-1, 17 points) travel to Dallas on Thursday and Vegas on Saturday before going back-to-back to host Winnipeg on Sunday.
Simply put, shooters shoot.
Cutter Gauthier entered the night third in the NHL in shots, but with two fewer games played than the leaders–Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon and Toronto’s Auston Matthews. Gauthier was way down in 17th in total shot attempts, per Natural Stat Trick.
But on a per-game basis? Gauthier was a full two shots clear as the NHL leader in shots per 60 minutes and up to second in the league in shot attempts per 60 minutes.
By the end of the night? Cutter Gauthier was tied with MacKinnon and Matthews in a much bigger category–the NHL goals lead.
“When the puck’s going in, it’s going in,” Gauthier said. “I’m just trying to get the shots on net as much as possible to create opportunity off of it if it doesn’t go in or hopefully go in. Tonight, you know, they ended up going in, which was nice.”
Gauthier’s hat trick brought him to 10 goals on the season, level with MacKinnon, Matthews, Edmonton’s Leon Draisatil, Montreal’s Cole Caulfield and New Jersey’s Jack Hughes. Each one with anywhere between one and three more games than the Ducks.
His six shots against Florida also moved him up to second in the league in shots, three behind MacKinnon.
“He’s just a pure goal scorer,” Nikita Nesterenko, Gauthier’s former Boston College teammate said. “He’s got an unbelievable shot, unbelievable release. I saw him do it a bunch in college. I was fortunate enough to be on his line to get a couple cheeky apples (assists).”
“It’s cool to see him translate it to this level. He’s on fire right now. Hopefully he keeps it going, keeps shooting the puck, because a lot of them are going in.”
Gauthier netted his first career hat trick with his two trademark skills–blazing speed and a laser shot.
On Anaheim’s first goal of the game, Jackson LaCombe stood up the Panthers at the blue line, Leo Carlsson collected the puck, and Cutter Gauthier came streaking off the bench to receive Carlsson’s feed and bury it five-hole on the breakaway.
Later in the first period, Troy Terry found a seam on the power play for a cross-ice feed right into Gauthier’s wheelhouse. Gauthier banged home the one-timer to put the Ducks back ahead.
After the Panthers grabbed the lead in the second period, the Ducks were back on the power play, and LaCombe put it on a tee for Gauthier, who wound up for his second one-time blast to level the game, 3-3.
“He can beat you with speed and the racing for holes and pucks. He’s quick on them,” Joel Quenneville said. “He seemed like he’s got a couple of goals over there on that power play with that one timer where there’s other threats as well. We are tenacious and sustaining some of those pucks and extending looks on a power play, and he’s a beneficiary of hitting the one-timer in a half a net, and he had to make the shot both times. We’re happy that he does a lot of things, and that he’s improving his game without the puck.”
Gauthier and Leo Carlsson both extended their point streaks to seven games, and Gauthier recorded multiple points for the third straight game–a streak only bested at 21-or-younger in Ducks history by Paul Kariya in 1994-95.
At 21 years, 289 days old, Gauthier became the fourth-youngest player in Ducks history to record a hat trick, following only Leo Carlsson, Sam Steel and Isac Lundestrom.
With 10 goals in 12 games, Guathier matched the Ducks franchise mark for quickest to 10 goals, matching Corey Perry (2014-15), Steve Thomas (2002-03) and Kariya (1995-96).
Gauthier is also the first player in the NHL at 21 or younger to score 10 goals in his first 12 games since Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews in 2018-19.
Leo Carlsson initially gets charged with a five-minute major on this hit to the side of Evan Rodrigues to open a Ducks power play.
Referees review it, and it is upheld. 5 minute major for interference and a game misconduct for head contact.
4-3 Ducks, 19:09 to play #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/afpFzq5Oet
— Zach Cavanagh (@ZachCav) November 5, 2025
Just under one minute into the third period, the Ducks lost their No. 1 center for the rest of the game on a controversial penalty.
As the Ducks opened a power play, Troy Terry entered the zone on the rush drop-passed from the slot. Leo Carlsson was tracking through the middle and looked to make a play on the puck when he made lateral contact with Florida’s Evan Rodrigues.
“We try to set picks on the power play to create space for our guys,” Gauthier said, “and it just looked like it was a tough situation. I didn’t really see too much of it.”
Referees then assessed Carlsson with a five-minute major for interference, and upon review, the call was upheld. Carlsson was levied a game misconduct for head contact on the hit.
“I didn’t think it was a major,” Quenneville said. “I think everybody could look at it a different way, but it looked like there was no intention there. He was just going through the middle. You know, it was just one of those unfortunate hits.”
The NHL Department of Player Safety will review the hit, as it does with all hits to the head, to determine if Carlsson will receive any supplemental discipline.
Nikita Nesterenko Scores, and Steps Up
More than one Boston College Eagle hit the scoresheet on Tuesday, as Nikita Nesterenko netted his first goal of the season for the go-ahead marker and set up fellow alum Chris Kreider on the Ducks’ seventh goal of the night.
The goal and assist were Nesterenko’s first points in five games after he recorded a four-assist night in, of all places, Boston last month.
“You get more comfortable with every game,” Nesterenko said. “The more puck touches you get, you know, you assess different situations throughout the game. If you’re not throwing it away as much, you’re trying to possess it, that’s the name of the game.”
Nesterenko settled in with center Ryan Poehling and right winger Alex Killorn to start the night, and it was a play by all three that benefitted Nesterenko. Killorn shot off the rush, Poehling crashed the net and Nesterenko potted the rebound.
After Carlsson left the game, Nesterenko also earned the opportunity to step up to the center spot on that top line between Kreider and Troy Terry. Nesterenko had played center in college and dabbled in the preseason, but he’s showcased enough of his versatility to the staff to earn the trust of that spot.
“I like his progression this year,” Quenneville said. “I think that one night when he had the four assists, a little of a sudden, he seems like he’s more comfortable with the puck. I think his thought process in the game is good, and he’s got patience in different areas. He played center earlier in his career… That’s a big jump and a good test for him here. He got some exposure to that. He’s really coming a long way in a short amount of time, knowing that we can be one of those useful guys, and you use them in different situations.”
Nesterenko didn’t simply play out the string in that spot either, as he played off his new linemates to set up a nifty deflection by Kreider on a shot at the net.
“I actually heard (Kreider) right when I got the puck,” Nesterenko said. “He was screaming, ‘Net, net!’ I know he’s unbelievable in front, and he’ll probably get a stick on it, so I just threw it at the net and, yeah, he put it in.”