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ANAHEIM, Calif. — Cutter Gauthier's goal-scoring surge over the past week has reached a level that even the young winger struggles to comprehend. "Not really, no," Gauthier admitted after notching his third hat trick in five games on Sunday. "I mean, I'm just shooting the puck. They're going, so I'm just gonna keep shooting."
The 22-year-old Ducks forward has long described himself as a volume shooter, generating offense either by finding the net or creating rebound opportunities for teammates. Given his recent output—eight goals and 10 points in four games, earning him NHL First Star of the Week honors—there's little reason to change that approach. After managing just two goals in his first 11 contests, Gauthier has exploded for 13 goals in his last six games, piling up records at a dizzying pace.
The sheer volume of milestones made it impossible to fit them all into Sunday's game story, so today's Ducks Notebook chronicles Gauthier's statistical cavalcade, examines Laurent Brossoit's most assured outing in his first week with the Ducks, and pays tribute to former general manager Brian Burke's induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Gauthier's Cap Collection
In the NHL's live stat updates prepared for media, Gauthier merited 12 separate notes for his third hat trick in five games, while the Ducks' postgame email devoted five full paragraphs to his historic streak. Here are the team-specific highlights:
- Gauthier tied the Ducks' single-season record for hat tricks (three), matching Teemu Selanne (1997-98), Corey Perry (2010-11 and 2014-15), and Frank Vatrano (2023-24).
- He became the fastest player in franchise history to record five multi-goal games in a season, doing so in 17 games and surpassing Selanne's 20-game mark from 1997-98. Selanne scored a franchise-record 52 goals that year; Gauthier is currently on a 73-goal pace.
- Gauthier is the first Ducks player to score hat tricks in consecutive home games and joined Paul Kariya (1999-00) as the only other Duck with multiple goals in three straight home games.
- His six-game goal streak matched Kariya (1999-00) and Rickard Rakell (2017-18) for the fourth-longest in team history. Selanne holds the record with an 11-game streak in 1997-98 and ranks second with an eight-gamer in 1998-99, while Perry had a seven-game streak in 2013-14.
On the league-wide front:
- Gauthier is the seventh player since 1943—and the first since 1993—to net three hat tricks in a five-game span.
- He is the eighth American-born player to record a hat trick in back-to-back home games and the first since Auston Matthews in 2023-24.
- He is the fourth player in the last 100 years to score three hat tricks in his first 17 games, joining Matthews (2023-24), Bernie Nicholls (1981-82), and Mike Bossy (who achieved the feat three times).
- Gauthier is the fifth player since 1986 to score 13 goals in six games, the first since Patrik Laine in 2018-19, and only the second since Mario Lemieux and Alexander Mogilny in 1992-93.
Laurent Brossoit Stands Tall
Sunday marked easily the best of Brossoit's four starts since his surprising call-up from AHL San Diego a week ago, even though it was also his most analytically demanding game. According to four separate analytic models—MoneyPuck, Hockey Stats, Natural Stat Trick, and Post Hockey—Brossoit faced his highest expected goals against in four games by a wide margin and, per Post Hockey, his largest number of tipped shots. In response, the 33-year-old posted his best goals saved above expected numbers and, again per Post Hockey, significantly reduced his rebound totals.
The eye test confirmed those metrics: Brossoit looked smooth tracking the puck, confident on all shot types, and his pads were particularly sticky in the second period, limiting rebounds as the Penguins pushed. Neither Pittsburgh goal came at even strength—both occurred with the goalie pulled in the latter half of the third period, and one came on the power play.
What this means for should-be starter Lukas Dostal and regular backup Ville Husso remains uncertain, but coach Joel Quenneville is taking a game-by-game approach to his crease. Quenneville will continue to ride the hot hand, and with four wins in four starts and his best performance coming most recently, Brossoit has earned the net.
Burke to the Hall
The Hockey Hall of Fame's Class of 2026 was inducted in Toronto on Monday night, and entering as a builder was the architect of the Ducks' 2007 Stanley Cup championship: former general manager Brian Burke. In typical Burke fashion, his induction speech was laced with dry sarcasm and gruff humor, blending self-deprecation with gratitude for everyone who shaped his varied and extensive hockey journey.
"When I first got the call from the selection committee, I paused," Burke said in his opening lines. "Nobody starts playing hockey at 13 years old in Minnesota and says someday I'm going to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Unless you're an idiot."
Burke then recounted his fair but not exhaustive playing career, from Minnesota high school to Providence College to a handful of years in the American Hockey League. Despite winning a Calder Cup in the AHL, he never reached the NHL and eventually left for law school. "Then you retire having never played even one NHL game. You say to yourself your hockey career is over," Burke said. "The Hockey Hall of Fame? Not a goddamn chance you think about it, but life is funny."
Burke climbed from player agent to the Vancouver Canucks' hockey operations department to general manager of the Hartford Whalers, where he drafted eventual Ducks championship defenseman Chris Pronger. The Rhode Island native then worked for the NHL before returning to the GM chair in Vancouver, where he assembled a core featuring Daniel and Henrik Sedin and Ryan Kesler. Then came his defining move—at least for this audience—when he became GM in Anaheim following the 2004-05 lockout season, and just one season later, he pulled the right levers to engineer a Stanley Cup championship in 2006-07.
"To the Samueli Family, thank you for giving me the keys to the car," Burke said. "Winning the Stanley Cup in 2007 with the Ducks was what happens when a group of players refuses to be outworked." Team toughness and a legendary defensive corps helped. Burke would eventually make many more stops in Toronto, Calgary, and Pittsburgh, quipping, "A lot of thanks for people who fired me. Don't know why I'm doing it."
Beyond his executive work in the NHL and USA Hockey, Burke was also a pioneering advocate for LGBTQ inclusion in hockey in honor of his late son Brendan, who was gay. The You Can Play program was founded to address homophobia in sports. While he never came close as a player, Burke's work to build the game from the inside and out earned him a place among the legends of the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Originally reported by sportsgrid.