The NHL has a few players who are making quite the impact early in the 2026-27 NHL season. However, they may not be a more prolific goal scorer in the NHL right now than Anaheim Ducks forward Cutter Gauthier. He proved why on Sunday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Gauthier scored a hat trick on Sunday to help the Ducks claim a 5-2 win. The former first-round pick now has three hat tricks in his last five games. On Sunday, he sent a pretty straightforward warning to the rest of the NHL after the win over Pittsburgh.
“I'm just shooting the puck and they're going in, so I'm just going to keep shooting it,” the young star said, via NHL.com.
Gauthier is currently in the midst of an eight-game point streak. He has 13 goals and 17 points in his last eight games. He is a main reason this Ducks team has won five straight games.
The young forward also etched his name in the franchise history books with this performance. Gauthier became the fourth player in Ducks history to score three hat tricks in a season. He joins Corey Perry, Teemu Selanne, and teammate Frank Vatrano in that exclusive club.
Article Continues Below“He's so natural. You see those shots going five-hole, like that's a goal-scorer's goal,” teammate Mikael Granlund said of Gauthier, via NHL.com. “It's impressive and it's fun to watch.”
The Ducks have something special in Gauthier, without a doubt. Anaheim is going to need him to continue this momentum if they want to contend for a Stanley Cup in June. The Ducks are back in action on Wednesday when they take on the Nashville Predators in search of their seventh straight win.