Cutter Gauthier was the catalyst for a furious Anaheim Ducks comeback in the final game on Sunday's NHL schedule, tallying three times as the Ducks erased a three-goal deficit to beat the Ottawa Senators 6-3 at Honda Center.
The sniper scored his team's first, fourth and fifth goals — the latter two in a 30-second span early in the third period on the power play — as Anaheim snapped a two-game skid and improved to 6-7-1.
It was Gauthier's second career NHL hat trick.
“Trying to keep it simple, a lot of volume shooting,” Gauthier told reporters after the triumph, including NHL.com's Dan Arritt. “The more I get pucks on the net, if they're not going in, they're creating good opportunities for my teammates and creating chaos.”
After a slow start to the season, the former 40-goal scorer has five goals on 15 shots over his last two games.
The Ducks trailed 3-0 after the first period, and it looked like the slump was going to continue. But Laurent Brossoit, who played his second NHL game in three seasons after being recalled from AHL San Diego on Saturday, shut the door the rest of the way.
“Obviously, in the first period, they came out hot,” Brossoit said. “I was thinking it was going to be a long night for me. Made a couple saves in the second and the boys took over from there.”
Brossoit allowed three goals on seven shots in the first but finished with 20 saves to secure the victory. Judd Caulfield scored twice for the Ducks, rookie Roger McQueen added another and Leo Carlsson had three assists.
It was just Anaheim's second win in nine games following a streak of five consecutive losses between Oct. 13-22.
Despite the come-from-behind win on home ice, it's been a challenging start for the Ducks, who had a mass exodus in free agency that saw defensemen Jacob Trouba, John Carlson and Radko Gudas leave the team. Mason McTavish was also traded to the St. Louis Blues ahead of the 2026-27 season.
Still a playoff hopeful in the Western Conference, Joel Quenneville's club will look to make it two wins in a row against the last-place Canucks in Vancouver on Tuesday.
It's the start of a three-game road trip, which also passes through Edmonton on Thursday and Calgary on Friday.