Cutter Gauthier scored a hat trick and added an assist to carry the Anaheim Ducks to a 5-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Honda Center on Sunday. Mikael Granlund contributed one goal and three assists, while Jackson LaCombe also posted three helpers as Anaheim secured its fifth consecutive win.
The Ducks opened the scoring at 8:26 of the first period on the power play when Granlund connected on a snap shot set up by Gauthier and LaCombe. Anaheim widened the gap with two goals in the second period. Gauthier converted on another power play with a snap shot at 6:28, then added an even-strength wrist shot at 9:11 following passes from Granlund and Beckett Sennecke to make it 3-0.
Tristan Luneau extended Anaheim's lead to 4-0 on the man advantage at 5:12 of the third period with a snap shot off feeds from Alex Killorn and Roger McQueen. The Penguins responded with a pair of power-play tallies. Kris Letang scored his first goal of the season with a slap shot at 8:05, assisted by Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson. Rickard Rakell then brought Pittsburgh within two at 13:42 on a snap shot assisted by Sidney Crosby and Malkin. Gauthier capped the scoring by depositing an empty-net snap shot with 34 seconds remaining.
Special teams shaped the outcome as Anaheim finished 3-for-4 on the power play while Pittsburgh converted 2 of 6 opportunities. Laurent Brossoit turned away 31 of 33 shots to earn the victory for the Ducks. Arturs Silovs took the loss for Pittsburgh after stopping 20 of 24 shots faced.
The win improved Anaheim to a 10-7-1 record on the season. Pittsburgh dropped to 6-10-2 with the defeat, falling in the first regular-season meeting between the two clubs.
Both teams resume play on Wednesday, November 11. The Penguins visit the San Jose Sharks, while the Ducks host the Nashville Predators.
