Cutter Gauthier scored his third hat trick in five games and added an assist, and the Anaheim Ducks beat the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 on Sunday night.
Mikael Granlund had a goal and three assists, and Tristan Luneau also scored for the Ducks, who have won five straight. Jackson LaCombe extended his assist streak to 10 games with three helpers, and Laurent Brossoit made 32 saves.
Gauthier has 13 goals during a six-game goal streak to match Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl (Oct. 13-24) and Carolina’s Mark Jankowski (Oct. 6-17) for the longest goal streak this season.
Kris Letang and Rickard Rakell scored third-period goals for the Penguins, playing the second of back-to-backs after snapping a four-game losing skid Saturday in a 5-2 win at the Los Angeles Kings. Evgeni Malkin had two assists on Sunday, giving him five in two games, and Arturs Silovs made 20 saves.
Pittsburgh had a 5-3 power play for 1:37 early in the second period but was unable to convert.
Granlund gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead at 8:27 of the first period. Gauthier’s point shot was blocked in front and Granlund knocked in the rebound from the low slot.
Gauthier made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 6:28 of the second period when he took a pass in the right circle from Granlund and wristed a shot past Silovs from the right faceoff dot.
Gauthier increased the lead to 3-0 at 9:11. Granlund passed to Gauthier skating through the slot and he scored on a wrist shot through the 5-hole.
Luneau extended his point streak to eight games and made 4-0 with a goal at 5:12 of the third period. He scored on a power play with a high glove-side wrist shot from the high slot off a pass from Alex Killorn.
Letang made it 4-1 at 8:05 when he scored his first goal of the season, a wrist from the point through a screen with Silovs pulled during a power play.
Rakell pulled the Penguins within 4-2 during 6-on-4 play at 13:42 when he scored from the slot off a pass from Sidney Crosby.
Gauthier completed his hat trick with his 15th goal of the season, an empty-netter at 19:26 for the 5-2 final.
–Field Level Media
