Ducks reclaiming mighty status behind youthful scoring surge

The way things are going, Anaheim might need to re-insert another word before “Ducks.”

Mighty? Sure, run it back. 

Deadly? We love alliteration.

Offensive? Might not roll off the tongue, but it’s certainly apt. 

On Sunday night, the *insert preferred word here* Ducks pumped the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 at Honda Center in Orange County. According to the league, Anaheim — winners of five straight — became the eighth team in NHL history to record five or more goals in eight consecutive contests. 

Cutter Gauthier scored his third goal of the night into an empty net to seal the victory over Pittsburgh. The hat trick was Gauthier's third (!) three-goal game in his past five outings and — after failing to find the net in 10 of his first 11 contests — the Anaheim winger has 13 goals during a six-game goal streak.

Gauthier was one of three Ducks to sign significant contracts this summer and, as noted, he’s become a Rocket Richard candidate with 15 goals on the season, one behind the 16 of co-leaders Kirill Kaprizov and Leon Draisaitl.

Leo Carlsson, of course, rocked the hockey world with his decision to ink an offer sheet with the Philadelphia Flyers in July. Anaheim matched the deal and the 21-year-old Carlsson — even after being held off the scoresheet versus the Pens — still leads the team with 26 points this year. 

The contract Anaheim signed that felt like a response to the Carlsson situation was the six-year pact inked by defenceman Tristan Luneau in early September. Carlsson, of course, was never extended before his old deal expired; he became an RFA and the Flyers swooped in with the $18-million cap hit the Ducks then had to match to keep him. Luneau, by contrast, had 14 games on his NHL resume when GM Pat Verbeek got ahead of things and put pen to paper with the 22-year-old defenceman on a six-year extension. Luneau has responded by kicking his offensive game into high gear, notching 11 points — including a goal on Sunday — during his team’s eight-game scoring surge. 

Not everything has gone according to plan in Anaheim, where the team was 5-7-1 before its current five-game winning streak. The Ducks are allowing 3.67 goals against per game, a worse mark than everybody save sad-sack Chicago (4.22) and Vancouver (4.58). Look under the hood and you’ll find MoneyPuck has the SoCal squad way down at 28^th in expected goals at five-on-five.

But when you’ve got a power play that ranks first in the NHL at 38.5 per cent — and is at nearly 41 per cent since Oct. 16 — you can make up for shortcomings quickly.

And if the Ducks can clean up some of their overall game, the word we’ll start associating with Anaheim is “contender.”

Weekend Takeaways

• With Patrice Bergeron heading into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday night, it’s worth remembering where many of us thought the Bruins were after his retirement in 2023. The B’s downed the Florida Panthers 4-1 on Sunday afternoon for their fourth straight victory, and seeing Boston tied with Edmonton for the second-best points percentage in the league (.750) is still jarring for many of us who assumed this franchise would inevitably experience a drawn-out down period when Bergeron hung ’em up.

Instead, Boston has become a retool-on-the-fly success story, adding the likes of Morgan Geekie, Fraser Minten and James Hagens (currently injured) through shrewd signings (Geekie), trades (Minten) and by taking advantage of their lone down year by nailing a high pick (Hagens, seventh overall in 2025).

Of course, just as the likes of Bergeron, Zdeno Chara and Brad Marchand were foundational pillars for the franchise for so many years, the B’s tent is now propped up by the poles that are career Bruins Jeremy Swayman in goal, Charlie McAvoy on the blueline and captain David Pastrnak up front.

As Bergeron walks into hockey’s great shrine as a first-ballot Hall of Famer, it’s incredible to see where his team is at three years after his final game in Black and Gold.

• Stick tap to the New York Rangers, who hung on for a 4-3 victory in Seattle on Sunday night. The Blueshirts — who, of course, lost all-world starter Igor Shesterkin for the season a month ago on Oct. 9 — looked as though they were coming apart during a 1-5-1 stretch in Shesterkin’s absence. But New York has now won three straight to stay relevant in the Metro playoff picture, and goalie Joonas Korpisalo returned to the squad for his first start (and win) of the year in Seattle. A little veteran presence in the crease can only help this team as it tries to keep its head above water.

Red and White Power Rankings

1. Edmonton Oilers (12-3-3): According to the site Power Rankings Guru, the Oilers have had the easiest strength of schedule of any team in the league so far. On that note, the Oilers played Vancouver for the third time this season on Saturday and secured a 4-2 win. 

2. Montreal Canadiens (11-3-3): The Habs will honour Carey Price for his Hall of Fame induction before Tuesday’s game versus Minnesota. It feels like, eventually, Montreal should go the whole way and retire Price’s No. 31. 

3. Ottawa Senators (11-6-1): Linus Ullmark was activated from the team’s injured reserve on Sunday, which is obviously great news for the Sens. Ottawa hosts the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, so perhaps that will represent Ullmark’s first start since Oct. 21. 

4. Toronto Maple Leafs (8-9-2): The banged-up Leafs have lost five of six after dropping home games on Saturday to Montreal and 24 hours later to the Devils. It doesn’t get any easier this week, with the Avs, Wild and Oilers coming through town. 

5. Calgary Flames (8-9-1): Since Oct. 18, the Flames have the eighth-best points percentage in the league at .682. Quite a turnaround for a team that was 1-6-0 with a minus-21 goal differential after seven outings. 

6. Winnipeg Jets (7-8-3): The Jets just bathed in good vibes last week, first with their historic four-goal comeback versus the Canadiens, then by beating Tampa on Sunday on Mark Scheifele’s game-winning shot with less than two seconds to go in the third. Even though Connor Hellebuyck won’t be starting against them, you know the Jets would love to keep the party going by beating the wheels off Jersey in Winnipeg on Tuesday. 

7. Vancouver Canucks (3-15-1): Elias Pettersson picked up his 19^th point in his 19^th contest of the season on Saturday, nabbing an assist versus the Oilers. The fact he’s still a point-per-game player after nearly a quarter of the season is not nothing for the Canucks. 

The Week Ahead

• The Hockey Hall of Fame officially welcomes six new entrants on Monday, with Patrice Bergeron, Carey Price, Pekka Rinne, Keith Tkachuk, Cindy Curley and Brian Burke all being enshrined. 

• The IIHF women’s world championship continues this week in Denmark, with the round-robin portion of the tournament wrapping up on Wednesday and the playoff round kicking off on Friday. 

• The NHL Global Series takes us to Helsinki on Thursday, where the defending-champion Carolina Hurricanes take on the Seattle Kraken for the first of two games in Finland. Thursday’s contest goes at 12 p.m. ET, while Saturday’s tilt is at 1 p.m. ET.  

• It’s also a heck of a Saturday Night Hockey slate in Canada, with Connor McDavid and the Oilers in Toronto to battle the Leafs, while Nathan MacKinnon and the Avs visit the Bell Centre for a showdown with the Habs.