Cutter Gauthier Matches a Century-Old Scoring Mark as His Historic November Lifts the Ducks

Cutter Gauthier is scoring at a pace the NHL has not seen in generations. The Anaheim Ducks winger has put up 12 goals in the first six games of November, matching a mark set in the 1921-22 season by two of hockey's earliest stars, Punch Broadbent of the original Ottawa Senators and "Phantom Joe" Malone of the Hamilton Tigers, according to Fox News' OutKick, which cited Sportsnet.

The 22-year-old has also scored 14 goals over a seven-game stretch, OutKick reported, making him the first player to do that since Mario Lemieux and Alexander Mogilny in 1992-93. Those are not just good names to be mentioned alongside. Those are Hall of Fame names, and one of them is on the short list of the greatest players who ever laced up skates.

The run began on Nov. 1, when Gauthier scored three goals in a 6-3 win over Ottawa. Two nights later in Vancouver, he did it again in a 5-4 victory, becoming the first player in Ducks history with back-to-back three-goal games, according to the game story carried by ABC30. Two of his goals that night came on the power play, captain Mikael Granlund added a goal and two assists, Beckett Sennecke had four assists and goaltender Laurent Brossoit made 19 saves.

On Nov. 5 in Edmonton, Gauthier added a goal and an assist in another 5-4 win, and he became the first Anaheim player with nine goals in a four-game span, seven of them on the power play. That came on a night when Connor McDavid had three assists for the Oilers.

Then came Pittsburgh. On Nov. 8, Gauthier scored three goals and added an assist in a 5-2 win over the Penguins, his third hat trick in eight days, The Associated Press reported in a story carried by TSN. Granlund had a goal and three assists, defenseman Jackson LaCombe set up three goals and Brossoit stopped 32 shots. The win was Anaheim's fifth in a row, and it extended Gauthier's goal streak to six games and his point streak to eight. Three of the four hat tricks in his NHL career have come during this stretch.

Daily Faceoff reported that Gauthier became the first player in league history to record three hat tricks within the first 10 days of a calendar month. Through 17 games, he had 15 goals and seven assists for 22 points and ranked third in the league in goals, according to Daily Faceoff.

The names he has now joined belong to a very different era of the game. OutKick noted the record was so old that it was set by men known as "Punch" and "Phantom Joe," a nod to how long the mark has stood. Gauthier, a Swedish-born American, matched it in a modern league where elite goaltending and tight defensive systems make every goal hard-earned.

That is part of what makes his run remarkable. Scoring in bunches has always happened. Doing it night after night against today's goalies, on the road in Vancouver and Edmonton and then at home against Pittsburgh, is something else. A lot of his damage has come on the power play, which tells you the Ducks have found a way to get the puck to their hottest shooter and that he has the release to finish when he gets it.

There is a team-first story here as well. Granlund, Sennecke and LaCombe have filled up the assist column, and Brossoit has given the Ducks steady goaltending. Hat tricks grab the headlines, but they rarely happen without teammates who make the extra pass.

The streak of wins finally ended Wednesday, when Nashville beat the Ducks in Anaheim to hand them their first loss of November. Even so, Anaheim sits two points ahead of Seattle for third place in the Pacific Division.

The Ducks are back on home ice Saturday against the New York Islanders, according to OutKick. Every time Gauthier touches the puck, the crowd will be watching for another chance to throw their caps onto the ice.

For a young American player, this is the kind of month that can change a career. Records from a century ago do not fall often, and when they are matched, it is usually by someone who has put in the work long before the cameras show up. Gauthier has turned a hot start into a piece of history, and the rest of the league is now trying to figure out how to slow him down.