It took Cutter Gauthier 17 games to celebrate an NHL goal, but now that the 20-year-old left wing has crossed that bridge, the Anaheim Ducks hope he speeds up his progress as one of the key fixtures in their rebuild.
Gauthier will be back in the lineup on Monday when the Ducks visit the Dallas Stars in the first game of a back-to-back road set. Anaheim will travel to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday before returning home for two games.
Gauthier scored his first NHL goal in a 6-4 win against the visiting Detroit Red Wings on Friday night in the finale of a season-long six-game homestand. It was a pivotal goal, too, one that gave Anaheim a 4-3 lead midway through the third period after it had trailed 3-1 early in the second.
“It was a dream come true,” Gauthier said of his first NHL goal. “Against (my) hometown Detroit, it was a surreal moment and I am just so pumped.”
It also marked a season-high goal total for the Ducks, who were still fourth from the bottom in the NHL at 2.44 goals per game before Sunday’s games.
Trevor Zegras, who scored 23 goals in back-to-back seasons for the Ducks from 2021-23, had notched just one goal through the first 15 games (an empty netter) before scoring on a power play late in the second period against the Red Wings to begin the comeback.
Troy Terry scored his team-high sixth goal of the season, and 21-year-old defenseman Olen Zellweger contributed a goal and two assists.
“We have a highly skilled young team who can make plays like that night in and night out, and I think it’s just the confidence to do it consistently, and just have faith in your skill,” Gauthier said. “It’s a super young group, but it’s a confident one as well. … We build our confidence through games like these.”
The Stars figure to give the Ducks a stiff test.
After scoring seven goals in each of back-to-back wins against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins last week, Dallas showed it can win a low-scoring battle as well in a 2-1 victory against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.
“It was a heavy, hard, playoff-type game out there,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “There was a lot of physicality, a lot of battles. Not a lot of room. Both goalies were great.”
Although it’s early in the season in the Central Division, the Stars are already chasing two of the hottest teams in the NHL: the Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota.
“Standings are important,” DeBoer said. “I’ve always said the process is more important. How you’re playing. I like how we’re playing. I like the fact we’ve scored some goals lately. I like the fact we’ve won a 2-1 or 3-2 game, so we’re starting to get some really good detail in our game, which is giving us a chance to win every night.”
Dallas is still breaking in a few newcomers to its lineup as well, including veteran defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin, who played 55 games for the Ducks last season before he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lyubushkin has contributed five assists for the Stars so far this season, including two in the victory against the Wild.
“We’ve got guys that are still learning our expectations, but every game it gets a little more seamless and a little bit better,” DeBoer said. “Those guys are fitting in a little bit better every night.”
