The Ducks traveled to the nation’s capital with their expansive road trip back on the rails and Tuesday’s date with Alex Ovechkin, who’s just 22 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record, on deck.
At the halfway mark of their season-long, six-game tour, the Ducks earned a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday. They mounted a 2-0 lead, retroceded it and then reclaimed it in overtime. Cutter Gauthier scored their second goal and the all-important third, an OT winner that may have been the signature moment of his rookie season.
It was the game the Ducks and Gauthier, in particular, had hoped to have in Philadelphia a night earlier.
There, Gauthier, who was drafted by Philly but opted not to sign with the Flyers, was heckled relentlessly while his would-have-been teammates and former Duck Jamie Drysdale (one goal, one assist) ran roughshod over the Ducks, 6-0. Another even more recently traded defender, Cam Fowler, and his Blues beat the Ducks 6-2 to start the trip.
“It’s a testament to our group and our character,” Gauthier told reporters. “We’ve been great with back-to-backs all season. We preach in the locker room that it’s just another game. We can’t let all those outside factors affect how we play a full 60 [minutes].”
“It’s definitely huge, especially on a long road trip like this with six games, and not having the start we wanted,” he added.
Leading scorer Troy Terry (personal) remained back in California, meaning Gauthier, who played a lean 12:29 in Carolina, and others had to step up during the turbulent trip. Sunday, Jansen Harkins got the scoring rolling and Isac Lundeström dominated the dot, winning 12 of 14 faceoffs.
Defenseman Jackson LaCombe also continued his breakout campaign, assisting on both of Gauthier’s goals, while goaltender Lukáš Dostál held the Ducks in a game in which they were nearly doubled up in shots on goal.
“When your goalie is your best player, you’re probably going to win a lot of games,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin told reporters.
The Ducks have used the phrase “both our goalies” constantly this year and on Sunday both contributed to the win. Dostál confronted the rubber but his netminding partner counseled the match’s offensive star.
“I had dinner with John Gibson, and he told me to shoot five-hole. So, I shot five-hole, and thankfully it went in,” Gauthier told reporters of his game-winner.
Now, Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals await. They entered Monday’s games as the NHL’s top team by points percentage while tying the Winnipeg Jets for the most points in the league.
Dylan Strome, the brother of the Ducks’ Ryan Strome, has established himself as a bonafide No. 1 center. Behind him, Pierre-Luc Dubois has returned to form with 20 points in his past 23 games, distancing himself somewhat from a disastrous dalliance with the Kings last season.
As it has since he entered the NHL in 2005, any discussion of the Caps begins with Ovehckin. An injury cost him 16 games, but Ovechkin still leads Washington with 20 goals in 27 games. At that pace, he would get by Gretzky comfortably by scoring another 29 goals in 2024-25, pushing him not only past Gretzky’s 894 but across the 900-goal threshold as well.