Gauthier scores 2 on birthday, Ducks hold off Rangers for 4th win in row

ANAHEIM -- Cutter Gauthier scored two goals on his 22nd birthday, and the Anaheim Ducks won their fourth in a row, 5-3 against the New York Rangers at Honda Center on Monday.

The forward has 22 goals on the season.

“It’s kind of funny," Gauthier said. "I feel like every birthday, I get a goal, and it's funny enough that it worked out tonight as well.”

Mason McTavish, Jeffrey Viel and Alex Killorn also scored, and Lukas Dostal made 19 saves for the Ducks (25-21-3), who had lost nine in a row (0-8-1) before their current winning streak.

“Discipline and just play a strong, consistent defensive game," Gauthier said. "When we play a more defensive side of the game, I feel like a lot of opportunities are handed to us.”

Artemi Panarin had a goal and an assist to extend his point streak to 10 games, Matthew Robertson and Vladislav Gavrikov also scored, and J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck each had two assists for the Rangers (21-23-6), who have lost six of seven (1-5-1). Spencer Martin made 21 saves in his second start of the season.

"I thought it was an even game for the most part. Both teams had good pushes," Miller said. "There were some mistakes, but I think from a systems standpoint, we're trying to go in the right direction."

Robertson scored with a slap shot through Dostal's pads to give New York a 1-0 lead at 4:00 of the first period. Miller made a diagonal pass out of the corner of the Anaheim zone to Robertson just inside the blue line. The pass grazed the stick blade of Mika Zibanejad before continuing to Robertson.

"I thought we had a real good start. I thought we were skating in the first period. I don't think we sustained it to the level that we needed to, in particular 5-on-5," Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said.

Anaheim tied it 1-1 at 11:31. Ducks defenseman Pavel Mintyukov made a no-look backhand centering pass as he was falling to his knees in the left circle. The puck continued through the legs of Chris Kreider and off the skate of Robertson before sliding to McTavish in the right circle and he scored for the second straight game with a one-timer.

The Rangers were on a power play when Trocheck drove through the right circle before passing the puck back to Panarin above the same circle. He had room to move closer to the net before scoring with a snapshot for a 2-1 lead at 4:03 of the second period.

Panarin has five goals and 13 assists during his point streak.

Viel, who was acquired from the Boston Bruins on Friday for a fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, tied the score 2-2 at 8:29 of the second period with his first NHL goal since March 18, 2022. Ryan Poehling shot the puck at the net from along the wall and above the left circle. Martin made the save, but the rebound came to Viel.

The Ducks were on a power play when Jacob Trouba took a shot from the right point. The puck squeezed through Martin's pads and Killorn swept it into the net from the crease for a 3-2 lead at 18:02.

“One of those power plays where things just kind of go your way," said Killorn, who was playing in his 999th NHL game. "We're working hard behind the net, you work so hard and just get a nice bounce where it kind of squeaks through his shoulder or whatever, but we'll take it.”

Anaheim made it 4-2 at 1:01 of the third period after the Rangers turned it over at the blue line trying to exit their zone and Gauthier scored with a wrist shot from the slot.

"It's tough when you turn the puck over the way we turned it over," Sullivan said. "When you give them those types of opportunities, they're going to end up in your net."

Gavrikov scored with a one-timer from above the right circle while on a power play to cut it to 4-3 at 7:11.

"I thought our power play was good, but 5-on-5 we didn't sustain the pace of play and just competing on pucks like we need to," Sullivan said.

Anaheim killed a 5-on-3 that lasted 22 seconds late in the third period and Gauthier scored into an empty net with 36 seconds left for the 5-3 final.

The Ducks have been without their top two scorers, Troy Terry (upper body) and Leo Carlsson (lower body), during their winning streak.

“We’ve been playing really well defensively, not giving up a ton," Killorn said. "That’s been a huge reason why we've been successful, especially with the guys we have out of our lineup, guys that are huge offensive tools for us.”

NOTES: Zibanejad's assist on Robertson's goal extended his point streak to nine games (nine goals, nine assists). ... Gauthier had his third multigoal period of the season. Only Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche has done it more this season (five).