Carlsson, Gauthier finally living up to new contracts this season

The Anaheim Ducks have gotten off to a mixed start to the 2026-27 season, but the star duo of Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier looks like it may be emerging as a marquee pairing in the NHL. 

On Sunday, Gauthier netted a hat-trick and Carlsson posted a trio of assists in a 6-3 beatdown over the Ottawa Senators on home ice to end a three-game homestand on a winning note before embarking on a three-game road trip. 

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, co-hosts Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton tipped Carlsson and Gauthier as the duo of the weekend. 

Tyler Yaremchuk: We’re going to go back out to Anaheim. We talked about them a little bit to close out last week, and you know what? They responded pretty well over the weekend. Specifically, their two big dogs, who again were a big part of our show last week. Three goals for Cutter Gauthier, three assists for Leo Carlsson in Anaheim with a nice bounce back on the backs of their star duo in a 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators. 

Carter Hutton: I think this is the factor of we challenged these guys. Not that they were listening to the show… or they they might be, whoho knows? They needed to step up and they needed to win. This came against a Senators team that is questioning who they are without Linus Ullmark. This was a big win in a statement game and now it’s going to be how you can continue on as the Anaheim Ducks, as these two leaders, as the frontrunners. They’re the guys now, right? They wanted the money, they got it. Now they’ve got to put it up, and they did it this weekend.

You can catch the full Ducks breakdown and the rest of Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE right here…