Cutter Gauthier Scores His Third Hat Trick in Five Games, Connor Hellebuyck Blanks Toronto and Jeremy Swayman Stops 40: Sunday NHL Fantasy Notes

Cutter Gauthier recorded his third hat trick in five games Sunday as the Anaheim Ducks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 at Honda Center, the loudest result on a six-game Sunday slate that also produced a Connor Hellebuyck shutout in Toronto, a 40-save night from Jeremy Swayman in Boston, a buzzer-beating winner from Mark Scheifele in Winnipeg and an injury to Brayden Point that fantasy managers need to track this week.

Here is what mattered from every game, and what to do with it in your league.

Gauthier keeps rewriting the Ducks record book

Gauthier scored in the second period, again in the third and then into an empty net with 34 seconds left for the hat trick. Per NHL.com, he now has a six-game goal streak with 13 goals in that span and an eight-game point streak (13 goals, four assists). He became the first player in NHL history with three hat tricks in the first 10 days of a month and tied the league mark for hat tricks in a calendar month. Anaheim has won five straight and has scored a power-play goal in eight consecutive games.

The supporting cast deserves as much fantasy attention. Jackson LaCombe extended his assist streak to 10 games (16 assists), tying Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry for the longest in franchise history and becoming the first Ducks defenseman with a point in 10 straight games. Tristan Luneau scored on the power play and has 11 points (four goals, seven assists) during an eight-game streak. Mikael Granlund had a goal and three assists, and Laurent Brossoit made 32 saves to improve to 4-0-0 since his Oct. 31 recall from San Diego of the AHL.

Fantasy take: Gauthier is a locked-in start in every format. Luneau is the waiver priority here: a defenseman feeding a power play that has scored in eight straight games is exactly the profile that wins weekly categories, and he remains less rostered than LaCombe in most leagues. Brossoit is a short-term streamer while the hot run lasts, not a hold.

Hellebuyck stays perfect in New Jersey, but sits Tuesday

Hellebuyck made 23 saves for his first shutout with the Devils in a 4-0 win at Scotiabank Arena, and he became the first goalie to win his first five games with New Jersey. Timo Meier broke out with two second-period goals after entering the night with one goal on the season and none in his previous nine games. Jack Hughes added two assists and has 11 points in his past five games, Jesper Bratt had two assists and has seven in his past five, and Nico Hischier scored on the power play to reach 500 career points. New Jersey is 13-5-0 and has won five straight.

The catch: the Devils announced Hellebuyck will not start Tuesday in Winnipeg against his former team. General manager Sunny Mehta framed it around expected win probability, while coach Sheldon Keefe pointed to workload, noting it was Hellebuyck's third game in six nights. Jake Allen is expected to start instead. New Jersey also lost Anthony Mantha, who did not travel after taking a high stick to the throat Saturday and will miss some time, per Keefe.

On the other side, Toronto (8-9-2) is 0-5-1 in its past six. Anthony Stolarz made 25 saves in the loss, Auston Matthews was held without a point for the first time in seven games, and the Maple Leafs played without Morgan Rielly (lower body) and Chris Tanev (maintenance) before losing Jack Roslovic as a late scratch and Colton Sissons to a lower-body injury in the second period. Coach Jim Hiller said he was more concerned about Sissons.

Fantasy take: Bench Hellebuyck for Tuesday in weekly-lock leagues and treat Allen as a one-night streamer only if your league counts volume. Meier gets a speculative add in deeper formats with Mantha out, because the Devils' top six just opened a spot. Stolarz is a sit until Toronto's blue line gets healthy.

Swayman, Geekie and the four-game Bruins run

Swayman stopped a season-high 40 shots in a 4-1 win over Florida, and Boston (13-4-1, 8-1-0 at home) has won four straight. The Bruins scored three times in the first period through Elias Lindholm, Michael Eyssimont (recalled from Providence on Saturday) and Morgan Geekie on a 5-on-3. JJ Peterka added a goal 58 seconds into the third. David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha each had two assists, and Geekie now has four goals during a four-game goal streak. Jacob Markstrom made 32 saves for Florida, which is 9-7-2 and winless in four divisional games.

Fantasy take: Geekie is the add. He is scoring on the top power play next to Pastrnak, and Boston's home schedule has been friendly. Swayman is a weekly must-start while the Bruins keep winning at TD Garden.

Hertl, Marner and the Golden Knights' third straight

Tomas Hertl scored twice in the third period as Vegas pulled away for a 4-1 win at Buffalo. Mitch Marner scored short-handed on a breakaway and assisted on Hertl's first goal, reaching 100 points with Vegas in 98 games, the fastest pace in franchise history. Jack Eichel scored, Ivan Barbashev had two assists and Adin Hill made 27 saves. Vegas is 12-5-2 with a four-game point streak, while Colten Ellis took the loss for Buffalo with 22 saves.

Fantasy take: Hill is quietly a reliable weekly starter behind a team that killed three second-period penalties on Sunday. Barbashev remains a useful multi-category depth forward in leagues that reward hits.

Scheifele beats the buzzer, and Point exits

Winnipeg built a 3-0 lead on goals from Cole Perfetti, Morgan Barron and Brayden Yager (his first NHL goal, in his sixth game), then watched Tampa Bay tie it on a Brandon Hagel goal and two Pontus Holmberg goals 26 seconds apart. Scheifele won it on a 5-on-3 power play with 1.6 seconds left, the latest regulation game-winner since Feb. 14, 2023. Scheifele has six points during a three-game point streak, and the Jets (7-8-3) have won three straight after a nine-game skid. Stuart Skinner made 18 saves, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 21.

The bigger fantasy story is Point. He left in the first period after six shifts with an undisclosed injury, and coach Jon Cooper said Point might miss some time. Yanni Gourde made his season debut after missing 16 games following offseason hip surgery. Tampa Bay is 11-4-2 and next plays Wednesday at Buffalo.

Fantasy take: Do not drop Point, but do not count on him Wednesday. If Skinner gets the Tuesday start against New Jersey, he is a reasonable stream now that Hellebuyck is confirmed out of that game.

Coronato wins it in overtime in Calgary

Matt Coronato scored 4:08 into overtime as the Flames beat Philadelphia 4-3. Zayne Parekh and Zach Whitecloud scored for Calgary, while Denver Barkey, Noel Acciari and Owen Tippett answered for the Flyers. Joel Farabee scored short-handed for Calgary in the third, extending his home goal streak to six games. Devin Cooley made 32 saves in his first start since Oct. 28 after a lower-body injury, and Dan Vladar made 22 for Philadelphia. Jamie Drysdale has six assists during a four-game point streak.

Calgary also lost defenseman Kevin Bahl, who will go on injured reserve and have season-ending surgery for a ruptured Achilles tendon, per NHL.com. Bahl led the Flames in average ice time, and Brayden Pachal was recalled. Parekh is the clear fantasy winner, since more minutes on a thin blue line feed directly into his power-play role.

What to do in your league

The priority adds from Sunday are Luneau, Geekie and Parekh, in roughly that order for points leagues. Meier is a deeper-league flier. On the goalie side, treat Hellebuyck as a sit Tuesday, plug in Skinner if he is confirmed for Tuesday, and keep riding Swayman.

What's next

Monday brings a three-game slate (Rangers at Oilers, Flyers at Vancouver, Islanders at San Jose), and Tuesday is the Hellebuyck-less return game in Winnipeg. The biggest open question is the Point diagnosis, which should land before Tampa Bay's Wednesday game in Buffalo. For the model's read on Monday's games, check the NHL predictions page at /nhl/predictions.