Good morning. Cutter Gauthier did it again. Two days after a hat trick against Ottawa, he scored three more in Vancouver, and the Ducks won 5-4 to get back to .500. Nobody in franchise history had done that in consecutive games. The Golden Knights won in Pittsburgh on Tomas Hertl’s power-play goal with 32.8 seconds left, and Gary Bettman talked about the two men reportedly competing for an NBA team in Las Vegas. UNLV and San Diego State both opened their seasons with wins. Tonight, the Kings host San Jose, the Lakers are in Sacramento, and the Clippers try to end a six-game losing streak against Miami. Let’s get into it.
🚨 HEADLINES
🏒 Back-to-back hat tricks. Gauthier scored three again, and the Ducks beat Vancouver 5-4 — Zach Cavanagh.
🏒 32.8 seconds. Hertl’s second power-play goal lifted the Golden Knights past Pittsburgh 3-2 — Steve Carp in Pittsburgh.
🏀 “Bill ran a first class organization.” Bettman on Bill Foley and Bill Laurie, the reported NBA Las Vegas finalists — Steve Carp at PPG Paints Arena.
🏀 31 for Mack. The Henderson native scored a career high, and UNLV came back to beat Northern Arizona 89-77 — Arion Armeniakos at Thomas & Mack Center.
🏀 102 points. Six Aztecs scored in double figures as San Diego State beat Cal State Fullerton 102-78 — Eric Evelhoch at Viejas Arena.
🏀 9/5. Luka Dončić passes Victor Wembanyama as the MVP favorite at BetOnline — The Sporting Tribune.
See what else is trending at The Sporting Tribune.
📋 SCOREBOARD — TUESDAY
🏒 NHL: Ducks 5, Canucks 4 · Golden Knights 3, Penguins 2
🏀 MBB: UNLV 89, Northern Arizona 77 · San Diego State 102, Cal State Fullerton 78
🏒 HAT TRICK, AGAIN
A week ago in Vancouver, the Ducks lost a game they called “unacceptable,” “terrible” and “careless.” On Tuesday they went back to Rogers Arena, and Cutter Gauthier scored three goals for the second straight game, something no Duck had ever done. He scored on the power play for a 2-1 lead, again for a 4-2 lead heading into the third, and once more less than five minutes into the third for a 5-2 lead.
Zach Cavanagh writes that Gauthier has multiple goals in three straight games, the first Duck to do that since Paul Kariya in 2000-01. Beckett Sennecke assisted on all three goals and had four assists, the youngest Duck to do it at 20 years, 279 days. Mikael Granlund scored on the power play, and Leo Carlsson scored shorthanded.
It got close. Jake DeBrusk scored twice in the third, the second making it 5-4, before the Ducks held on. Laurent Brossoit made 19 saves, and Nico Myatovic made his NHL debut in place of the injured AJ Greer. The Ducks have 10 power-play goals in their last three games, the most by any NHL team over a three-game span since the 2008-09 Wild, and 29 goals in their last five. They’re 7-7-1 and play at Edmonton on Thursday and Calgary on Saturday before coming home Sunday to wear their new Hometown Remix jerseys against Pittsburgh.
GO DEEPER
› Zach Cavanagh: Another Gauthier hat trick, Ducks’ hot power play pay back Canucks (The Sporting Tribune)
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🎰 A GOOD TUESDAY FOR LAS VEGAS
The Golden Knights stopped the slide. Ryan Craig shuffled his lines and started Adin Hill after five losses in six games. Hertl scored on a first-period power play, Trevor Connelly tied it 2-2 on a third-period breakaway, and Hertl won it on another power play with 32.8 seconds left. Hill made 23 saves, and the penalty kill survived a late 5-on-3. Mitch Marner has points in 11 straight games. “I describe it as a grind,” Craig said. Vegas plays at Detroit on Thursday.
Bettman weighed in on the NBA race. Gary Bettman was at the game in Pittsburgh and told Steve Carp that Golden Knights owner Bill Foley and former Blues owner Bill Laurie, the reported finalists for an NBA expansion team in Las Vegas, are both high-character owners. “Bill ran a first class organization,” he said of Laurie, though he added, “I think Bill Foley had a little more success.” The NBA is expected to announce its expansion plans before the end of the year.
Sebastian Mack came home and scored 31. The Missouri transfer, who played high school ball at Coronado in Henderson, set a career high, and UNLV came back from a 47-43 halftime deficit to beat Northern Arizona 89-77. Arion Armeniakos writes that Josh Pastner credited his full-court press for the turnaround. “Viva The Press,” Pastner said. Jeremy Foumena had 13 points and 11 rebounds in his UNLV debut.
San Diego State scored 102. Latrell Davis made five 3-pointers and scored 25 in his Aztecs debut, and six players reached double figures in a 102-78 win over Cal State Fullerton. Eric Evelhoch writes that it was SDSU’s first 100-point game against a Division I team in regulation since 2018-19. The Aztecs play Colorado on Saturday at Pechanga Arena in the Bill Walton Classic.
GO DEEPER
› Steve Carp: Hertl delivers late to lift Knights past Penguins 3-2 (The Sporting Tribune)
› Steve Carp: NHL commissioner Bettman familiar with both Bills, Foley and Laurie (The Sporting Tribune)
› Arion Armeniakos: Mack’s career-high 31 points propel UNLV to season-opening win (The Sporting Tribune)
› Eric Evelhoch: SDSU offense explodes in season opener with six in double figures (The Sporting Tribune)
🏈 FOOTBALL, FAVORITES AND A FIGHT
Luka is the MVP favorite. At BetOnline, Dončić is now 9/5, ahead of Victor Wembanyama at 2/1 and reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at 4/1. He’s averaging 38.3 points a game, and he has never won the award. His best finish was third, in 2023-24.
The Rams found an identity. Mykell Mathieu writes that the run game has carried the Rams to two straight wins. Kyren Williams and Blake Corum combined for 192 yards against the Raiders, and the Rams held the ball for the final 6:40 against the Chargers. The defense allowed 106 rushing yards across both games. Arash Markazi writes that Kobie Turner, out with a groin injury, co-chaired Taste of the Rams at SoFi Stadium on Monday, a fundraiser for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. “This is my present circumstance,” Turner said.
USC changed its bye-week plan. After the Trojans’ last bye, they scored seven points in a loss at Wisconsin. Holdenn Graff writes that Lincoln Riley has changed the schedule, time off and practice content this time, with the team healthier and No. 20 in the first College Football Playoff rankings. “This is not a bye week for us. This is a standard week,” receiver Trent Mosley said. USC plays at No. 4 Indiana next.
Wilder gets Opetaia. Michael Huezo reports that Deontay Wilder will fight unbeaten cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia, in Opetaia’s heavyweight debut, on the Tyson Fury-Anthony Joshua card Dec. 11 in Cardiff. It streams on Netflix.
GO DEEPER
› Luka Dončić passes Victor Wembanyama as NBA MVP favorite (The Sporting Tribune)
› Mykell Mathieu: Rams finding their identity through physicality and a dominant running game (The Sporting Tribune)
› Arash Markazi: Kobie Turner leads Taste of the Rams while working back from injury (The Sporting Tribune)
› Holdenn Graff: Learning from Madison: USC rewrites its bye-week plan (The Sporting Tribune)
› Michael Huezo: Deontay Wilder to face Jai Opetaia on Fury vs. Joshua card (The Sporting Tribune)
🍔 THE DEALS BOARD
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🏟️ FOUR GAMES, ONE WEDNESDAY
LAFC at NYCFC at 4:30 on Apple TV.
Sharks at Kings at 7 on TNT. The Kings have lost to Buffalo twice in the last week.
Lakers at Kings at 7 on Spectrum SportsNet, in Sacramento. Dončić has scored 35 or more in five straight games, and the Lakers are 6-2.
Heat at Clippers at 7:30 on ClipperVision. The Clippers are 1-6, have lost six straight and blew a 13-point fourth-quarter lead to Toronto on Monday.
📺 WATCHLIST — WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 4
⚽ MLS: LAFC at NYCFC — Yankee Stadium — 4:30 p.m. — Apple TV
🏒 NHL: Sharks at Kings — Crypto.com Arena — 7:00 p.m. — TNT
🏀 NBA: Lakers at Kings — Golden 1 Center — 7:00 p.m. — Spectrum SportsNet
🏀 NBA: Heat at Clippers — Intuit Dome — 7:30 p.m. — ClipperVision
🎟️ GOING TO A GAME?
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🏒 Sharks at Kings — Crypto.com Arena — $35
🏀 Heat at Clippers — Intuit Dome — $11
🌴 TST TRIVIA
Before Cutter Gauthier, the last Duck with multigoal games in three straight was Paul Kariya, in 2000-01. What number did Kariya wear, which the Ducks have since retired?
Answer at the bottom.
🎧 THE SPORTING TRIBUNE TODAY
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Trivia answer: 9.
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