Nathan Gaucher's First Career AHL Hat Trick Powers Gulls Past Wranglers, 5-4

For three years, Nathan Gaucher's development as a first-round pick had been described in careful, measured terms. Sunday at Pechanga Arena, it arrived all at once.

Gaucher scored three goals to record the first hat trick of his AHL career, lifting the San Diego Gulls to a 5-4 victory over the Calgary Wranglers on March 22 and putting an exclamation point on what has been his strongest professional season. The performance was the 13th hat trick in Gulls AHL history and the first at home since Glenn Gawdin turned the trick on March 24, 2024.

The 22-year-old center, drafted by Anaheim in the first round in 2022, now has a career-best 26 points in 57 contests this season. His goal total stands at 12, a new AHL career high. He has posted six points in his last four games, including back-to-back multi-point efforts that produced five of those six points.

Gaucher was not alone in making history. The win was Tyson Hinds' 200th career AHL game, and the veteran defenseman marked the milestone by collecting an assist for the second straight game, his 13th helper of the campaign. Hinds has tallied assists in four of his last six games.

Brayden Tracey delivered an AHL career-high three assists, his third multi-point game of the season. Ryan Carpenter scored his 16th goal of the year to push his season totals to 38 points, third among Gulls skaters. Cal Burke netted his third goal of the season, his first on the power play, giving him goals in back-to-back games for the first time this year. Pavol Regenda stayed hot with a goal midway through the first period, his third of the road trip and fourth in his last three games. Stian Solberg extended his point streak to three games with an assist, his eighth of the season.

Sasha Pastujov offered the most vivid account of the night's supporting cast. "I'm super happy for him," Pastujov said of linemate Nikita Nesterenko. "We live together, so we go through some of the ebbs and flows. Obviously [Brayden Tracey] being there too all night, making good passes, good plays and also driving the play for us. I thought Nesty had a heck of a night but also my linemates Trace and [Nathan Gaucher] played great as well."

The Gulls needed that balance. Calgary pulled within one goal and made the third period genuinely tense before San Diego steadied itself. "I think the big thing in the third period is we just got back on track mentally," a Gulls spokesperson said in the postgame session. "We lost focus for a moment and then you get to see how good Calgary is. We give them those team plays and back post stuff, and they can capitalize. But if we play the way we know how, we'll be just fine."

Calle Clang earned his 15th win of the season, stopping 19 shots. Nikita Nesterenko, Nikolas Brouillard and Roland McKeown each added an assist.

For Gaucher, the question now hovering over every AHL breakout is what it means for his NHL trajectory with Anaheim. He projects as a bottom-six forward with penalty-kill responsibilities if the Ducks come calling, a role that suits his profile even if it understates the scale of what he has built this season.

San Diego travels to Abbotsford next, where the Gulls open a back-to-back series against the Canucks on Saturday night at 7 p.m. PDT.