January 06, 2026
Flyers-Ducks is a rivalry now, and a nasty one.
The bitterness from the Cutter Gauthier trade is still as strong as it was from the moment it happened two years ago, for both the Flyers and every fan in Xfinity Mobile Arena who spent the better part of the next couple of hours directing their scorn at the white No. 61 jersey every time it hit the ice, and by the end of Tuesday night, there probably weren't too many high opinions of anyone else in an Anaheim sweater, either.
Gauthier, the former top Flyers prospect before a sudden and still unexplained refusal to play for the organization forced a trade to the Ducks, drew first blood with his first goal in Philadelphia as furious boos showered him.
But then Trevor Zegras, who also links these two teams with his own sour exit out of Anaheim, answered the bell.
The playmaking star the Flyers have now scored twice before the first period was up, from the exact same spot at the bottom of the right faceoff circle, to send that same Philly crowd into elation and the Flyers ahead with a lead they wouldn't give back.
The hits were there before then, but they only got heavier (and dirtier) after. The words got meaner, the tensions higher, and everyone in an orange and black uniform – well...the Philadelphia orange and black – were there to let Gauthier know that they still had an issue with him.
The Flyers crushed the Ducks, 5-2, just shy of a full year after they did it the first time with Jamie Drysdale, the forever-linked return from that notorious deal, taking center stage with a goal and chants of "JAMIE'S BETTER!!!" that mixed in with continual yells of "F--- YOU, CUTTER!!!"
The "F--- YOU, CUTTER!!!" chants were still there in force Tuesday night, but the spotlight was all to Zegras against his old team this time, and the two points in the standings all to a Flyers team that only seems to be getting more and more serious about a playoff push by the day.
It's a rivalry, and a nasty one. It's just a shame the Flyers can only play Anaheim twice a year.
The energy and the chippiness that results from it were there long before the first puck drop – it was there right from warmups as Gauthier and the Ducks took their laps to a wave of boos and chirps from the surrounding fans who showed up early.
Bobby Brink took a big shoulder from Jansen Harkins early into the first period that sent him spinning down to the ice while trying to move in toward the Anaheim net, and Noah Cates immediately chased after Harkins in demand of a fight to answer for it.
Harkins got his five for fighting, but Cates got the five, an instigator call to put the Ducks on the power play, and a game misconduct that sent him to the locker room – while Brink himself wasn't far behind when he got sent down the tunnel with trainer Tommy Alva after taking that hit. Brink was later ruled out the rest of the way with an upper-body injury.
Gauthier got his space at the top of the right circle on the Anaheim man-advantage and ripped a slapshot past Flyers goalie Dan Vladar for that first goal in Philadelphia and a 1-0 Ducks lead. Boos rained down as Gauthier pumped a fist through the air.
It was a charged moment.
Then Zegras stepped up for his turn.
Christian Dvorak, having just signed a five-year contract extension to stay in Philly for the long haul, kept a puck onside at the blue line, carried it down to the hashmarks, which drew every Ducks skater to him, then slipped a pass to an open Zegras who hammered a shot over the shoulder of Anaheim goaltender Lukas Dostal to tie the game, 1-1.
The Philly crowd roared, so did Zegras as he pulled off his glove to gesture slamming down a phone in celebration...and then he went back down and did it again.
TREVOR ZEGRAS IS HAVING FUN!! 🔥
— NHL (@NHL) January 7, 2026
He's got one against his former team! pic.twitter.com/MfMjw76S8C
On the power play from a too many men penalty on the Ducks, Zegras settled into that same spot down low, and after a brilliant touch pass setup from Sean Couturier to Cam York moving in, Zegras was left all alone again to take in the pass and blast another shot right by Dostal for the 2-1 lead.
SAME SPOT. SAME GOAL. SAME TREVOR ZEGRAS!!
— NHL (@NHL) January 7, 2026
He's on hatty watch! pic.twitter.com/7LuqjzpdOM
The building went electric, and Zegras – with goals 16 and 17 on the season – was on hat trick watch with tons of time still to go.
"I've been thinking about this game for a long time," Zegras said postgame, with that third goal eluding him but the result taken all the same against his former club. "It was one that meant a lot to me. It was definitely cool to get one, and then, obviously, two."
All the while, the Flyers were drastically outchancing and outshooting the Ducks, 13-5, by the end of the first and 31-10 by the time the third started.
The Flyers and Ducks are both rebuilding clubs, that have both been long downtrodden franchises hoping to work themselves back up into NHL heavyweights, but both are doing so with different philosophies and styles, and one ended up far outmatching the other.
See the Ducks under their head coach, Joel Quenneville, have been letting their young forwards, Gauthier included, fly after offense in the hopes they can pile on and outscore their opponents at the expense of – or maybe covering up for – suspect defense and goaltending.
The Flyers, under Rick Tocchet, have prioritized getting right defensively first and working their way down the ice from there, which, while slow and uneventful at times, has gotten them good results more often than not so far.
And Tuesday night, it caught Anaheim in bad spots time and time again.
Cam York drove a point shot through traffic early into the second period to send the Flyers up, 3-1, Travis Sanheim wired a knucklepuck off an offensive zone draw won by a returning Cates before the end of it to make it 4-1, and the Ducks were rapidly losing their temper.
A Sanny Screamer. 🚀#ANAvsPHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/thAoioulsQ
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) January 7, 2026
Garnet Hathaway played the main agitator, crushing Ducks defenseman Owen Zellweger in the corner, which soon after, led Ross Johnston to catch Drysdale with a blindside hit away from the puck that left the Flyers blueliner down and not getting up.
Ross Johnston threw the dirty hit after Garnet Hathaway sent Zellweger to another dimension. #Flyers pic.twitter.com/OCP6U60x4g
— Flyers Nation (@FlyersNation) January 7, 2026
It looked bad. Johnston was tagged for obvious interference and a game misconduct that sent him down the tunnel, while the stretcher was brought out for Drysdale as the trainers stayed over him.
He ended up being OK enough to get up and skate off, which gave the arena another reason to stand and cheer. He was just done for the night after a hit like that, too.
The Flyers weren't, though.
They kept attacking. They kept throwing words at Gauthier and any other Duck they were taking exception to, and in the third, Hathaway caught another target behind the Anaheim net in Ian Moore and leveled him into the boards, taking an accepted invitation to fight Anaheim captain Radko Gudas as soon as Moore crumpled to the ice.
Hathaway with a nice hit and Gudas drops the gloves pic.twitter.com/ROLJ7thNrl
— Nasty Knuckles (@NastyKnuckles) January 7, 2026
Nikita Grebenkin potted an empty-netter for good measure, and that was it.
The Flyers had Anaheim completely in over their heads, and probably not able to catch their next flight out of Philadelphia anywhere near fast enough.
It's a rivalry now. A nasty one, and maybe a bit of a weird one, but one the Flyers are definitely holding the edge over for now.
"It was awesome," Zegras said of skating in the middle of it. "I mean, it's funny how these two teams have turned into such big games."
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