The Sharks unveiled their new look roster in
an opening night tilt with the Florida Panthers at SAP Center on Thursday
night. As expected, the rough and tumble Panthers played their brand of hockey,
but the Sharks looked like they would steam-roll their guests. After taking a
3-0 lead, San Jose forgot who they were playing. The Panthers stormed back to
extend the game to overtime before Luca Cagnoni scored the game-winner in the
extra period.
Cagnoni entered the game on the high of making the
opening night roster, then he finished the evening with an overtime winner on
his 1st NHL goal. Cagnoni gathered a Will Smith feed on a 2-on-1 chance before
snapping a shot past Akira Schmid.
The assist gave Smith a 3-point
night, adding a pair of goals. Macklin Celebrini had 3 assists to match Smith's
point production.
Just securing the win was a major step up from last
year's opening night when the Sharks blew a lead to the Vegas Golden Knights,
then lost in overtime after Alex Nedeljkovic misplayed a puck in the extra
period.
A point of growth for a team that needs to learn from past
mistakes.
The Panthers wasted little time getting back to the rough
and tumble style of play. They started to bait the Sharks by targeting
Celebrini which prompted a response from new blueliner Jacob Trouba. The Sharks
defenseman dropped the gloves with Brady Tkachuk at 7:40 to raise the energy
into an already juiced building.
Darnell took the season's first minor
penalty of the night with a cross check on Lars Eller. The Panthers had a pair
of good looks on a chance down low and then on a Matthew Tkachuk shot that rang
off the left post.
Mason Marchment introduced himself to Sharks fans
with a shot at 14:20 that slipped past Schmid. It was a full circle moment for
the forward who used to roam the Sharks locker room as a kid when his late
father played for San Jose.
San Jose would not capitalize on a Seth
Jones interference penalty late in the period, then Kiefer Sherwood clipped
Aleksander Barkov with a high stick that gave the Panthers a 4-minute power
play. The Sharks turned the tables on Florida when Celebrini intercepted a puck
and raced up the left wing. The Sharks newly appointed captain then sent a pass
through the slot to Smith on the off wing. Smith took a step and rifled a shot
past Schmid for his 1st of the goal, a shorthanded tally.
Sam Bennett
was whistled for hooking at 9:50 to put San Jose on the power play for the 2nd
time. Smith made it a 3-0 game by punching home a puck on the goal line after
Celebrini circled behind the Panthers net from left to right and tried wrapping
the puck around the right post. Smith swooped into help push it over the line
to give him the multi-goal game.
Luca Cagnoni and Darnell Nurse took
penalties 130 seconds apart to give the Panthers more time on the man
advantage. Florida finally made the Sharks for their penalties when Eetu
Luostarinen lifted a backhand chance from the top of the crease, cutting the
Sharks lead to 3-1.
The Panthers came out swinging in the 3rd period and
quickly tied the game. Luostarinen was credited with his 2nd of the game at
5:01 after a Dmitry Kulikov shot hit the Finnish forward before bouncing off
Luca Cagnoni and past Askarov.
Matthew Tkachuk then evened things up
with a shot from the slot on the very next shift that slipped between Askarov
and the left post. The two goals came 17 seconds apart.
Niko Mikkola
took a roughing penalty late in the period, but the power play carried into the
overtime. San Jose was too passive on the man advantage, squandering the
critical opportunity.
Cagnoni and Smith worked their magic to get the
2 points and star the season on the right foot. It took San Jose 7 games before
they recorded their first win after the disastrous start on opening night.
Game Notes: * Sam Dickinson, Ty Dellandrea and Brett
Leason were all scratched for game 1. Adam Gaudette starts the season on the
injured reserve.
* Gustav Forsling was a scratch after scoring the
game winning goal for Florida in their opener on Tuesday. He suffered an upper
body injury in that game.
* Michael Misa sustained a hit that required
some attention behind the scenes in the opening period. He would return later
in the period.
* Aleksander Barkov was injured on a seemingly mundane
play early in the 2nd period. The Panthers captain was jostling for a puck in
the corner when it appeared that either his left knee or ankle gave out on him.
Barkov missed the entire 2025-26 season after suffering a left knee injury in
the preseason. The centerman immediately went off and slammed his gloves to the
ground as he walked to the dressing room.
* The Sharks will be smart
to focus on taking fewer penalties. They allowed the Panthers to skate with 6
power play chances. The last opportunity sparked Florida's comeback. The
Panthers had 7 chances in Carolina on Tuesday and start the season 1-for-13 on
the man advantage.
