Carlsson gets 3 points, Ducks score 7 to rally late for OT win against Sharks

SAN JOSE -- Leo Carlsson scored 46 seconds into overtime and had two assists, and the Anaheim Ducks rallied late to defeat the San Jose Sharks 7-6 at SAP Center on Saturday.

Carlsson went down the left wing and fired a wrist shot over the blocker of Yaroslav Askarov to win it after Chris Kreider’s second goal of the game tied it 6-6 with 51 seconds remaining in the third period. Kreider scored on a tap-in from the left post after Carlsson's shot rebounded off Askarov's pad right to him.

"Super fun hockey game,” Carlsson said. “Back and forth. Love a comeback win, so it was great.”

Cutter Gauthier also scored twice, Mason McTavish had three assists, and Beckett Sennecke had a goal and an assist for the Ducks (1-1-0). Mikael Granlund and Troy Terry each had two assists, and Petr Mrazek allowed six goals on 23 shots.

It was the first win as Ducks coach for Joel Quenneville, who was hired on May 8.

"That's more than a wow,” Quenneville said. “You don't expect to come back like that. I thought we played well the whole game. Fought back from a two-goal lead earlier in the game when we thought we were playing pretty well. Stayed with it ’til the end of the game and got a reward."

Adam Gaudette had a goal and an assist, Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith each had three assists, and Jeff Skinner also scored for the Sharks (0-0-2), who blew a lead late in the third period before losing in overtime for the second straight game. Dmitry Orlov had two assists, and Askarov made 36 saves.

"(Our) winning habits are not good,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said. “Our whole game wasn't great, let's be honest. So, we got to keep working with these young guys and our team here to have an understanding of what that looks like."

Tyler Toffoli gave San Jose a 1-0 lead 3:40 into the first period. During a delayed penalty, Smith fed a saucer pass from the right point to a streaking Toffoli, whose one-timer went over Mrazek's blocker.

Ryan Reaves extended it to 2-0 at 11:12 after he skated down the left wing, cut in front of the net and beat Mrazek by his glove.

Gauthier scored 41 seconds later to cut it to 2-1. McTavish's pass from his own blue line bounced past Smith right to Gauthier in the slot for a partial breakaway, and his wrist shot got through Askarov's blocker.

"We jell pretty well in practice once we started playing together," Gauthier said. "We are always connected. It feels like there are guys all around the ice."

Sennecke tied it 2-2 with a power-play goal at 15:14. After McTavish's one-timer from the right circle hit the post, Sennecke found the puck sitting behind Askarov for a tap-in.

Mario Ferraro put the Sharks back in front 3-2 at 5:21 of the second period. After Celebrini passed the puck in front of the net, Smith poked the puck on goal, then touched it to Ferraro to the left of Mrazek for the open shot.

Alex Killorn tied it 3-3 for Anaheim 58 seconds later at 6:19. Granlund sent Killorn on a breakaway, and his wrist shot beat Askarov glove side.

John Klingberg put San Jose up 4-3 with a 5-on-3 power-play goal at 10:34. Celebrini gave Klingberg a pass at the point for a one-timer past Mrazek's glove.

Gaudette then extended it to 5-3 on the power play at 17:14. Alexander Wennberg passed the puck from behind the net to Gaudette, whose one-timer beat Mrazek's blocker.

Kreider’s power-play goal cut it to 5-4 at 19:29. After a rebound kicked off Askarov's pad, Carlsson tapped a pass to Kreider at the right post for a shot into the open net.

"That's always fun. It is always nice to give your team a chance to win a hockey game," Kreider said.

Skinner made it 6-4 at 5:34 of the third period after he took a spinning wrist shot from the left circle that beat Mrazek five-hole.

Gauthier’s second goal of the game at 10:29 cut it to 6-5 when he tipped McTavish's one-timer from the point over Askarov's glove.

NOTES: Carlsson scored his sixth career game-winning goal -- the most by a Ducks player age 20 or younger, passing McTavish (five). … Mrazek's win was his first with the Ducks. He was part of the trade with the Detroit Red Wings for goalie John Gibson on June 28. ... Sam Dickinson, a defenseman, had 11:59 of ice time in his NHL debut for the Sharks. He was the No. 11 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.