Leo Carlsson scores in OT as Ducks defeat Utah to win ninth straight home opener – Orange County Register

ANAHEIM – The Ducks delivered an exciting home opener that featured five lead changes as they triumphed over Utah HC 5-4 in overtime at Honda Center on Wednesday night.

The second line shined, two newcomers scoring their first points as the Ducks and a young defenseman led the hosts' attack before Leo Carlsson, who also had an assist, won the game with a Herculean move 54 seconds into overtime.

“It was the Leo Carlsson show in overtime. “He’s just a special player when he gets going and he’s a lot of fun to watch,” said forward Trevor Zegras.

Pavel Mintyukov scored two goals in his first career multi-goal game. Robby Fabbri and Troy Terry each scored a goal and Mason McTavish added two assists as the Ducks won their ninth straight home opener. Lukáš Dostál stopped 26 shots.

Jack McBain, Barrett Hayton, Michael Kesselring and Clayton Keller all scored goals for Utah. McBain contributed one assist while Nick Schmaltz added two. Connor Ingram had 29 saves.

It was a long day of celebration at the arena, with a sellout crowd helping to buoy the Ducks in a back-and-forth matchup.

“It was incredible. Our fans are great. As we entered, we were allowed to lay out the orange carpet and felt the excitement. We felt the love from the fans all night,” Zegras said. “Another reason we felt so good after scoring a goal was that the fans kept us in the stadium all night.”

Carlsson dominated his shift in overtime, setting up the puck and nearly setting up the winning goal, only to recover it on the advance and slide into the slot for a silky forehand-to-backhand-to-forehand unassisted goal for the to score a decisive goal.

With 5:05 left on the regulation clock, the Ducks made a new play when Mintyukov's second goal of the night found the net after his sharp shot from close range handcuffed Ingram. It hit him at least twice before sliding behind him.

Utah gained its second lead of the night with 9:10 to play when Schmaltz set up Utah's captain Keller for a backhand goal. At the start of the quarter, Schmaltz delivered a high strike to Isac Lundeström that sent him back to the locker room for attention.

Five and a half minutes earlier, a problem from early last season resurfaced when, after an extended Ducks power play that included some two-man advantages and a hit post, a sloppy line change resulted in a three-on-two duel that culminating in Schmaltz feeding Kesselring from a high position to equalize.

“They score shortly after (the power play) and it's even, that's one of those disappointing goals, then they score again a few minutes later,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. “It’s a big character win, there are a lot of teams that would have given up at this point.”

The Ducks had regained the lead in similar fashion, scoring both goals in the second period.

Fabbri and McTavish, involved in both goals, went to work, with Fabbri initiating a fight which McTavish won by working his way along the wall and swapping positions with Mintyukov. McTavish hit Brian Dumoulin, who hit Mintyukov at the left faceoff dot on a sharp shot with 3:08 left.

“He's a great offensive defender, he often joins the rush, which is great,” Carlsson said of Mintyukov, who credited Dumoulin's composure on breakouts that gave him freedom of movement.

Dumoulin's assist was his first point as a Duck and another addition via trade in July. Fabbri earned his first point of his own in Orange when he scored the equalizer 8:06 into the middle period.

After McTavish's initial foray into the goal crease was interrupted by contact from defender Ian Cole, McTavish and Zegras played catch below the goal line before Zegras slid a pass between Cole's legs and past winger Lawson Crouse, giving Fabbri the lead. He switched from forehand to backhand and lifted the puck over Ingram to cut the score to two and give Zegras his 100th career assist.

Wednesday's opening salvo was played at breakneck speed, and while the Ducks narrowly outlasted Utah, they trailed 2-1 after two unanswered goals from the visitors.