Luca Cagnoni scores in OT in the Sharks’ season-opening victory over the Panthers

On Thursday night, the San Jose Sharks began their season with a 4-3 victory over the Florida Panthers at SAP Center in San Jose, California. Luca Cagnoni played a pivotal role in the Sharks' comeback, scoring the decisive overtime goal at 3:14 of the extra session. The Sharks came from behind, overcoming a three-goal deficit, as Eetu Luostarinen and Matthew Tkachuk each scored twice to even the game at 5:18 of the third period.

Mason Marchment opened the scoring for the Sharks in the first period, with Will Smith contributing two more goals, one of which was a power play assist from Macklin Celebrini. Smith and Celebrini each had three-point games. Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov made 23 saves throughout the contest. The game was marked by multiple scuffles, notably a confrontation between Tkachuk and Jacob Trouba.

Florida Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov left the game during the second period due to a potential knee injury after being involved in a scuffle with Sharks defenseman Darnell Nurse and forward Zack Ostapchuk. Barkov, who suffered a torn ACL and MCL during training camp last season, missed the entire 2022-2023 campaign and played his second game of the current season.