A defenseman’s first goal in the NHL is usually a personal milestone. Luca Cagnoni’s arrived as something more communal: Will Smith sent the puck across the ice, Macklin Celebrini was credited with an assist, and Cagnoni finished 3:14 into overtime to give the San Jose Sharks a 4-3 victory over Florida at SAP Center.
That was the attractive part of San Jose’s regular-season opener for the Bay Area audience that follows the Sharks. Three offensive contributors shared the decisive moment. The less attractive part was the route required to reach it: San Jose led 3-0, surrendered three goals, and needed overtime to secure the win.
Both facts belong in the same paragraph of the season’s first chapter.
A finish with fingerprints everywhere
Cagnoni’s final shot gave him two points, three shots and three blocked shots in 21:17. The overtime goal was his first in the league, but it did not appear in isolation. He had already earned an assist on Smith’s second goal, then later became the player trusted with the finish when Smith found him in space.
The pass is the heart of that overtime play. Smith made the cross-ice pass. Cagnoni released a wrist shot. Celebrini received the additional assist. The scoring sequence gives all three a role, and that matters for a Sharks group that needs offense to emerge from several contributors rather than one player repeatedly solving the same problem.
Smith supplied plenty of the earlier evidence. San Jose’s first goal came from Mason Marchment at 14:20 of the opening period. In the second, Celebrini’s takeaway from Matthew Tkachuk helped create a 2-on-1 shorthanded chance, and Smith converted at 5:52 of the period to make the score 2-0.
Smith struck again on the power play at 10:37. Celebrini and Cagnoni were credited with the assists, and the Sharks had built a three-goal advantage. Smith finished with two goals and an assist. Celebrini had three assists and seven shots. Cagnoni eventually supplied the goal that mattered most.
That is a strong distribution of responsibility for one night. It is also exactly one night.
The lead was real, and so was the escape
Florida made sure the evening could not be filed as a clean celebration. Eetu Luostarinen scored on the power play with 17:10 elapsed in the middle period. He scored again when the third-period clock reached 5:01, and Matthew Tkachuk tied the game 17 seconds later. The Sharks went from comfortable-looking control to overtime before the third period had properly settled.