Instant Sharks takeaways: Luca Cagnoni comes through in OT for a statement win

Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News on Oct 2, 2026

Published in Hockey

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SAN JOSE, Calif. – The San Jose Sharks’ season-opening game against the Florida Panthers felt like a playoff game.

Fights, scrums, big hits, and some impressive goals in a back-and-forth game made the Shark Tank the loudest it has been in a long time, maybe since the team’s last postseason appearance in 2019.

Then the roof came off in overtime.

With 1:46 left in overtime, defenseman Luca Cagnoni took a pass from Will Smith and beat Panthers goalie Akira Schmid for his first career NHL goal and 4-3 Sharks win before an announced sellout crowd of 17,435 at SAP Center.

Smith scored twice, and goalie Yaroslav Askarov finished with 23 saves to lead the team to its first season-opening win since 2021.

The Sharks coughed up a 3-0 lead, allowing a power-play goal to Eetu Luostarinen with 2:50 left in the second period before giving up third-period goals to Luostarinen and Matthew Tkachuk 17 seconds apart,

Macklin Celebrini assisted on both of Smith’s goals, including his power-play goal at the 10:37 mark of the second period that gave the Sharks a 3-0 lead.

The Panthers lost their captain Aleksander Barkov with 11:53 left in the second period. He was battling for the puck with Zack Ostapchuk and Darnell Nurse in the corner to the left of the Sharks’ net when he lost his balance after a small push from Nurse and fell awkwardly to the ice, with his lower left leg bending the wrong way.

Barkov was playing his second game of the year after he missed all of last season after tearing his ACL and MCL during the 2025 training camp.

Takeaways from Thursday’s game.

—A FEISTY TEST

From the first period, the game had an edge, as the Panthers went at Celebrini at least twice, first at 7:40 of the first period when Barkov and Brady Tkachuk both hit and knocked down the Sharks captain.

Right as Celebrini hit the ice, defenseman Jacob Trouba jumped in and cross-checked Tkachuk before the two dropped the gloves. Celebrini later knocked down Barkov.

Shortly afterward, Panthers center Anton Lundell hit Celebrini from behind into the boards, causing another ruckus near center ice close to the teams’ benches.

Just 45 seconds after the Sharks killed a cross-checking penalty to Darnell Nurse, Mason Marchment gave the Sharks the lead. With Celebrini and Will Smith near the Panthers crease, Marchment’s shot got through traffic and past Schmid for the first goal of the Sharks’ season.

This was a good test for the Sharks, who feel they are on the cusp of breaking through and making the playoffs for the first time since 2019. They had a measuring stick in Florida, Stanley Cup champions in 2024 and 2025.

—ASKAROV DELIVERS

Askarov looked calm in two preseason games; it was only a matter of whether he could keep it up to start the regular season. He mostly answered the bell, with the goal allowed to Luostarinen coming after a couple crazy bounces in front of the net.

—TOO MANY PENALTIES

The Sharks got caught playing the Panthers’ no-holds-barred style at times, and were shorthanded a staggering six times in the first two periods.

The Sharks killed the first five penalties, thanks mostly to Askarov. But they also got three shots on net while on the penalty kill, and scored once when Smith took a pass from Celebrini on a 2-on-1 and fired a shot past Panthers goalie Schmid for a 2-0 Sharks lead at the 5:52 mark of the second.