- Luca Cagnoni scored his first NHL goal in overtime to sink the Panthers
- The young Sharks defenseman had a memorable line about what it meant
- Read below for the goal video and what Macklin Celebrini said about him
Luca Cagnoni picked a pretty good night for his first NHL goal.
The Sharks defenseman ripped home the winner 3:14 into overtime Thursday, giving San Jose a 4-3 win over the Florida Panthers in its season opener at SAP Center. Will Smith slid a cross-ice feed to Cagnoni, who beat Akira Schmid from close range.
Watch Cagnoni’s overtime winner:
San Jose had no business needing overtime. Mason Marchment opened the scoring in his Sharks debut, and Smith scored twice in the second period, once shorthanded and once on the power play, to make it 3-0.
Florida clawed all the way back. Eetu Luostarinen scored twice, and Matthew Tkachuk tied it 17 seconds after Luostarinen’s second, early in the third.
It was a chippy, costly night for the Panthers too. Captain Aleksander Barkov left in the second period with a left leg injury, and Brady Tkachuk and Jacob Trouba dropped the gloves after Tkachuk took down Macklin Celebrini.
Cagnoni was asked after the game if he could picture a more special first goal.
“Yeah, pretty unreal. Probably the best goal of my life,” Cagnoni said. “Hard to write one better than an overtime winner, I think, right? I feel like I reenacted that a couple of times, but unreal feeling.”
Here’s Cagnoni on the goal:
Beyond the winner, Cagnoni also picked up an assist on Smith’s power-play goal, put three shots on net and logged 21:17 of ice time.
Celebrini, who finished with three assists, talked about what the young blueliner brought beyond the scoresheet.
“It wasn’t just the goal or the points that he put up today,” Celebrini said. “I think just the way he was skating, making plays, keeping pucks alive. I mean, it was really cool to watch.”
Check out Celebrini on Cagnoni:
This one was a long time coming. San Jose drafted the 5-foot-9 defenseman in the fourth round, 123rd overall, in 2023. Cagnoni went goalless through nine NHL games over the last two seasons and spent most of that stretch with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda, where he put up 52 points as a rookie pro in 2024-25.
Ten games into his NHL career, Cagnoni finally has his first goal, and it won the Sharks their opener.
