Carlsson has OT winner as Ducks edge Utah in home opener

ANAHEIM - Leo Carlsson scored 54 seconds into overtime to lift the Anaheim Ducks to a 5-4 win against the Utah Hockey Club in their home opener at Honda Center on Wednesday.

Carlsson stole the puck from Nick Schmaltz in the offensive zone and drove in on Utah goalie Connor Ingram for the game-winner.

"He didn't see me coming, so it was perfect," Carlsson said of his steal.

Pavel Mintyukov scored two goals, Mason McTavish had two assists, and Lukas Dostal made 26 saves for the Ducks (2-1-0) in their home opener.

Jack McBain and Michael Kesselring had a goal and an assist, Schmaltz had two assists, and Ingram made 29 saves for Utah (3-1-1) in the finale of its four-game road trip.

"I really liked our battle, our competitiveness," Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. "It's five points out of eight on that trip. It's a comeback in the third. We were down by one after two, so all in all there's a lot of positives."

The Ducks took a 1-0 lead at 4:40 of the first period when Troy Terry scored on a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle off a feed from Ryan Strome.

McBain tied it 1-1 at 8:54 when he deflected in a shot from Mikhail Sergachev.

Anaheim got penned in its own zone for a lengthy stretch, leading to a tripping penalty on Ducks rookie forward Cutter Gauthier, and Barrett Hayton scored a rebound on the ensuing power play for a 2-1 lead at 13:25 of the first.

Anaheim tied it 2-2 at 8:06 of the second when Trevor Zegras made a pass from below the goal line to Robby Fabbri, who stopped the puck with his skate and then roofed a backhand for his first goal with the Ducks.

Mintyukov scored with a wrist shot from the left circle to move the Ducks ahead 3-2 at 16:52 of the second.

"He's a great offensive defensemen," Carlsson said of Mintyukov. "He's joining the rush a lot, so it's fun."

The Ducks could not capitalize on a 5-on-3 that lasted 1:09 early in the third period and Utah scored shortly afterward on a wrist shot from the slot in transition by Kesselring to tie it 3-3 at 5:21.

"We've just got to get pucks to the net, be a little more simple," Kesselring said. "We have a lot of skill, we want to make plays, but sometimes we have to dummy down a little bit and get pucks to the net."

Clayton Keller scored with a backhand from in close off a centering pass from Schmaltz to move Utah ahead 4-3 at 10:50.

"They thrive off turnovers and transition," Zegras said of Utah. "We knew it was going to be a little bit of a track meet. As much as we could, we tried to not play a track meet, but they're so young, skilled and fast that you just kind of have to respect their speed and stay to the inside and just play tough."

Zegras said the Ducks didn't get down after falling behind.

"We were playing good," he said. "I thought we were shooting the puck to the front of the net and we were utilizing the back of the net, trying to find guys in the slot."

Mintyukov was credited with his second goal after his shot went under Ingram, who knocked it across the goal line to tie it 4-4 at 14:55.

It was the first multi-goal game of his NHL career for the 20-year-old, who played 63 games as a rookie last season. Mintyukov was selected by Anaheim in the first round (No. 10) of the 2022 NHL Draft.

NOTES: Anaheim won its home opener for the ninth straight season. ... Three of the four goals by Keller this season have been go-ahead goals. ... Schmaltz has three multi-assist games this season. ... Utah defenseman Robert Bortuzzo replaced Sean Durzi (upper-body injury) in the lineup, but he departed early in the third period with an apparent lower-body injury and did not return. Tourigny did not have an update on Bortuzzo. ... Hayton has four goals in five games after scoring three in 33 games for the Arizona Coyotes last season. ... The Ducks went 0-for-5 on the power play and are 0-for-9 for the season. ... The Ducks are the only NHL team with four players 20-and-under, including Carlsson (19) and Mintyukov (20). ... Zegras recorded his 100th NHL assist on Fabbri's goal. He's the fifth player in team history with 100 assists before age 24, joining Ryan Getzlaf (182), Paul Kariya (150), Cam Fowler (128) and Corey Perry (104).