Leo Carlsson's first overtime goal pushes Ducks past Utah

ANAHEIM, Calif. --  Leo Carlsson needed just 54 seconds of time on the ice to lift the Ducks past Utah in their 5-4 overtime victory Wednesday night.

Carlsson's goal was the first time in his career he had a game winning shot in overtime.

After Utah (3-2-0) took a 4-3 lead over the Ducks (2-1-0) with 10 minutes of play left in the third period, a sense of urgency seemed to finally hit as Pavel Mintyukov scored his second goal of the night with 3:02 remaining in the period, sending the game into overtime.

"Right now, we just need to keep getting better," Mintyukov said. "The whole team."

Mintyukov's goal in the third period was his second of the night and was the second time he came through in a clutch moment for the Ducks as his first came in the second period to put them ahead 3-2 with three minutes left until intermission.

"He’s a great offensive defenseman," Carlsson said. "I love playing with him and he’s joining the rush a lot, so it’s fun."

Playing 19:41 time on the ice, Carlsson had a rather quiet game but came through towards the end as he had an assist in Mintyukov's game tying goal.

With 16:56 remaining in the third, Anaheim was in a prime position to put the game away as Utah had both Kevin Stenlund and Robert Bortuzzo in the penalty box but the Ducks couldn't seize the moment.

Once Utah was able to get back to full strength, they were able to take advantage of Anaheim's inability to score and scored twice from defenseman Michael Kesselring and forward Clayton Keller who gave Utah the lead.

"We knew it was going to be a bit of a track meet." Trevor Zegras said. "They’re so young. 

"Skilled and fast that you kind of have to respect their speed.Stay to the inside and just play tough."

For most of the night, the Ducks and Utah seemed evenly matched as the game had a lead change five times. Both teams were almost matched for shots on goal as well as the Ducks had 34 and Utah had 30.

Just five minutes after the puck dropped, the game had it's first score from a Troy Terry goal at the 15:20 mark in the first period. It was the Ducks' fourth shot on goal of the night and Terry's second goal of the season as he had his first in Sunday's 3-1 loss to Las Vegas.

Followed by Terry's goal, Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano were awarded with assists.

After Terry's goal, Utah quickly recouped and scored twice in the first period. Their first goal came from Jack Mcbain. 

Their next goal was on a power play at the 8:15 mark in the period after Barret Hayton took put them ahead 2-1 after Cutter Gauthier was sent to the penalty box for tripping.

Penalties played a big part of the first period as both team's had power plays in the first period. With second's left in the first, Cam Fowler was set to begin the second period in the penalty box for tripping at the end of the first period.

The Ducks defense was able to prevail to open up the second and they were able to recoup as a team, scoring twice within 10 shots on gonal. The first came from Robby Fabbri who tied the game from an assist by Zegras, who put it in the perfect spot. It was Zegras' 100th career assist. Along with Zegras, Mason McTavish was awarded an assist.

The Ducks later took the lead from Mintykuov's first goal of the night.

"It's a process and we've gotta try to flatten out some of those bumps we create ourselves with the turnovers and the long shifts and the power play was kind of struggling and drained you," Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. "They did a great job fighting back and it's a character win."