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Fans of the Anaheim Ducks didn't have to wait long for No. 2 overall pick Leo Carlsson to announce himself. The 18-year-old Swede scored his first NHL goal in his first game on Thursday night, a 3-2 loss to the Dallas Stars.
Still, the team's hopeful future superstar proved he can play in the big leagues, confidently firing home his first tally on the rush after a great pass from linemate Troy Terry.
“The first two shifts, I was a little bit nervous, a lot of tension,” Carlsson said afterwards, according to ESPN. “After that, I was good.”
The Honda Center crowd was eager to watch Carlsson for the first time after he missed the team's first two games, and he gave them something to cheer about despite the loss.
“Doesn't look like it's his first game as an 18-year-old,” Terry explained, per ESPN. “I don't feel like his skating was talked about much [around the draft], but his speed is phenomenal for how big he is, and his hands, and his brain. He makes life easy for me as a winger. Not putting too much pressure on him. I'm just proud of how his first game went. He's a special player. There's really not anything he's not good at.”
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“I thought [he was] terrific,” Ducks coach Greg Cronin echoed. “The first period, he was a bit measured. The second, he was too measured, so we goosed him a bit. I thought every shift in the third period, he was really visible.”
With the goal, Carlsson became just the sixth Anaheim player to score a goal at 18 years old or younger, joining Jamie Drysdale, Chad Kilger, Cam Fowler, Mason McTavish and Oleg Tverdovsky.
“With his parents watching from the stands, Carlsson immediately took over as the Ducks' first-line center, flanked by Terry and Trevor Zegras. The lanky playmaker looked comfortable and dangerous from his opening shift, showing his smoothness on the puck and deceptive skating speed,” wrote ESPN.
It looks like Leo Carlsson is ready to make an immediate impact with the Ducks, and it showed on Thursday night. They'll be back in action against the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday.
