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John Carlson’s 1st NHL hat trick helps Ducks rout Sharks to end 6-game skid

April 10, 2026

The Ducks’ Pavel Mintyukov, left, controls the puck in front of the San Jose Sharks’ Will Smith during the first period on Thursday, April 9, 2026, at Honda Center. (Photo by Jeff Antenore, Orange County Register/SCNG)

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The Ducks didn’t leave anything to chance this time out against the San Jose Sharks, whom they hectored in a 6-1 win on Thursday night at Honda Center, spearheaded by John Carlson’s first career hat trick.

The match was an Olympics of desperation as the Ducks broke their six-game freefall and San Jose faltered in a must-win position. The Sharks dropped both ends of a back-to-back set to fade in the Western Conference wild-card race. The Ducks prevailed to stay just one point behind the Edmonton Oilers in the Pacific Division and move into a points tie with the Vegas Golden Knights for second place with three games left in the regular season.

When these two teams last met, the Sharks stole two points in the final two minutes with a stirring comeback, as MVP candidate Macklin Celebrini had four points to bring his total in three prior matchups to 10. On Thursday, the Ducks turned in an all-around dominant display and limited Celebrini to just two shots while earning their first win since March 26.

Carlson, 36, scored twice on the power play on the way to his first three-goal game, anchoring an effort that also included tallies by Leo Carlsson, Alex Killorn and Frank Vatrano. Pavel Mintyukov, Beckett Sennecke, Troy Terry and Mikael Granlund contributed two assists apiece. Lukáš Dostál earned a 16-save win on a night where the Ducks never trailed, took no penalties and scored on two of their three power plays.

Shakir Mukhamadullin scored San Jose’s only goal, and Yaroslav Askarov stopped 27 shots in defeat.

Carlson couldn’t remember his last hat trick at a lower level and while the veteran defenseman witnessed plenty of them in Washington alongside all-time leading goal-scorer Alex Ovechkin, he was pleased to celebrate the first one of his own.

“It was great, I’ve always wanted one, and it was a good game to do it in. The crowd was great tonight from puck drop, and we kept feeding on that,” Carlson said. “I’ve seen a lot in my day, and I was always a little bit jealous.”

Through 40 minutes, the game flowed, free of penalties, and was dominated by the Ducks five-on-five. They earned around three quarters of the expected goals (per Natural Stat Trick) and all three actual goals while stifling the Sharks, allowing single-digit shots through two periods.

The Ducks scored on two of their initial four strikes on net and produced the first eight shots on goal overall.

“We’d been booed off the ice three games in a row. That hurts as a player, too, so I think it was huge motivation for us,” Carlsson said. “We had to win this game.”

Homonymous surnames reigned as Carlsson scored one of the prettiest goals of the Ducks’ campaign 2:59 into the game and then Carlson made it 2-0 off one of the hardest shots of the season, 3:21 later.

Mintyukov’s outlet for Chris Kreider let him make a between-the-legs touch pass that sprang Carlsson for a burst through three zones. He shook Ty Dellandrea to his core and glided on net for a rising wrist shot. Carlsson’s 28th goal tied him for the team lead in points with the injured Cutter Gauthier.

Then, a strong hit by Sennecke on fellow rookie Michael Misa gave way to a weak clearing attempt by former King Tyler Toffoli. That was gobbled up by Mintyukov, whose cross-ice feed for Granlund allowed Carlson to receive a backhanded dish and launch a mortar that exploded just beneath the crossbar.

Killorn cushioned the lead with a transition tally, 5:14 into the second period. Another rookie, Sam Dickinson whiffed on a one-timer, enabling Sennecke to collect the puck and dart off on a three-on-one rush. His centering pass nicked the skate of a sliding Nick Leddy and bounced off Askarov’s pad before coming to Killorn for a tap-in, his 14th goal of 2025-26.

Carlson’s slap shot from high between the circles made it 3-1 on the power play at the 10:31 mark of the final frame. All three of his goals were slappers.

“He’s got the presence, shooting from the top, and good play recognition. The power play needed that,” said Ducks coach Joel Quenneville, whose man-advantage units had been in a 2-for-24 funk. “We need that to ignite our offense, and tonight it did.”

Mukhamadullin trailed the play and let fly from the high slot to break up Dostál’s shutout with 7:20 to play in the match.

The Ducks got that goal back during a lengthy 5-on-3 situation. It was a second thunderous one-timer from Carlson for his second man-advantage marker and only hat trick in 17 NHL seasons (1,156 games). He has four goals as a Duck and 14 overall in a campaign he began with the Washington Capitals.

Carlson’s triplete was the first by a Ducks blue-liner since Cam Fowler’s 2018 effort. The Ducks have two defensemen with 50 or more points on the year. Carlson and Jackson LaCombe are their dynamic duo, with the Minnesota Wild’s Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber being the only actual defense pairing to accomplish the feat.

McTavish’s hard drive to the net created a loose puck that Vatrano smacked home for his fifth goal of the year with 2:28 remaining.

The Ducks play their final home game of the regular season on Sunday against the Vancouver Canucks before finishing with games against Minnesota and Nashville.

Edmonton plays at the Kings on Saturday afternoon before finishing with home games against Colorado and Vancouver next week. Vegas has a road game against Colorado on Saturday, then home games against Winnipeg and Seattle next week.

*This report was compiled remotely.

John Carlson’s 1st NHL hat trick helps Ducks rout Sharks to end 6-game skid Orange County Register

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John Carlson’s 1st NHL hat trick helps Ducks rout Sharks to end 6-game skid

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