IRVINE, Calif. – It was a rough and rowdy start to the Golden State Rookie Faceoff in front of a raucous FivePoint Arena at Great Park Ice, but ultimately, the Anaheim Ducks’ physicality could not keep up with a hot San Jose power play, as the Sharks’ rookies took the opener, 6-3.

Anaheim got shots through at the point to tie San Jose at 1-1 in the first period on an Alexis Mathieu wrister and 2-2 in the second period on a power play tip by Tim Washe off a Stian Solberg shot.

However, the Ducks never grabbed the lead, as the Sharks scored three straight into the third period–two of the three on the power play for a total of three extra-man tallies–for a 5-2 lead.

Yegor Sidorov sniped a second Anaheim power play tally in the third period, but San Jose killed the rally with an empty-netter.

Solberg, Konnor Smith, Will Francis, Nico Myatovic and Jaxsen Wiebe each picked up fighting majors for Anaheim with all but Smith’s coming in the third period.

“There were certainly great moments in the game,” said San Diego Gulls coach Matt McIlvane, who is helming the Ducks rookies in this tournament. “I thought we carried a lot of play in the first period. In the third, it kind of felt like there was a pushback coming after the power play goal. Then, the game kind of got into a melee right as that felt like it was mounting.”

“There’s certainly some highlights structurally where guys are picking things up quickly. The overwhelming theme is that we can play a lot cleaner with the puck, and that’ll be what we focus on as we get ready for Sunday.”

San Jose will take on the Kings on Saturday at 1 p.m., and the Ducks will host the Kings on Sunday at 1 p.m. All games at FivePoint Arena and streamed for free on Victory+.

The Sharks got a leg up on the opening shift of the game, as a series of Ducks overpursuits–started by Solberg in the neutral zone–completely opened the right-wing lane for the easy finish.

The Ducks 2024 No. 23 overall pick spent the next 59 minutes making up for that in spades.

The 19-year-old Norwegian laid several signature big hits–including one just minutes after the opening foible–and notched two assists on the power play.

It was on that extra man unit where Solberg was particularly noticeable with a knack for getting shots through from the point, including on the tipped goal by Washe.

“His power play skill and offensive skill, just from my understanding of what when go to see him in San Diego is underrated,” McIlvane said. “He’s got the ability to get wristers through. Shoots the puck so hard. His ability to produce from the blue line will be a weapon and just keep working on playing faster with the puck.”

Solberg also was bestowed an alternate captain’s “A” on his sweater, with Nico Myatovic earning the captain’s “C” and Washe holding the other “A.” Solberg said it was his first time wearing a letter.

“That means a lot,” Solberg said. “That’s huge, and to be a leader in the group, that’s always cool, and it’s a pleasure to have the ‘A’.”

Konnor Smith: The People’s Champ

If there’s a rookie tournament game and Konnor Smith is in it, he’s going to drop the gloves, and he did so in a showman’s fashion on Friday.

As the game grew chippier and chippier, Smith blew the roof off the full barn midway through the second period.

Smith stepped up and put all of his 6-foot-6, 216-pound frame into San Jose’s 6-foot-1, 205-pound Teddy Mutryn, which drew the understandable ire of the Sharks. Carson Wetsch (6-foot-2, 190 pounds) pulled the straw to step up for his teammate, and Smith simply overpowered him.

“I thought I angled it pretty well and caught him pretty good,” Smith said. “I saw a guy coming at me, and you know, I’ve got no issue with dropping the gloves and getting the boys going.”

After dishing out a steady diet of uppercuts, Smith turned to the crowd, put his hand to his ear and encouraged the Ducks’ faithful to bring down the house. The crowd obliged, and they and the Anaheim bench did so again to give Smith a hero’s welcome when he left the penalty box.

“It means something when you hear everybody cheering,” Smith said, “and it makes it that much more fun to do.”

Smith has played in three rookie camps with Anaheim since his fourth-round selection in 2023 and each subsequent tournament has resulted in not just one fight but several. Smith said he’s five-for-five with fights in rookie games.

“My last two years, I was probably looking for it a little bit more,” Smith said, “but now, coming in this year and being an older guy, I’ve kind of already shown I can fight. I just kind of want to work on the puck side of my game, the side of my game without the physicality, but I’m always going to keep that in my game.”

Power Play Fortunes Turning Around?

No one need be reminded of the power play horrors of Ducks seasons past, but not to get too far ahead, that rookie unit’s performance could portend those days may soon be done.

McIlvane has said the rookie camp is about getting these players familiar with new Ducks coach Joel Quenneville’s systems to help get them ready for the main camp next week. If this is indeed Quenneville and assistant Jay Woodcroft’s power play scheme, the top rookie unit had it humming.

The Ducks were two-for-three with the extra man thanks to the aforementioned active point work of Solberg, the netfront presence of Washe and Myatovic in the slot, along with the movement on the wings from Sidorov and Beckett Sennecke.

While a quiet night for Sennecke, he did up a point for a secondary assist on the first power play goal. Myatovic also earned a secondary assist on the second power play goal and provided a second layer of traffic with Washe.

Now, of course, all of that changes when the big club roster swaps in and eventually plays against other big club rosters, but the Ducks rookies gave some promise to a historically moribund unit.