San Jose Beats Penguins In OT, Win Game 3 Of Stanley Cup Finals
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Joonas Donskoi's turnaround shot at 12:18 of overtime from the left circle gave the San Jose Sharks a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Donskoi's sixth goal of the playoffs enabled San Jose to cut Pittsburgh's lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.
Game 4 is Monday in San Jose.
The Penguins took a 2-1 lead inside the final minute of the second period on their last of six shots in the period.
Right winger Patric Hornqvist redirected a shot from the middle of the blue line by defenseman Ben Lovejoy past San Jose goalie Martin Jones with 52.3 seconds left.
The go-ahead goal came after a San Jose turnover as the Sharks tried to clear the puck up the wall.
Donskoi struck the crossbar with a last-second blast from the slot.
The Sharks carried the play for most of the middle period, outshooting the Penguins 9-6 overall.
Logan Couture had a close call when he hit the far post on a two-on-one Sharks break at 7:53 moments after defenseman Justin Braun stopped Penguins captain Sidney Crosby on a potential breakaway.
San Jose earned its first power play of the game at 10:39 when Carl Hagelin tripped Melker Karlsson. But the Sharks mustered only two shots -- both by the top unit during the first 1:07 of the advantage.
Two defensive-minded blue liners scored their second goals of the playoffs as the Sharks and Penguins went into the first intermission tied 1-1.
Pittsburgh scored first for a third straight game. Lovejoy's soft wrist shot from the right boards went through the legs of San Jose captain Joe Pavelski and off the stick of Sharks defenseman Roman Polak past Jones at 5:29 on the visitors' fifth straight shot to open the game.
Jones mishandled the puck after stopping an Eric Fehr shot to set up the Pittsburgh scoring chance. The goal came just after San Jose completed a successful kill of Joel Ward's high-sticking infraction at 2:58.
The Sharks struck back at even strength when Braun settled a Joe Thornton pass and, from the blue line, wristed a rolling puck over a diving Hornqvist and through a screen to beat Murray at 9:34.
Karlsson and trailing Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang impaired Murray's vision on the goal.
Jones stopped Phil Kessel on a breakaway at 10:50 when defensemen Brent Burns and Paul Martin got caught up ice.
Pittsburgh produced the first seven shots of the game and finished the period with a 14-6 edge over San Jose.
NOTES: LW Tomas Hertl missed Game 3 with an undisclosed lower-body injury. Sharks coach Peter DeBoer declared Friday a maintenance day for the 23-year-old top-liner, who took a couple spins on the ice while wearing a track suit before the team held a full practice. It appeared Hertl's left ankle was wrapped. He played 20:20 in Game 2, including a shift in overtime. Melker Karlsson was promoted to play alongside C Joe Thornton and RW Joe Pavelski. LW Dainius Zubrus drew in to join the fourth line after being a healthy scratch in Game 2. ... Pittsburgh has outshot its opponents in 12 straight games. ... The Sharks are 8-2 in the playoffs at home. ... The Penguins won Game 3 in each of the first three rounds, including twice on the road. ... California-based teams were 12-1 at home during the Stanley Cup Finals (San Jose 1-0, Los Angeles 6-0, Anaheim 5-1).
