Back in the series
Donskoi’s overtime goal cuts San Jose’s series deficit to 2-1
SAN JOSE, Calif. — It took 25 years from their entry into the NHL for the San Jose Sharks to reach the Stanley Cup Final. After such a long wait, they seem determined to settle in for a long stay.
With their season all but on the line after losing the first two games against the Pittsburgh Penguins, forward Joonas Donskoi came out from behind the net and lifted a shot above the shoulder of goaltender Matt Murray 12:18 into overtime to give the Sharks a 3-2 victory before an ecstatic crowd Saturday night at SAP Center.
Game 4 will be played Monday night in San Jose. All three games so far have been decided by one goal, the last two in overtime.
The Sharks’ pregame show fit the magnitude of the occasion of San Jose’s first Stanley Cup Final home game, with images projected onto the ice that highlighted the team’s history as well as its present. The show got the crowd revved up, but the Penguins silenced the noise not much later by taking a 1-0 lead.
Two giveaways set the stage for the goal, by Ben Lovejoy. First, Sharks goaltender Martin Jones misplayed the puck and gave it away to Matt Cullen, whose shot hit the side of the net. Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon controlled it and tried to clear it but it stayed in the zone and was corralled by Lovejoy, whose long shot from the right side appeared to glance off San Jose defenseman Roman Polak and, perhaps, another Shark before eluding Jones at 5:29.
That dampened the crowd’s enthusiasm, but the Sharks rekindled that passion with shifts in which they had long stretches of possession and pressured the defense. Finally, that paid off at 9:34. The puck came to Joe Thornton after a battle along the boards and he passed it back to Justin Braun, but the puck skittered off the inside of Braun’s left skate. But he had the presence of mind and time to kick it up to his stick and take a shot that sailed through bodies before Murray could move.
Braun also had scored in Game 2, giving him goals in two consecutive games for the first time in his career.
In the third period, Patric Hornqvist tipped in a shot with 19:07 to go to put Pittsburgh up 2-1 before former Washington Capital Joel Ward tied it with 8:48 left.