Los Angeles: Joonas Donskoi scored with 7:42 left in overtime as the San Jose Sharks clawed their way back into the Stanley Cup final with a 3-2 win over Pittsburgh late on Saturday.
The 24-year-old Finnish forward sped away from Pittsburgh checker Evgeni Malkin at the side of the net, then spun quickly and beat goaltender Martin Jones with a high shot to cut the Penguins lead in the best-of-seven NHL championship series to 2-1.
“I was just trying to hit the net with the puck,” said Donskoi of his sixth goal of the postseason.
Donskoi assisted on teammate Joel Ward’s goal halfway through the third period that tied the game as the Sharks rallied to win at home after losing the first two tight contests in Pittsburgh.
Justin Braun also scored for the Sharks while Patric Hornqvist and Ben Lovejoy scored for the Penguins in the first ever Stanley Cup final game played in San Jose.
All it took was a little bit of home cooking for San Jose to breath life into the series with a come-from-behind win in front of a crowd of 17,500 at the SAP Center arena.
“It was electric,” said Sharks coach Peter DeBoer. “It was amazing to stand back there.
“You can see those fans have been waiting a long time.”
San Jose will have an opportunity to level the series when they host game four Monday at the Shark Tank. Game five is Thursday in Pittsburgh.
“They are a great team but we never give up. It was our best game so far and we had confidence we were going to win,” said Donskoi.
The Penguins like their chances as teams winning the first two games at home in the finals have gone on to win 33 of 36 series.
Pittsburgh scored first for a third straight game. Lovejoy’s wrist shot from the right boards went through the legs of San Jose captain Joe Pavelski and deflected off Sharks defenceman Roman Polak past Jones at 5:29 of the first period.
The Sharks answered at even strength when Braun took a Joe Thornton pass and threaded a rolling puck through a screen to beat goalie Matt Murray at 9:34.
Pittsburgh produced the first seven shots of the game and finished the period with a 14-6 edge over San Jose.
The Sharks had to play without injured left winger Tomas Hertl, who was their best player in the first two games. The team declined to release any details about the injury.
