Penguins vs. Sharks: Game 3 Score and Reaction from 2016 Stanley Cup Final

The San Jose Sharks ended their first Stanley Cup Final home game in style. Joonas Donskoi scored in overtime to give them a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 3 on Saturday night in the SAP Center. 

Donskoi's decisive goal came 12 minutes and 18 seconds into the extra period. After skating around behind the net, the Sharks forward beat Matt Murray top shelf with a wrist shot, as shared by NHL on NBC:

The Toronto Star's Bruce Arthur could sense something big about to happen just before the goal:

According to NHL Public Relations, Donskoi became the sixth rookie to score an overtime goal in a Stanley Cup Final.

The SAP Center was rocking throughout the night, as fans in San Jose, California, got to revel in a Stanley Cup Final for the first time. Ben Lovejoy quieted the raucous crowd, though, with a goal 5:29 into the first period. Lovejoy had a speculative effort deflect off Sharks defenseman Roman Polak and past Martin Jones, shared by the NHL:

Although the deflection gave Jones little chance at saving Lovejoy's shot, CSN Bay Area's Kevin Kurz didn't let the Sharks goaltender off entirely for his role in the Penguins' opener:

A little over four minutes later, Justin Braun tied it. With Murray's view completely blocked, Braun placed his shot perfectly, shared by the NHL:

ESPN's Stephania Bell thought San Jose was looking as good as it had in the series:

The score remained tied for the remainder of the period, which CSN Bay Area's Ray Ratto saw as a win for the Sharks:

Patric Hornqvist broke the deadlock at the 19:07 mark of the second period. Lovejoy was front and center for a goal once again. Hornqvist got a stick to Lovejoy's wrist shot, which was enough to get the puck past Jones and give the Penguins a 2-1 lead, shared by the NHL:

Some noted how the teams were playing a relatively even game:

A big reason the Sharks struggled to get an edge on the Penguins over the first two periods was their lack of power-play opportunities. San Jose was on the power play just once through the first 40 minutes, negating what has been a strong unit throughout the postseason. The Western Conference champions headed into Saturday second in playoff power-play percentage (27.3).

But Nick Bonino received a double-minor for a high stick on Joe Thornton at the 4:48 mark of the third period, which left the Penguins down a man for four minutes. As the penalty expired, Joel Ward tied the game with 8:48 gone in the period. He unleashed a slap shot that went in off Murray's left pad, shared by the NHL:

Vice Sports' Dave Lozo went through a wide range of emotions as he watched the play unfold:

NHL.com's Dan Rosen thought Murray could've done much better:

After the end of the first period, momentum had slowly started shifting to the Sharks. Hornqvist's goal was a respite for Pittsburgh, but otherwise, San Jose looked stronger as the game wore on and ultimately got the win. 

The result is massive for San Jose since losing Game 3 would've been disastrous. The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs are the only team in NHL history to win a Stanley Cup after falling behind 3-0 in the final. Overcoming a 3-0 deficit wouldn't have been impossible, but the Sharks' title hopes would've been hanging by a thread had they lost to the Penguins on Saturday.

Instead, San Jose is back in the series with a chance to tie the Stanley Cup Final in Game 4 on Monday night.

Postgame Reaction

"It's big," Thornton said, per David Pollak of the New York Times. "We haven't had the lead too much in this series. To win this one, it's a huge confidence booster, and now we just need to continue it in Game 4."

Sharks coach Peter DeBoer echoed the sentiment regarding the importance of winning Game 3, per Ann Killion of the San Francisco Chronicle: "It's a huge win. It changes the series. The desperation level was as high as it could be."

Thornton also praised the San Jose crowd for helping to lift the players on the ice, per the Associated Press (via ESPN.com): "[The fans] were incredible. They waited so long for this chance to cheer for the Sharks in the finals. Just from warmups on, they were incredible for us."

Penguins winger Phil Kessel, per the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Dave Molinari, said: "It is what it is. I thought we played good in stretches, and they played good in stretches."

Teammate Bryan Rust trusts the team can move on quickly from the loss: "That's what we've been doing really well over the past four months, just putting games behind us, whether we win or lose. And move on to the next one."