With 7:42 left in overtime, Sharks forward Joonas Donskoi sniped a turnaround wrist shot through two Penguins defensemen to get San Jose back into the series.
The Sharks snapped their winless drought in postseason overtime games with a key win at home. This Sharks avoided falling into a 3-0 hole against the Penguins.
Donskoi, to many an unlikely source of offense has been a huge part of the Sharks resurgence this season and postseason. He had a slew of chances throughout the game but was finally able to cap it off and send all the San Jose fans home happy.
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| Infographic by Kavin Mistry |
“I think that I have had a lot of scoring chances throughout the whole finals and this was a good time to get one,” said Sharks forward Joonas Donskoi in a postgame interview.
The Sharks have now put themselves back into the series and now have a chance to tie it up before heading back to Pittsburgh for game 5.
“We feel good about ourselves,” said Sharks forward Joe Thornton in a postgame interview. “We got some real good chances, when we got the chances we really made them count.”
The Sharks started the night off to another rocky start. From the start the Penguins forwards were applying their fast paced game plan and an untimely turnover led to Pittsburgh striking first.
The Sharks found themselves in a familiar spot, having fell behind in the first two games in Pittsburgh. However this time they found the counterpunch.
Sharks defenseman Justin Braun blasted a slap shot from above the circle past a screened Penguins goalie Matt Murray who didn’t move before the shot hit the back of the net. Braun has now scored for the Sharks in back to back games, both coming when the team needed a spark.
“Just get the puck on the net, I’m not really looking for much more,” Braun said in a postgame interview. “We really wanted to put them in a more vulnerable position, that way we can push them back.”
Penguins forward, Patric Hornqvist, broke the tie in the second period on an unlucky break for Sharks goalie, Martin Jones, when he put it past the Sharks defense with under a minute to go in the period.
The Sharks looked for the counter in the third and got it on the power play. Forward Joel Ward ripped a slapshot from the slot past Matt Murray that stunned the Penguins and the crowd.
“That was big, and we were pushing,” said Sharks captain Joe Pavelski in a postgame interview. “You see him wind up and it was great to get that goal.”
“Different guys have been scoring goals and Ward got that big second goal,” said Sharks forward Joe Thornton in a postgame interview. “We liked our game and we played our game tonight.”
The teams exchanged back and forth opportunities in the final 10 minutes of the third, but both came up empty. The game headed to overtime and Sharks fans held their breath. The Sharks came into the game 0-4 in overtime this postseason and lost a heartbreaker in game 2 in overtime.
“We have always felt good and we are always upbeat,” Ward said. “It was pretty chill and relaxed, we knew that we had to come out hard and play our game.”
Through the first 10 minutes of overtime both teams exchanged glorious chances to score but were just short of getting the puck past the goalies, until Donskoi became the hero for the Sharks and scored the game winning goal.
“They got a few good looks in overtime, but then Donskoi got the big goal,” said Sharks forward Logan Couture in a postgame interview. “I saw the puck go into the net and I tried to jump off the bench as fast as possible, ... It was a huge goal for us and it came at the best time.”
Jones came up with another stellar night in goal for the Sharks, continuing his incredible run in net this postseason.
“I just feel so much relief,” Jones said in a postgame interview. “We have put in a lot of work, everybody knows what’s at stake.”
The Sharks will look to tie the series in game 4 on Monday from SAP Center in San Jose.
“I think this was the best game by us so far,” Donskoi said. “A great effort by the whole team and we got a lot of scoring chances and it felt great for the team.”
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