The San Jose Sharks failed to effectively establish territory in the attacking zone in losses to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Final.
However, on home ice for Game 3 on Saturday while staging the first Stanley Cup Final clash ever contested at The Shark Tank, San Jose saw a steady increase in sway, ultimately leading to a quick-strike attack off a dogged forecheck and a goal that would ensure its rise in the Western Conference gauntlet wouldn't be all for naught.
Joonas Donskoi scored the decisive goal a little more than 12 minutes into the first overtime period in Game 3, circling and firing a riser off the ear of Matt Murray, and in. But his moment would've never been without a tenacious, yet tidy offensive zone pressure from a patchwork unit from Pete DeBoer.
Here's the play that got the Sharks back in the Stanley Cup Final:
The lead-up begins in the defensive zone, with Marc-Edouard Vlasic knocking a puck flipped in the Sharks' end past Chris Kunitz and safe onto the stick of Joel Ward. Ward collects, sweeping it along the wall past Bryan Rust and down softly into the Penguins' end off a deflection from Nick Spaling. This has Melker Karlsson on the chase to begin the series-altering forecheck in a 50-50 battle with Ian Cole as both teams change.
Karlsson uses his momentum to crash Cole into the glass, dislodging the puck. Justin Schultz arrives in support of Cole, but Karlsson's quick release from the contact forces Schultz to rim the puck blindly in the other direction, and to no specific target. The Sharks have now established the zone.
Chris Tierney has a chance to win the race to the puck, but recognizes it's rolling around the boards to an oncoming Donskoi. So Tierney pulls up and settles into a support position beneath the goal line, placing his stick down as a target. Donskoi rebounds it back along the boards to Tierney with a one-touch pass, then darts to below the goal line between Cole and Evgeni Malkin, who are now closing in on the puck.
Karlsson sprints back to the bench, leaving Tierney and Donskoi playing a one-two game below the goal line. Tierney never truly gains possession, but is able to knock the puck between his legs toward the cutting Donskoi, who boots it into space opened up further by Schultz overplaying his weak-side coverage.
With Malkin on the chase and Schultz too far to close out, Donskoi's able to push the puck out to the bottom of the circle to create a decent shooting angle. There, he turns and fires the climacteric riser between tardy defenders, and over top a rookie netminder crouched down far too low.
"Just tried to hit the net," Donskoi said postgame. "I think I've had a lot of scoring chances through the whole finals; It was time to get it in."
Donskoi's winner is his sixth goal and 12th point of the postseason, and his third contribution in the series - obviously none bigger.
