SAN JOSE, Calif. — Ben Lovejoy had a career night ruined by a San Jose Sharks comeback.

The 32-year-old Penguins defenseman had a goal and an assist, but Joonas Donskoi scored 12 minutes, 18 seconds into overtime to give the Sharks a 3-2 victory in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night.

Instead of taking a 3-0 stranglehold on the series, the Penguins need to win Game 4 on Monday to stop the Sharks from tying the series.

“They're a good team. They're trying, too,” Lovejoy said. “We would love to be up 3-0, but we knew they were going to put up their best game tonight. This is a team we have the ultimate respect for. Now, it's 2-1. We have our work cut out for us.”

Lovejoy's two-point effort was the first multiple-point playoff game of his NHL career. It was his 57th career postseason game.

He also was part of a defensive effort that blocked 38 attempted Sharks shots in the game. Olli Maatta led the team with six. Lovejoy had four.

“We're at a point where we're going to do anything we can to win,” Lovejoy said. “If we have to eat Brent Burns shots in the face, we're going to do that. But we needed one more block tonight.”

The gut punch that did the Penguins in came midway through the third period. At the 4:48 mark, Nick Bonino received a double minor for high-sticking Joe Thornton. Just as the four-minute power-play ended, Joel Ward scored on a slap shot from the high slot.

“We know this is a team that relies on their power play,” Lovejoy said. “They have done it all year. It's been a huge weapon for them in the playoffs. We need to find ways to stay out of the box. We've been a very disciplined team of late. We know it's their trump card. They're great at it. We killed 55 minutes and 59 seconds of it. We have to find a way to get that last second.”

Lovejoy's first-period goal came after strong work by the team's fourth line.

Matt Cullen's forechecking pressure forced a turnover by goalie Martin Jones behind the net. That led to a turning shot by Eric Fehr that went wide of the post and a desperate clearing attempt by Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon.

Lovejoy knocked down the bouncing clearing bid at the right point and slapped it toward the net, where it took a skip off defenseman Roman Polak and into the net.

“Trying to get it to the net,” Lovejoy said. “Fired it hard. Good things happen.”

Lovejoy's assist came in the final minute of the second period.

A blocked Sidney Crosby shot bounced out toward the center point, where Lovejoy reeled it in as he skated across the blue line. With Patric Hornqvist and Conor Sheary providing traffic, Lovejoy sent a simple 60-foot wrister on net. Hornqvist tipped it past goalie Jones to give the Penguins a 2-1 lead.

“We were good, but we weren't great,” Lovejoy said. “We're a team that thrives on our speed through the neutral zone. We've figured it out. When we're playing smart hockey, we're making good decisions going through the neutral zone. We didn't do quite enough of that tonight. This is a team that wants to play in our zone. They want to use their big bodies and grind. We gave them a few too many turnovers, a few too many pucks in the neutral zone, and it came back to hurt us.”

Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter at @BombulieTrib.

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