PITTSBURGH _ Through two periods, it looked like the San Jose Sharks might get some revenge for their defeat in the Stanley Cup Final last spring.
The third period, though, looked more like the final itself.
The Penguins beat the Sharks, 3-2, at PPG Paints Arena Thursday in a rematch of last spring's Stanley Cup Final, which the Penguins won four games to two.
In Thursday's edition, the Penguins needed to rally from a 2-0 third-period deficit to claim the win and bounce back from Tuesday night's dispiriting 4-0 loss in Montreal.
Patric Hornqvist scored the game-winner at 14:02 of the final period on a scrum in front of the net. He had an apparent goal disallowed earlier in the game.
What made the Penguins' third-period comeback all the more impressive was that they did it with only four healthy defensemen. Olli Maatta and Derrick Pouliot, the latter making his season debut, left in the second period and did not return.
It also took the Penguins' offense more than 40 minutes to get rolling.
Evgeni Malkin gave the Penguins some life at 6:47 of the final period with his second goal of the season. He controlled a loose puck in the slot and whipped a shot past Sharks goalie Martin Jones, who hadn't gotten much work up to that point.
Scott Wilson tied things up less than three minutes later. Hornqvist forced an offensive zone turnover and Wilson picked up the puck, skated in on net and backhanded a shot past Jones.
Just coming back to tie the score seemed like a remarkable accomplishment after how flat the Penguins looked for the first two periods.
They had just 10 shots in the first two periods, combined, and Jones stopped all of them. He finished with 17 saves on the night.
Tomas Hertl got the Sharks on the board at 5:04 of the second period. Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury lost his stick and couldn't corral a rebound in his crease. Hertl got a stick on the puck and poked it past Fleury to put the Sharks up 1-0.
The Penguins nearly tied the game at 13:19 of the second period. Hornqvist pushed a rebound past Jones, but officials ruled on review that Hornqvist used his hand to score, and the goal was disallowed.
The Sharks doubled their lead just a few minutes later, following a turnover by Chris Kunitz near the Penguins' blue line. Sharks winger Patrick Marleau picked the puck off Kunitz's stick, and executed a near-perfect give-and-go with Logan Couture before beating Fleury to make it 2-0, Sharks, at 16:15 of the second period.
Fleury didn't allow another for the rest of the night, though, and finished with 32 saves.
The Penguins return to action Saturday night with a road game in Nashville, Tenn.
