PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins wanted to hit first and found a way to do just that on Monday night.

Nick Bonino scored the go-ahead goal in the waning minutes of regulation to help the Penguins beat the San Jose Sharks 3-2 in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final.

Pittsburgh struck first, got hit back and then landed the knockout blow.

"We certainly didn't want to go into this series with a wait-and-see approach," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. "We wanted to try to go out and dictate the terms right away."

Indeed, it was the Penguins' start that overwhelmed the Sharks in the early going.

Behind a home crowd at Consol Energy Center that was clad in yellow t-shirts and waving towels of the same colour, the speedy Penguins outshot San Jose 15-4 in the first 20 minutes and scored two goals 62 seconds apart.

"I think that we just did a really good job of not trying to feel the game out, especially early," Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said. "Two teams who haven't seen each other in a while, it's Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals, I think that there's always nerves there. I thought we did a good job of playing and trying to get to our game. It gave us a big boost to get that kind of start."

Bryan Rust, who scored twice in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference final, was the first to beat Sharks goaltender Martin Jones. Rust raced into the Sharks zone before finding teammate Justin Schultz trailing on the play. Schultz's shot attempt from high in the slot bounced off the left glove of San Jose defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic with Rust pouncing on the puck as he crashed the net.

It was the sixth goal of the playoffs for the 24-year-old rookie, who would later leave the game with an upper-body injury following a hit to the head from the Sharks forward Patrick Marleau.

Fellow rookie Conor Sheary joined Rust on the scoresheet moments later after taking a pass from Crosby. Crosby raced deep into the corner for control of a free puck, then flung a hard backhand pass across the ice to Sheary, who beat Jones high into the far corner.

The Sharks, playing in their franchise's first ever Stanley Cup final, looked nervous and tentative throughout the first period. They generated next to nothing offensively, turned pucks over constantly and lost seemingly every battle and race to the puck.

If not for Jones, who finished with 38 saves, the deficit might have been greater after one.

"They played their game for longer stretches than we did tonight and that's what happens," San Jose head coach Pete DeBoer said. "You don't deserve to win when you don't outplay the other team."

DeBoer thought his team was guilty of standing around and watching their opponent in the early going.

A different road team emerged in the second, firing eight of the first nine shots and scoring three minutes into the period. The goal came courtesy of a Sharks power play which led all teams in the post-season entering the final.

Tomas Hertl, stationed just above the goal-line to the left of Matt Murray, stepped towards the goal as he guided a shot between the pads of the Penguins goalie.

San Jose made good use of its size and skill as the Sharks continued their push before evening the score at 2-2 with less than two minutes to go in the second on the fifth of the post-season by Marleau.

The former Sharks captain and San Jose's 1997 first round pick, Marleau played in 165 post-season games before reaching his first Cup final, the most of any player.

Brent Burns got the play started in the offensive zone. Eventually, after Logan Couture won a battle for the puck in the corner, Burns got it back on his tape and fired from the point. Marleau grabbed hold of the rebound, zipping it around the net with a backhand into the goal, just ahead of Murray sliding from left to right.

The goal capped the Sharks comeback from a deep early hole.

Pittsburgh got back to business in the third, though, outshooting the Sharks 18-9 while generating the bulk of the opportunities.

Kris Letang was the instigator of the eventual game-winner. The Penguins defensive anchor rushed the puck into the offensive zone with less than three minutes to go in regulation. After knocking the stick from Burns' hands, Letang found the puck once more in the corner and whipped a pass through the crease to Bonino.

Bonino, a well-travelled centre who played for the Vancouver Canucks last season, briefly considered retreating but hung in to take the pass and beat Jones for the winner.

A key late penalty kill helped the Penguins, who were scoreless on three power-play opportunities, seal the victory.

"They're a great team," Sharks centre Joe Thornton said. "They're the best in the East for a reason. We've just got a play a little better next game."