Ryan Donato Scores Twice In 6-3 Win Against Sharks

 

The Blackhawks returned to the win column on Monday night at the United Center, snapping a five-game losing streak with a convincing 6-3 victory over the San Jose Sharks. Ryan Donato and Ilya Mikheyev were the engines for Chicago, both turning in dominant four-point performances; Donato netted two goals and two assists, while Mikheyev recorded a goal and three helpers. Despite the loss, the Sharks saw their future on full display as Will Smith, Macklin Celebrini, and Shakir Mukhamadullin all found the back of the net. The Blackhawks now head to Columbus on Wednesday to kick off a road trip, while the Sharks travel to Colorado to take on the Avalanche.

San Jose Sharks Lineup:

Toffoli - Celebrini - Smith

Eklund- Wennberg - Graf

Regenda - Misa - Kurashev

Goodrow - Gaudette - Reaves

Orlov - Liljegren

Ferraro - Mukhamadullin

Dickinson - Desharnais

Askarov

Nedeljkovic

Chicago Blackhawks Lineup:

Nazar - Bedard - Bertuzzi

Teravainen - Greene - Bruakovsky

Donato - Dickinson - Mikheyev

Dach - Moore - Slaggert

Vlasic - Crevier

Kaiser - Rinzel

Grzelcyk - Murphy

Knight

Soderblom

Connor Bedard got the party started for Chicago, scoring his 23rd of the season and his third goal straight in three games to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead at 13:00 of the opening frame. He scored on the power play when Teuvo Teravainen took the puck in the slot, passing it to Bedard, a right-handed shot, who fired it past Yaroslav Askarov from a steep angle at the bottom of the left face-off circle.

Connor Murphy struck early in the second period to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead at 17:46 when he took a pass from Matt Grzelcyk, who got the puck when it bounced out from the left circle, and he passed it to Murphy, who was just above the right circle to shoot through a screen, and the puck went in between the pads of Askarov. This was Murphy's fourth goal of the season. Scoring the first of his two goals, Ryan Donato made it 3-0 with his 12th goal of the season at 10:25 after he took a cross-ice pass from Ilya Mikheyev, flipping the puck into the net after moving into the left circle and getting past Vincent Desharnais. At 9:24, Sam Rinzel scored his second goal of the season, firing a one-timer past Askarov after a feed from Mikheyev, making it 4-0, prompting Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky to change goalies. Will Smith put the Sharks on the board at 7:56, making it 4-1 with his 17th goal of the season. He took a pass from Macklin Celebrini, who picked up his own rebound before making a pass to Smith for a goal from the bottom of the left circle. Not long after Smith's tally, Mikheyev restored the four-goal lead at 7:19 after taking Jason Dickinson's pass, putting the puck past Alex Nedeljkovic from the left of the crease. After getting the puck away from Alex Vlasic, Celebrini sent the puck down along the right wall, where Tyler Toffoli picked it up, passing it from the point back to Celebrini, who moved into the slot to get it past Spencer Knight to make it 5-2 at 4:49.

Early in the final frame, Shakir Mukhamadullin scored his third goal of the season to make it 5-3 when he took a backhanded pass from Philipp Kurashev, went forehand to backhand, and found the back of the net at 17:47. With 5:20 left to play, Donato scored his second of the night for the 6-3 victory, scoring on the rebound of Mikheyev's shot.

Notes:

- Spencer Knight made a total of 25 saves for Chicago.

- Before being replaced, Yaroslav Askarov allowed four goals on 10 shots. Alex Nedeljkovic made five saves in relief.

- In the first period, the Sharks had one shot on goal.

- After scoring his 23rd goal of the season, and in three straight games, Connor Bedard (43 GP) tied with 2024-25 (82 GP) for his most in a campaign. His power-play goal was the 21st of his career, surpassing Patrick Kane for the most by a Blackhawks player before turning 21. ...He also improved his career totals to 68-113--181, surpassing Eddie Olczyk (65-115--180) for the most points by a Hawks player before turning 21.

- Jason Dickinson picked up a pair of assists.

- Macklin Celebrini recorded both a goal and an assist. In his past five games, he has nine points (four goals, five assists). ...Celebrini (1-1--2) recorded his 143rd and 144th career points, passing  Ron Francis (142) for the seventh most by a teenager in NHL history. He sits behind Sidney Crosby (222), Wayne Gretzky (220), Dale Hawerchuk (194), Jimmy Carson (186), Steve Yzerman (176), and Brian Bellows (148).

- In five straight games, Will Smith has recorded eight points (three goals, five assists).

- The Blackhawks are 22-25-9, and in their previous five games, 0-3-2.

- The Sharks are 27-23-4, and in their past three games, 0-2-1.