Ryan Donato had two goals and two assists and Ilya Mikheyev had a goal and three assists as the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the visiting San Jose Sharks 6-3 on Monday to stop a five-game losing streak.
Nine different players registered points for the Blackhawks, who were outshot 27-17 while winning for the first time since Jan. 22. Macklin Celebrini tallied a goal and an assist for San Jose in its third straight loss.
Chicago seized control behind a four-goal barrage in the second period. Connor Murphy, Donato, Sam Rinzel, and Mikheyev scored over a 10:27 span. Rinzel’s slap shot from the slot at 10:36 of the period stretched the Blackhawks’ advantage to 4-0 and chased Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov from the game.
Askarov made six saves on 10 shots before yielding to Alex Nedeljkovic, who stopped five of the seven shots he faced.
Blackhawks counterpart Spencer Knight made 24 saves and was effective when he needed to be. Will Smith and Celebrini scored 3:06 apart late in the second period around Mikheyev’s goal.
Celebrini scored on a quick wrist shot from the right circle off a pass from Tyler Toffoli. He finished the night with 81 points, fourth in the NHL.
Chicago and San Jose combined for nearly as many power plays — four — as shots on goal — five — in the first period.
Connor Bedard tallied the lone goal over that stretch as the Blackhawks stopped an 0-for-26 drought on the man advantage that spanned the past 10 games.
With the Sharks serving a penalty for too many men on the ice, Bedard capitalized on a sequence of sharp passing, gathering Teuvo Teravainen’s feed from the slot and beating Askarov from just below the left circle.
Bedard matched a career high with his 23rd goal while stretching his goal streak to three games and point streak to four.
San Jose drew within 5-3 at 2:13 of the third period on a Shakir Mukhamadullin backhand goal. Donato capped the scoring at 14:41, burying a rebound after Nedeljkovic stopped Mikheyev in front of the net.
Jason Dickinson earned two assists for the Blackhawks and Murphy had a goal and an assist.
Chicago killed each of San Jose’s four power plays.
–Field Level Media
