Donato scores twice as Blackhawks beat Avalanche 5-2 to snap a 4-game skid

DENVER (AP) — Ryan Donato scored twice, including an empty-netter with 57.8 seconds remaining, and the Chicago Blackhawks snapped a four-game skid with a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night.

Philipp Kurashev, Lukas Reichel and Donato had goals as the Blackhawks led 3-2 after the first period. Donato and Ilya Mikheyev added empty-net goals in the final minute.

The Avalanche were playing on the second night of a back-to-back at home and didn’t have their usual zip down the ice early. Once they found their stride they were bottled up Petr Mrazek, who stopped 24 shots.

Casey Mittelstadt and Nathan MacKinnon scored for an Avalanche team that saw their five-game winning streak halted.

Goaltender Alexandar Georgiev settled in after a shaky first period in which he allowed three goals. He stopped 21 shots and contributed on offense with an assist. The Avalanche were 1 for 4 on the power play.

Takeaways

Blackhawks: Led by a three-point night from Donato, Chicago broke a six-game skid in Denver. The team clogged up the ice and neutralized the fast-flying Avalanche.

Avalanche: The fatigue from Sundays’ 5-4 win over Ottawa was on display. This concluded the first of 12 back-to-back games this season. The Avalanche saw leading goal scorer Ross Colton appear to hurt his foot blocking a shot.

Key moment

Mrazek ventured way out of his net to deflect a shot by Avalanche defenseman Sam Malinski with around 13:30 remaining to keep it 3-2.

Key stat

MacKinnon had a power-play goal in the first period off an assist from Cale Makar as both extended their points streaks to 10 games. They’re now the first set of teammates in franchise history to notch season-opening points streaks of 10 games at the same time.

Up Next

The Avalanche host Tampa Bay on Wednesday, while the Blackhawks play at San Jose on Thursday.

___

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl