NHL

Chicago Blackhawks at Colorado Avalanche

· National Hockey League

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

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Colorado Avalanche: Game Highlights

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.

Regular Season Series

CHI leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 8:47 Philipp Kurashev Goal (2) Slap Shot, assists: Alex Vlasic (5)
Goal 1st Period 10:16 Casey Mittelstadt Goal (6) Wrist Shot, assists: Logan O'Connor (1), Sam Malinski (3)
Goal 1st Period 11:04 Lukas Reichel Goal (1) Deflected, assists: Craig Smith (2)
Goal 1st Period 16:56 Ryan Donato Goal (4) Backhand, assists: Jason Dickinson (2), Connor Murphy (4)
Goal 1st Period 19:17 Nathan MacKinnon Goal (5) Wrist Shot, assists: Cale Makar (14), Alexandar Georgiev (1)
Goal 3rd Period 19:02 Ryan Donato Goal (5) Wrist Shot, assists: none
Goal 3rd Period 19:41 Ilya Mikheyev Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Ryan Donato (1), Jason Dickinson (3)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/chi.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCHI https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/col.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCOL
17 Blocked Shots 13
15 Hits 19
7 Takeaways 8
26 Shots 26
1 Power Play Goals 1
3 Power Play Opportunities 4
33.3 Power Play Percentage 25.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
24 Faceoffs Won 32
42.9 Faceoff Win Percent 57.1
11 Giveaways 17
4 Total Penalties 3
8 Penalty Minutes 6

Game Information

Ball Arena

Location: Denver, CO
Attendance: 18,010 | Capacity:

2024-25 Central Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Winnipeg 15 1 30 0
Minnesota 10 2 23 3
Dallas 9 5 18 0
Colorado 8 8 16 0
Utah 6 6 15 3
St. Louis 7 9 14 0
Chicago 6 9 13 1
Nashville 5 9 12 2
Full Standings