Blackhawks score 6, defeat Sharks to end 5-game skid

CHICAGO -- Ryan Donato had two goals and two assists for the Chicago Blackhawks in a 6-3 victory against the San Jose Sharks at United Center on Monday.

“It's great,” Donato said. “We had a lot of guys get on the score sheet tonight, and that's what we work toward every game. It's fun to play that way and definitely great to get the win.

“I always say when I get to go to church on Sundays, that's when I feel good for the games, and I felt good tonight.”

Ilya Mikheyev had a goal and three assists, and Connor Murphy had a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks (22-25-9), who were 0-3-2 in their previous five games. Spencer Knight made 24 saves.

“Nice to be able to score, and the other thing it does is, when guys score, they feel better about themselves,” said Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill. “It gives guys confidence, and confidence matters a ton in every league, but certainly this league. So hopefully we can carry that forward a little bit.

“We haven’t won enough lately and just to be able to score. Listen, as a coach you’d love to win 3-1 and all that stuff, but to score six matters. Guys feel better about themselves when that happens, and I know how important confidence is. So it was a good thing for our guys.”

Macklin Celebrini had a goal and an assist for the Sharks (27-23-4), who are 0-2-1 in their past three.

Yaroslav Askarov allowed four goals on 10 shots before being replaced by Alex Nedeljkovic at 10:36 of the second period. Nedeljkovic made five saves in relief.

“We’ve been punched in the mouth and in the gut right now,” said Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky. “We’ve got to move forward. It is what it is. There’s a lot of hockey to be played. We’ve got to learn from it. This is probably a new situation (a playoff race) for where we are right now, and I think it’s kind of getting to us in a sense. We’ve got one game left until the (Olympics) break. We’ve got to really zero in on the things we need to do that have made us have success up to this point. We’ve got to dust off, stand up, get a good practice in tomorrow and be ready for Colorado (on Wednesday).”

Connor Bedard put the Blackhawks ahead 1-0 on the power play at 7:00 of the first period. Teuvo Teravainen took the puck in the slot and passed to Bedard, who scored from a sharp angle at the bottom of the left face-off circle. Bedard has goals in three straight games.

The Sharks had one shot on goal in the first period.

“We took three penalties, and we really couldn’t get anything going,” Celebrini said. “We’ve got to be better with that. We’ve got to be better with sustaining O-zone pressure. We got one shot, and they got the puck out of the zone pretty quickly. We’ve got to play better from the start and limit those penalties.”

Murphy gave the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead at 2:14 of the second period. Murphy shot through a screen from the top of the right circle, and the puck went in between the pads of Askarov.

"I feel pretty good,” Murphy said. “I feel healthy lately. I feel like I got in a groove playing with (Matt) Grzelcyk as a partner for a while. I think some of it comes from just being confident defending with your partner in the system. After that, trying to be a little more poised with the puck and make passes and breakouts. Simple things that aren't crazy, but with my game, I'm going to be able to make breakouts and not cause turnovers that lead to more D-zone time."

Donato made it 3-0 at 9:35. He took a cross-ice pass from Mikheyev, moved into the left circle, got past Sharks defenseman Vincent Desharnais and flipped the puck into the net.

“I haven't even watched it yet,” Donato said. “I know I got buried after it, so it hurt a little bit, but it was lucky to go in, and a lot of guys made a good play to make that happen.”

Sam Rinzel put Chicago up 4-0 at 10:36, taking a feed from Mikheyev and sending a one-timer past Askarov, prompting Warsofsky to change goalies.

Will Smith gave the Sharks their first goal at 12:05, taking a pass from Celebrini and putting the puck past Knight’s stick from the bottom of the left circle.

Mikheyev restored Chicago’s four-goal lead at 12:41, scoring from the left of the crease after taking a pass across from Jason Dickinson.

Celebrini made it 5-2 at 15:11, scoring from the slot after taking a pass from the point by Tyler Toffoli.

Shakir Mukhamadullin brought the Sharks to within 5-3 at 2:13 of the third period. He took a backhand pass from Philipp Kurashev and went forehand to backhand to score.

Donato scored his second goal of the game at 14:41 for the 6-3 final.

NOTES: Celebrini has 144 NHL points and passed Ron Francis (142) for the seventh-most by a teenager in NHL history, behind Sidney Crosby (222), Wayne Gretzky (220), Dale Hawerchuk (194), Jimmy Carson (186), Steve Yzerman (176) and Brian Bellows (148). ... Bedard scored his 21st career power-play goal and surpassed Patrick Kane for the most by a Blackhawks player before turning 21. … Smith has points in five straight games (three goals, five assists).