Donato's shot is winning games and impressing teammates

ST. PAUL -- Welcome to the State of Hockey, Ryan Donato.
Making his home debut in a Wild uniform, Donato, the 22-year-old winger acquired just 96 hours prior, left a positive first impression on his new home fans by rifling an overtime winner past St. Louis Blues goaltender Jake Allen on Sunday, delivering a 2-1 victory.
After procuring his first multi-point game with his new team in his Wild debut on Thursday in New York, Donato kept things rolling by assisting on a goal in Detroit the following night.

Sunday's tally was his first goal for Minnesota, his first game-winning goal and extended his first point streak to three games.
The Wild also improved to 3-0 since dealing for the Boston native on Wednesday.

Donato came to Minnesota with a reputation as a shooter, one that hasn't disappointed in his first few games with the club. His goal was just his second shot on goal of the game, but he did have seven shot attempts.
And his winning salvo showed off the kind of skill he has whipping pucks. His shot from the top of the left circle snuck up on Allen in a hurry, eluding him glove side high inside the right post and under the crossbar.
It's a skill his new teammates have already noticed.

"You could see right away when he got here, he's got a quick release and it's a heavy shot," said Wild forward Eric Staal. "And he's not afraid to use it."
Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk has only faced Donato's shot during a couple of morning skates, but has been impressed with what he's seen in that regard.
"He's got a ton of velocity on it without needed to be flying down the wing. He can get a lot on it," said Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk. "Sometimes there are shots and it just gets to you before you expect it to get to you. And he put it in a good place, right between that elbow, the shoulder and the glove, so if a goalie doesn't pick it up, it's got a chance to go in.
"I've watched him in practice here the last couple days and he can wire the puck, that's for sure."
In practice is the first place where Donato's shot is on display. The speed of his shots is rivaled only by the quickness in which he's able to release it.
On Sunday, Donato whipped a puck through a Blues player which provided a bit of a screen on Allen. From there, the puck kept climbing until it hit the net, getting there in a hurry.
Donato said he hasn't played much 3-on-3, other than at the Olympics, where there is even more open ice than at the NHL level.

"It's a possession thing, man-on-man defense and capitalizing on your chances," Donato said. "I was just lucky to get a good shot off and it went in."
Teammates have also been impressed with Donato's ability to find open shooting lanes, or in Sunday's case, create small ones.
A quick shot by Donato likely would have hit the man defending him, but instead, he understood he had plenty of open ice and some time, so he moved the puck just a touch forward to get it in front of the defender.
The son of Ted Donato, a longtime former NHLer and his coach at Harvard University, Ryan has the kind of hockey sense you'd expect from a kid who grew up in the game.
"You can see him shifting with the puck, trying to opening up lanes," Dubnyk said. "He obviously knows how to create space to get his shot