The Chicago Blackhawks and the San Jose Sharks will be connected for years to come. Hopefully, these late-season games will be far more important for both teams starting as soon as next season. The Blackhawks played a solid first period but gave up too many chances in the second, which ultimately did them in. The Sharks earned a huge 3-2 regulation win, especially when the to two teams they are chasing for a playoff spot, the Los Angeles Kings and <\/p>\n
Head coach Jeff Blashill has found something with his five-forward power-play unit. It was fantastic all night long. Ryan Donato\u2019s first-period goal came one second after their first power play expired. Their second opportunity produced seven shots on goal. Frank Nazar buried a one-timer on their third chance. <\/p>\n
Nazar buries a one-timer for his 15th goal of the season \ud83d\udd25 pic.twitter.com\/2trlDCkWCf<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Blackhawks on CHSN (@CHSN_Blackhawks) April 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n That top unit essentially stayed out for all of their time on the man advantage, making only a partial change late in the first attempt. In 5:48 of power-play time, the Blackhawks had 18 shot attempts, nine shots on goal, and 14 scoring chances. <\/p>\n “They\u2019re catching some confidence and swagger,\u201d Blashill said. \u201cBedsy up top is really dangerous; he\u2019s a great distributor. Obviously, Frondell is a real weapon too with his one-timer. I think they\u2019ve looked good every time they\u2019ve been together, to be honest with you, and tonight was probably the best we\u2019ve looked.<\/p>\n \u201cI have no issue with five forwards. It doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s a forward or D back there; that doesn\u2019t dictate whether or not you give up shorthanded chances. To me, it\u2019s about the responsibility of the group. What it does is get the puck a lot in Bedsy\u2019s hands, and he\u2019s the guy you want with the puck in his hands.<\/p>\n Another Marquee Match-Up <\/p>\n Tired: Connor Bedard vs Macklin Celebrini<\/p>\n Wired: Anton Frondell vs Michael Misa<\/p>\n While the Bedard\/Celebrini match-up will always be on the marquee when these two teams meet, and rightfully so, don\u2019t sleep on a rivalry between Frondell and Misa. Bedard and Celebrini were in separate draft classes, but they are connected because they both went first overall. The Sharks had their pick of either Misa or Frondell last summer. They took Misa second overall, while the Blackhawks were ecstatic to get Frondell<\/a> at No. 3. Blackhawks fans are hoping one day the Sharks will regret not taking the young Swedish forward. <\/p>\n Frondell was feeling it early tonight. He made a nifty move to get around defenseman Vincent Desharnais in the first period to produce a scoring chance. He felt dangerous the entire night, but he was a shot-producing machine on the power play. He had six shot attempts, two of which were on net, and three scoring chances to go along with his assist on Nazar\u2019s goal. Overall, he finished with four shots on goal on nine shot attempts. <\/p>\n Misa\u2019s most memorable play on the night came in the second period when he had a goal waved off for kicking the puck in the net during a mad scramble in the crease. He didn\u2019t have a shot attempt on the night. <\/p>\n Knight Continues to Live Dangerously. <\/p>\n If you didn\u2019t watch the Blackhawks every night, and you just look at Spencer Knight\u2019s standard numbers, you\u2019d probably think he\u2019s been pretty good this season. Those of us who have watched every game know that he\u2019s been far better than just pretty good. It doesn\u2019t take a very deep dive into the advanced stats to prove this either. <\/p>\n He entered tonight\u2019s game with a 13.00 goals saved above average, which is the ninth-best in the NHL. His 289 high-danger saves at 5-on-5 are second only to Ilya Sorokin\u2019s 313. He\u2019s also faced the second-most 5-on-5 high-danger shots with 335. Sorokin has faced the most at 359, as the New York Islanders\u2019 netminder is a serious Vezina Trophy candidate. Knight\u2019s .863 high-danger save percentage (HDSV%) is the fourth-highest among all goaltenders with at least 50 starts this season. <\/p>\n Knight kept the Blackhawks in the game with a handful of big saves. The first goal he gave up came on a William Eklund breakaway after an ill-advised Wyatt Kaiser turnover. The second goal came off a beautifully placed one-timer from Keifer Sherwood, who found a soft spot in the Blackhawks’ defense. Will Smith\u2019s game-winning goal came off a wonderful passing play from Celebrini and Collin Graf. There wasn\u2019t much he could do on any of those plays. <\/p>\n Knight\u2019s HDSV% will take a hit after allowing two goals on six high-danger shots. His best save of the night came just before Misa kicked the puck into the net. He made a pair of nice saves on Celebrini, including this one midway through the second period. <\/p>\n Big save by Spencer Knight on Celebrini: pic.twitter.com\/NrLKzHRGg9<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) April 7, 2026<\/a>Nuggets & TidbitsFor whatever reason, Donato loves playing the Sharks. He played 50 games for them during the 2020-21 season and has loved scoring against them ever since. His first-period goal extended his point streak against San Jose to seven games. He has six goals and 12 points during his streak. Donato\u2019s goal was his ninth against the Sharks in his career, tied with the Anaheim Ducks for the opponent he\u2019s scored the most against in his career. <\/p>\n Ryan Donato is on a seven-game point streak against San Jose\u203c\ufe0f pic.twitter.com\/nn1Ity9U2I<\/a><\/p>\n