The assist marks the 300th of Konecny’s NHL career.
“I tried to score,” he admitted with a laugh. “It worked out. I think the idea of our power play for a bit was just trying to get pucks to the right areas, outnumbering people at the net, all over the ice. If you can outnumber people 5-on-5, it’s an advantage, so why not do it on the power play?”
With the teams playing 4-on-4, Donato brought the Blackhawks to within 2-1 at 18:30 when he took a cross-ice pass from defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, moved in from the right point and fired a wrist shot past Ersson.
“Every loss is frustrating,” Donato said. “It’s a loss. There’s going to be frustrating times. There are some things we did well, some things that didn’t go our way. I think any loss is frustrating. There’s things we’re going to work on and get better, and get some wins here.
“We have enough veterans in here, a great coaching staff to right the ship. … You think about it like that, I guess. The young guys are actually always positive and in great moods, happy go-lucky guys. It’s just a matter of finding a way to win. I think there’s no negative attitude, no feeling sorry for (ourselves). I think everybody’s hungry to push in the right direction here.”