Donato caps Blackhawks comeback, Blackhawks top Capitals 3-2

CHICAGO (AP) — Ryan Donato scored his team-leading 11th goal with 2:18 left in regulation to cap Chicago's three-goal, third-period rally and lift the Blackhawks to a 3-2 win over the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night.

Donato skated out of the right corner and stuffed a shot past Logan Thompson to hand Washington a second straight loss for only the second time this season.

TJ Brodie connected with 5:53 left in the third period to tie it at 2. Ilya Mikheyev scored Chicago’s first short-handed goal of the season, connecting 51 seconds into the third to start the Blackhawks' comeback from a two-goal deficit.

Teuvo Teravainen had three assists for Chicago, which won its second straight by scoring on three of five shots in the third.

Pierre-Luc Dubois and Andrew Mangiapane scored for Washington in the first period. The Capitals couldn't hold on following a 3-1 loss in Dallas on Monday night that snapped their team-record 10-game road winning streak.

Arvid Soderblom made 20 saves and and Thompson blocked 20 shots.

Capitals: Injured forward Alex Ovechkin ( broken left fibula ), has experienced no setbacks in noncontact drills. Out since Nov. 18, the 39-year-old probably will need several full-contact sessions before returning, according to coach Spencer Carbery.

Blackhawks: Coach Anders Sorensen said injured No. 1 goalie Petr Mrazek (groin) is close to returning. Defenseman Seth Jones, second in the NHL with 25:43 of ice time per game, is nearing a return from a right foot injury.

Mikheyev swept past Jakob Chychrun early in the third and scored his second goal in two games to get the rally started. He set up Brodie in the right circle on the tying goal.

Chicago killed three penalties to reach 28 straight.

The Capitals host Carolina on Friday. The Blackhawks host Seattle on Thursday.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Chicago Blackhawks' Teuvo Teravainen (86) grabs the puck from a diving Washington Capitals' Andrew Mangiapane during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Washington Capitals' Andrew Mangiapane celebrates his gaol in front of fans during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Chicago BlackhawksTuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast) on

Washington Capitals' Andrew Mangiapane (88) scores past Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom as TJ Brodie (78) also defends during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Washington Capitals' Jakob Chychrun (6) checks Chicago Blackhawks' Tyler Bertuzzi behind the net during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Washington Capitals' Pierre-Luc Dubois scores between the legs of Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Arvid Soderblom during the first period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Washington Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson makes a save as Chicago Blackhawks' Tyler Bertuzzi looks for a rebound during the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Blackhawks' Tyler Bertuzzi (59) Washington Capitals' Lars Eller (20) and Ryan Donato battles for a loose puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Blackhawks center Frank Nazar skates with the puck during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Blackhawks' Connor Murphy (5) knocks Washington Capitals' Pierre-Luc Dubois to the ice behind goaltender Arvid Soderblom during the third period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Blackhawks' Ryan Donato (8) falls to the ice after scoring past Washington Capitals' Logan Thompson and Andrew Mangiapane during the third period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Chicago Blackhawks' Ryan Donato, center, celebrates his goal with Teuvo Teravainen as Washington Capitals' Jakob Chychrun watches during the third period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

Forget the cost, the frenzied planning and the timing around the holidays. SMU fan Will Howard is living the dream: His beloved Mustangs are in the 12-team hunt for a national championship, and he’s going to ride it to the end.

“It’s better than going to Disney World,” Howard said. “Because we always knew that we could go to Disney World, right? We never knew that we’d actually have this type of opportunity.”

SMU, Indiana, Penn State and Tennessee are all first-time participants in the playoff at campus sites starting Friday night, joining a club dominated over the first 10 years by the titans of the sport that this year includes Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State and Texas. Although many fans will head into frigid conditions and enemy territory, the sense of bliss outweighs the unknown.

“I’ve been an SMU fan close to 30 years now, and I’ve never seen this level of excitement,” Howard said.

The FBS has finally caught up to the Championship Subdivision, which for decades has held campus playoff games in early winter in places that don't show up on travel destination brochures.

But will fans travel this weekend?

By the looks of booked travel packages, the answer is a resounding yes. Games at Ohio State versus Tennessee and at Notre Dame against Indiana are sellouts, while the stands are expected to be close to full at 106,000-seat Beaver Stadium for SMU at Penn State, as well as Clemson's matchup at Texas. Fans still seeking tickets are asked to look on the secondary online market.

For some, there's an extra challenge. Penn State, Indiana and SMU are holding commencements on their respective campuses this weekend. Indiana moved up its ceremonies several hours on Friday to give fans time to plan for the night game in South Bend.

For those who do their homework, there are hotel rooms available, although that might require extra travel and cost. Some fans are skipping the overnight stay altogether. Howard, who requested the maximum-allowed eight game tickets at $200 apiece, plans to fly into State College, Pennsylvania, on Saturday morning for a noon kickoff, then leave later that day.

National coach of the year Curt Cignetti has restored a spark to an Indiana program that has seen nothing like this in more than a half century.

“IU’s been waiting for somebody to kind of come in and change the culture of the program,” said Brett White, whose father and grandfather played football for the Hoosiers. “The fans have kind of just been waiting for an explosion to happen in Bloomington, and this season was just perfect. It’s really been fun.”

Indiana went 9-1 in the 1967 regular season, then lost to O.J. Simpson and Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl. Coach Bill Mallory had three eight-win seasons from 1984 to 1996. The best chance came in 1987, when Indiana lost a key matchup at Michigan State that sent the Spartans — not the Hoosiers — to the Rose Bowl. There was just one winning season from 1995 to 2018.

“If you’re an IU fan, you kind of have post-traumatic stress disorder all the time,” said Timber Tucker, an Indiana season ticket holder since 2000.

Now, going to the College Football Playoff is “otherworldly,” Tucker said. “Everybody’s looking at each other going, ‘what is going on? This is crazy.'”

SMU is already in unchartered waters, appearing in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game in its first season in the league. The school sat in obscurity for decades after receiving the so-called death penalty administered by the NCAA for a pay-to-play scandal that wiped out the 1987 and 1988 seasons. It took nine years for SMU to put together a winning record after that, and its first bowl in the aftermath didn't come until 2009 under coach June Jones.

Brian Cassidy's daughter is captain of SMU's cheer team. He plans to stay with family in Pennsylvania and attend Saturday's game at Penn State. He said there has been "40 years of just misery, and now we're on one of the highest of highs making the playoffs," Cassidy said. "The excitement is palpable."

For Clemson fans, this is old hat. The Tigers are making their seventh appearance in the CFP. But this quest starts on the road.

Chandler Bolt grew up 15 minutes from Clemson's campus and is now a book publishing company CEO in Texas. When the first-ever meeting between Clemson and Texas was announced, “everyone was blowing up my phone,” he said.

Clemson won national championships after the 2016 and 2018 seasons and lost in title games two other times. Bolt has attended nearly every one of those, but he's been to more Texas than Clemson games in the three years since moving to Austin.

Clemson made its way into the playoff field on the final weekend by winning the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game after losing to South Carolina in its last regular-season game.

“This year feels different because it’s an accident,” Bolt said. “It just feels like we’re playing with house money.”

From the moment Ohio State was matched against Tennessee, Earl Brown began searching for tickets.

Brown will see his 355th consecutive game, including bowls, on Saturday night, accompanied by his wife, Judy, along with several friends and relatives. The consulting company owner hasn’t missed a game since midway through the 1996 season.

“Tennessee fans realize this is not regular season,” said Brown, 75, of Louisville, Tennessee. “This is big time. And our plans are to win four games.”

The Browns will be outnumbered by scarlet and gray-clad Buckeyes fans and relish every moment.

"I’ve always heard about Ohio State football, and now I’m ready to go experience it,” Brown said.

AP Sports Writer Gary Graves contributed to this report

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FILE - Tennessee tight end Titus Rohrer (89) and tight end Ethan Davis (0) celebrate with fans after an NCAA college football game against Alabama, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Knoxville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne, File)