San Jose Sharks’ Ryan Donato eager to face the Minnesota Wild

Ryan Donato will start Friday’s road game with the Minnesota Wild on the front row of the San Jose Sharks with Logan Couture and Kevin Labanc.

It’s a slightly different role than Donato played the last time he played an indoor game at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, when he was on Minnesota’s fourth row with Mikko Koivu. and Ryan Hartman for a game against the Washington Capitals on March 1. , 2020.

Donato is making the fresh start he wanted with the Sharks after seeing his ice time dwindle towards the end of his brief tenure with the Wild. He’s played 11 minutes or less in four of his last five regular-season games and was a strong scratch in two of Minnesota’s four playoff games in August.

“The team did a great job of making me feel welcome,” Donato said of the Sharks. “The guys here are awesome.”

At the end of the season, Minnesota general manager Bill Guerin wanted to shake things up after a lackluster year. He spoke to Donato, who welcomed a change of scenery.

In October, Donato was distributed to the Sharks for a 2021 third-round pick that general manager Doug Wilson acquired on the February 2020 trade deadline when they sent Patrick Marleau to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“I wanted to play hockey, that’s what hockey players do. They want to play, ”Donato said. “And if I’m going to be here and not play, then maybe I can go somewhere else. It really wasn’t told to me exactly that way, but I think (that’s it) the message was after, after our conversation.

“This is how things were and this is why things are the way they are now.”

Playing for Couture and Labanc, Donato set a season record 15 minutes and 24 seconds for the Sharks in their 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday. In 62 games last season with the Wild, he’s only played more than 15 minutes on three occasions.

“When we were winning it was good,” said Donato. “I think sometimes when you don’t earn that much things can get pretty bad. But when we won, everything was fine.

Donato has one goal this season and has been used in both Sharks shootouts, going 1 for 2. He was also used on the Sharks’ second power play unit, scoring his only goal with man advantage. Jan. 16 against the Arizona Coyotes.

“I think in the league you’ll see guys improving steadily. The more time I spend on the ice and the more confident I am, the more I will play and the more you will see me doing things that I can do, ”said Donato. “I just want to make sure I improve myself and not try to do too much, and then when I get the chance after doing the right things, I will have the opportunity to show offensive things.”

The Sharks will also start Friday’s game with Tomas Hertl centering a line with Evander Kane and Timo Meier, Dylan Gambrell will be on a line with John Leonard and Stefan Noesen and Patrick Marleau will center the fourth row with Marcus Sorensen and Matt Nieto.

No one knows if that header line with Donato, Couture and Labanc will work in the long run, but coach Bob Boughner believes the moves give the Sharks a bit more balance throughout their roster.

“We’re still tinkering around right now, trying to find the right combinations,” Boughner said. “But I liked the way our lines faced off against St. Louis in the last game, and I think Minnesota is a lot like St. Louis.

“They are a heavy forward control team with their (defense) pinch. They play a similar style, so it’s going to be another of those same types of games.