Chicago Blackhawks

Lightning Strike 6 Times, Blow Out Blackhawks Sunday

Alexandre Fortin scored his first career goal in the losing effort

The Chicago Blackhawks had one of their worst defensive performances of the Joel Quenneville era on Sunday night, falling 6-3 to the Tampa Bay Lightning at the United Center. 

The Blackhawks gave up a total of 55 shots on goal in the game, the most they have given up in a single contest since Quenneville took over during the 2008-09 season. 33 of those shots came in the second period, tying a franchise record for most shots given up in a single frame. 

Brayden Point had had three points, and Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman each registered a goal and an assist as the Lightning won for the fifth time in their first seven games of the regular season. 

On the Blackhawks' side of the ledger, Alexandre Fortin scored his first career goal in the first period, and Patrick Kane and David Kampf each scored third period tallies, but the game was far out of reach by that time. 

Cam Ward was a tough luck loser for the Blackhawks, stopping a total of 49 shots in the losing effort. 

The Lightning wasted no time getting on the board early, scoring three minutes in when Kucherov received a pass from Hedman and skated in for a breakaway backhanded goal to make it 1-0. 

Later in the frame, Fortin collected a stretch pass in the neutral zone and scored a breakaway goal of his own, beating Louis Domingue to knot things up at 1-1. 

For the most part, the rest of the game belonged to the Lightning, who scored four unanswered goals in the second and third periods. The Blackhawks did trim the lead to 5-3 thanks to goals from Kampf and Kane, but a Ryan Callahan empty-netter ended the comeback attempt and sent the Blackhawks to their second straight home defeat. 

The Blackhawks will have another home game Tuesday night when they take on the Anaheim Ducks at the United Center. Puck drop is slated for 7:30 p.m. 

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