Blackhawks offer little resistance in historic loss to Lightning

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Blackhawks goalie Cam Ward can’t stop a shot by Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman in the third period Sunday at the United Center. (AP Photo/Matt Marton)

The Blackhawks finished on the wrong side of history Sunday.

Blame the high-powered Lightning. Better yet, blame the Hawks’ leaky defense.

The Hawks allowed 33 shots on goal in the second period on their way to a 6-3 loss that was every bit as lopsided as it appeared. The Lightning finished with a 55-36 edge in shots for the game, and their 33 shots in a period were the most by any team since the NHL started counting shots by period as an official statistic in the 1997-98 season.

The outburst matched an unofficial record set by the Bruins, who had 33 shots in a period against the Hawks on March 4, 1941.

Goalie Cam Ward, who started in place of Corey Crawford on the second night of a back-to-back set, fell to 3-1-2 despite making 49 saves. He made 30 saves in the second period alone.

‘‘It’s pretty rare to be seeing that much work in a period,’’ said Ward, who is in his 14th season. ‘‘I don’t even know what to say, to be honest. It’s tough. We know that we need to be better, especially in our home building, and play with some pride and some passion. Unfortunately, it seemed like it was lacking at times tonight.’’

Ward had little help, as the defense in front of him twice failed to clear loose pucks from the front of the net. Both instances resulted in goals.

The first blunder came after Ward stopped an initial shot near the side of the net early in the second period. No one on the Hawks tied up Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli, who punched at the puck until it eventually crossed the goal line.

Ward screamed at the officials for not blowing the play dead before the goal, then took out his frustrations 22 seconds later by slashing a player in front of the net, which earned him a two-minute penalty.

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Another defensive miscue led to the Lightning’s third goal of the second. Ward again stopped an initial shot, but he gave up a short rebound to the left side of the crease. Defenseman Brent Seabrook had gone to his stomach and couldn’t react quickly enough to push the puck out of harm’s way, and the line of Artem Anisimov, Nick Schmaltz and Patrick Kane watched from several feet away as Lightning forward Brayden Point flipped the resting puck into the net.

Coach Joel Quenneville gripped the lectern in front of him as he spoke about the second period.

‘‘That was a tough, tough period in all aspects,’’ Quenneville said. ‘‘I don’t think we touched the puck at all, and that was the part that was disturbing against a good hockey team. Pucks went through us. Nobody got knocked down around our net.’’

He placed no blame on Ward, whom he described as ‘‘outstanding.’’ He also praised rookie forward Alexandre Fortin, who scored his first NHL goal.

Captain Jonathan Toews said the Hawks’ flaws were correctable.

‘‘We’ve got moments where we’re actually pretty good, where we want the puck and guys aren’t afraid to receive it and protect it and just keep the play alive until there’s an option or skate with the puck,’’ Toews said.

‘‘Sometimes you’ve got to take hits to make plays. You’ve got to go into traffic. And when we haven’t been good these last couple of games, we’re doing the opposite. We don’t want it. We’re losing those battles, we’re losing the races and the effort is not there. I think everything else as far as our system falls apart and follows suit.

‘‘It’s pretty simple. It’s right in front of us what we’ve got to do better.’’

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