CHICAGO (AP) Brayden Point had a goal and two assists and the Tampa Bay Lightning peppered the Chicago Blackhawks with 33 shots in a three-goal second period in a 6-3 victory Sunday night.
The 33 shots are the most in a period since 1997-98, when shots by period became an official NHL statistic.
Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman each had a goal and assist, and Anthony Cirelli and Yanni Gourde also scored as Tampa Bay fired a team-record 55 shots. Ryan Callahan added an empty-netter with 2:05 left.
Blackhawks rookie Alexandre Fortin scored his first NHL goal to tie it late in the first, but the Lightning took charge with their speed and exploited Chicago mistakes to skate away with the win.
David Kampf and Nick Schmaltz scored late in the third period for Chicago.
Schmaltz’s power-play goal with 3:48 left was awarded after a video review showed the puck had crossed the goal line within the glove of goalie Louis Domingue. It was the first power-play goal allowed by the Lightning in 29 chances this season.
Domingue made 33 saves in his second start this season. No. 1 goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy got a night off following a 5-4 overtime loss at Minnesota on Saturday.
Cam Ward got the start for Chicago and made 49 saves as the Blackhawks played their third game in four days.
Corey Crawford was solid in Chicago’s previous two contests, including a 4-1 win at Columbus on Saturday, as he returned from a concussion that had sidelined him since last December.
The Lightning took the first six shots of the game, but Chicago came on late and outshot Tampa Bay 17-12 in a first period that ended tied at 1.
Kucherov opened the scoring 3:21 in after receiving Victor Hedman’s long stretch pass at the Chicago blue line and sprinting in alone past defensemen Brent Seabrook and Erik Gustafsson.
Kucherov finished by beating Ward by lofting a backhander over Ward’s glove.
Fortin tied it at 1 at 11:40 when he broke alone from the Tampa Bay blue after taking a long pass from Jan Rutta, who whipped the puck from corner of his own zone. After faking, Fortin fired between Domingue’s pads.
Ward was peppered and came up with tough saves throughout the game to prevent a blowout.
But Domingue’s right-toe stop on Patrick Kane during a Chicago power play with 1:40 left in the first period was the flashiest. Kane sped down left wing, took a cross-ice pass and fired from the circle, but Domingue kicked out his legs and spun like a windmill to deny the Chicago star.
The Lightning took charge in the second, building a 4-1 lead while outshooting Chicago 33-6
Cirelli made it 2-1 at 4:22 of the period when he kept poking at a puck from a scrum at the right side of the net and eventually knocked it in.
Gourde increased it to 3-1 at 12:07 when he slipped between two defenders, took Ondrej Palat’s feed from below the goal line and connected from the slot.
Point’s goal’s 1:54 later, on a rebound of Kucherov’s shot put Tampa May in charge, 4-1.
Hedman pinched down to the left circle to make it 5-1 midway through the third.
Kampf connected from the slot with 4:43 left to cut it to 5-2
Schmaltz made cut it to 5-3 55 seconds later, but Callahan’s empty-netter sealed it.
NOTES: The 21-year-old Fortin played in his fifth NHL game. Fortin, who recorded his first assist on Saturday at Columbus, was signed by the Blackhawks as a free agent in September 2016 after skating in the Quebec Major Junior League. . Although Crawford got the night off, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said he was delighted with the performance of his team’s long-time No. 1 goalie in his first two games since Dec. 23, 2017. ”He’s made great progress,” Quenneville said. ”An outstanding first two games. Last night (Saturday at Columbus) was a goalie win, and he felt good after too.”
UP NEXT:
Lightning: At Colorado on Wednesday night.
Blackhawks: Host Anaheim on Tuesday night.
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