Eight seconds.
That’s how much time passed between goals at the end of the second period.
After the Blackhawks allowed a goal with 15 seconds left in the period, rookie Frank Nazar avoided a Maple Leafs defender with a beautiful deke before finding fellow forward Philipp Kurashev for a tap-in goal.
But Kurashev’s goal couldn’t spark a rally to undo the damage of the Maple Leafs’ three-goal second period in the Hawks’ 5-2 loss at the United Center.
‘‘Just weren’t ready, just slow, not connected,’’ forward Tyler Bertuzzi said of the Hawks’ second-period performance. ‘‘We’ve gotta be better.’’
The loss, coming after a 5-1 blowout defeat Saturday against the Blue Jackets, is ominous for a Hawks team that wants to finish the season strong.
‘‘It comes within,’’ Bertuzzi said. ‘‘We’ve just got to be more on the same page. We’ve got to talk more to each other. We’ve got to be more in sync.’’
Interim coach Anders Sorensen benched forward Lukas Reichel for the last period and a half. Sorensen said he ‘‘didn’t like his game’’ and will discuss the specifics with Reichel.
The Hawks have a three-game trip coming up against Utah, the Golden Knights and the Ducks. Bertuzzi said it’ll be better for the team to be on the road, where they seem to ‘‘play more simple, get to the point.’’
But the Hawks seem prone to long stretches of poor play that doom them. They started the second period fine before the Maple Leafs scored their first goal.
‘‘We lost momentum for a couple of shifts,’’ Sorensen said. ‘‘But then toward the end, we started tilting back again. And then they got that one quick break [forward Nicholas Robertson’s second goal], and it’s 3-1.
‘‘If you look at the actual ups and downs of the period, it wasn’t that bad.’’
Lardis’ offensive explosion
Hope for the Hawks’ future resides mostly in the prospect pipeline general manager Kyle Davidson has built since being promoted to the job in October 2021.
One such player is Nick Lardis, a third-round draft pick in 2023 who has garnered immense attention for his offensive prowess. He has scored 19 goals in his last 10 games for Brantford of the Ontario Hockey League and has 103 points (63 goals, 40 assists) in 46 games this season.
‘‘It’s impressive,’’ Sorensen said before the game. ‘‘We saw him a little bit last year in Rockford [of the AHL] for a game. You can really see the potential and ceiling of his talent level. It seems like he’s really putting it together this year.’’
Lardis notched his seventh hat trick of the season in Brantford’s 5-1 victory Sunday and set a season record for points for the Bulldogs.
Pellico’s retirement
Frank Pellico retired after 33 years as the Hawks’ organist.
At the five-minute mark of the first period, the Hawks showed a tribute video chronicling Pellico’s career. When it ended, the fans in the United Center rose for a standing ovation. Pellico was fighting back tears as the applause grew louder and louder.
Carrie Marcotte, who has performed alongside Pellico since 2018-19, will take over organist duties.