In an uncharacteristic display, the Blackhawks blew a third-period lead and fell to the Lightning 5-2.

Nikita Nesterov scored the tying goal and Tyler Johnson scored two goals in the span of 30 seconds to give the Lightning the victory.

The Hawks are now 16-1-1 this season when leading after two periods. It was also their first regular season regulation loss when leading after two periods since the start of the 2014-15 season.

Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville on the loss to Tampa Bay. (Chris Kuc/Chicago Tribune) Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville on the loss to Tampa Bay. (Chris Kuc/Chicago Tribune)

Nesterov tied it 2-2 off a shot from the point following a faceoff in the Hawks zone. Then Johnson scored twice to stun the United Center crowd, once on a drive to the net to make it 3-2 at 6:14 and the other when he got position in front of Crawford to score at 6:44.

The Hawks got on the board first on Jonathan Toews' ninth goal of the season. Toews ran a give-and-go with Richard Panik skated to the front of the net, where he tapped in a pass from Panik 10 minutes, 23 seconds into the first period.

It was just the second time this season a struggling Toews has scored a goal in two or more consecutive games.

But the Lightning answered later in the period when Brian Boyle fought off both Duncan Keith and Niklas Hjalmarsson to get to the net and score on Corey Crawford to make it 1-1 at 18:35.

The Hawks wasted little time recapturing the lead in the second period and Toews picked up his first assist of the night, albeit a secondary assist.

Duncan Keith and Artemi Panarin did most of the heavy lifting on the second goal, with Panarin setting up Keith with a pass for a one-timer at the left point that Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was slow to react to stop.

Toews kept up his strong play throughout the period. He was active around the puck, hunted scoring chances and was a handful for the Lightning to contain. Toews drew a penalty on Alex Killorn at 12:23 and appeared to draw another trip that was not called as he tried to shoot in the slot.