Lightning 8, Coyotes 3
Teddy Purcell netted his first career hat trick and captain Vincent Lecavalier collected a goal and four assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning scored five times in the first period and cruised to an 8-3 triumph over the visiting Phoenix Coyotes on Wednesday.
Martin St. Louis added a pair of tallies, Steven Stamkos netted his league-leading 41st goal of the season and Adam Hall also scored as Southeast Division-leading Tampa Bay (35-18-7) snapped a three-game losing skid with its ninth win in 11 outings against the Coyotes.
With traditional workhorse Ilya Bryzgalov given the night off, Jason LaBarbera struggled mightily as Phoenix (33-20-9) saw its season-high eight-game winning streak come to an emphatic end. The 31-year-old British Columbia native permitted all eight goals on 39 shots.
Dwayne Roloson did not have as tough of a time. The 41-year-old netminder finished with 25 saves to improve to 14-9-2 in his career against Phoenix.
Purcell opened the scoring with a sharp-angle goal which deflected off defenseman Nolan Yonkman just 1:59 into the contest. St. Louis doubled the advantage 62 seconds later to extend his points streak to seven games and then added his second of the night just under five minutes later.
After Stamkos and Lecavalier capped the five-goal first period, Purcell tallied twice in just over 5 1/2 minutes in the second period to complete the hat trick.
Martin Hanzal, Kyle Turris and David Schlemko scored and captain Shane Doan added an assist while playing in his franchise-best 1,099th game for the Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets. Doan entered the contest tied with defenseman Teppo Numminen for the franchise lead.