Stamkos, Lightning defeat Coyotes for 3rd straight win

TAMPA -- Steven Stamkos scored his 498th NHL goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 5-3 win against the Arizona Coyotes at Amalie Arena on Saturday.

Stamkos and Brayden Point each had a goal and an assist, and Victor Hedman had three assists for the Lightning (23-11-1), who have won three in a row and seven straight at home. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.
"We ended this homestand to end the year on a good note," Stamkos said. "Obviously not the start we wanted, but we showed some resiliency in coming back. We've got a nice little road trip coming up here and will go in with some confidence."
Travis Boyd, Nick Bjugstad and Christian Fischer scored for the Coyotes (13-17-5), who had won three in a row. Karel Vejmelka made 30 saves.
"If you look at the momentum of the game, I think we battled hard," Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. "It was a good game. Our PK needs to be better. It's concerning right now. We need to have more pride and urgency in our PK."

Boyd gave Arizona a 1-0 lead at 6:12 of the first period when his shot from the left face-off circle deflected off Vasilevskiy's glove and Zach Bogosian before going into the net.
Fischer made it 2-0 at 6:46 when he stuffed in a loose puck around the crease.
"That wasn't our A-plus road game," Fischer said. "You've got to keep it simple. We had too many turnovers and you can't do that, especially against a team like this. We've had success on the road before. We have to get back to our grinding nature and the play will open up."
Point cut it to 2-1 at 10:53 when he batted in the puck from a sharp angle.
"I do like the way we kind of regrouped after that second goal," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "We really didn't give much up after that in the first period and we got better as the game went along."

Mikhail Sergachev tied it 2-2 at 10:44 of the second period with a shot from the point that deflected off of the stick of Arizona forward Lawson Crouse and knuckled past Vejmelka.
"It was a tough start, going down 2-0 and then going on the PK," Hedman said. "Great kill by us and we gained some momentum. 'Pointer' worked his magic, batting it out of there, and got us going. That was big for us."
Stamkos put Tampa Bay ahead 3-2 at 11:12 with a one-timer from the left circle on a power play.
Bjugstad tied it 3-3 at 12:44 when he capitalized on a turnover by Sergachev and scored with a wrist shot from the left circle.
"We had the lead and the game turned, it was toe-to-toe," Tourigny said. "I don't think there were many swings in the momentum. It was a 60-minute, hard-fought battle on both sides."

Alex Killorn put the Lightning back ahead 4-3 at 18:59 on a breakaway after he forced Shayne Gostisbehere into a turnover at the blue line.
Brandon Hagel extended the lead to 5-3 with a power-play goal at 4:26 of the third period.
"I actually thought I scored first, so I was really relieved," Hedman joked. "Great tip by 'Hags' in front. It was another great goal by the power play, and when that's clicking, we are going to be a tough team to beat."

Fischer thought he had scored his second goal with 1:53 remaining, but Tampa Bay successfully challenged for offside.
"I got back to the bench and a few of the guys said I wouldn't like it," Fischer said. "It's a game of inches."
NOTES: Hedman has 491 NHL assists, tying him with Vincent Lecavalier for third in Lightning history. "He's played at an elite level for a long time," Cooper said. "All the names at the top of that list are elite players, and he deserves to be up there." ... Point set a Lightning record with a goal in eight straight home games. … Arizona forward Nick Schmaltz was a late scratch because of an upper-body injury. He is day to day. ... Kucherov set a Lightning record for fewest games (35) to reach 40 assists. ... The Lightning are 7-0-1 on New Year's Eve since 2011.