Coyotes cruise past Lightning for third straight win

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Clayton Keller scored his fifth goal in five games, and Michael Grabner scored two shorthanded goals for the Arizona Coyotes in a 7-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Gila River Arena on Saturday.

Antti Raanta made 30 saves for the Coyotes (5-5-0), who have won three games in a row. They have scored 22 goals in their past five games (4-1-0) after being shut out three times during a 1-4-0 start.
"A lot of those games we lost, we played good, structured hockey and kept teams to low shots on net and low goals, but we just weren't scoring," Grabner said. "The puck's going in for a lot of guys now, and it makes it a lot easier, easier to be confident."
WATCH: [All Lightning vs. Coyotes highlights]
Jordan Oesterle, Derek Stepan and Keller gave Arizona a 3-0 lead in the first period, and Vinnie Hinostroza and Grabner pushed it to 5-0 in the second.
The Lightning (7-2-1) lost for the first time in four games and had their seven-game point streak end (6-0-1). Tampa Bay had not lost in regulation since Oct. 11 (4-1 to the Vancouver Canucks).
"It's tough to find your way back in games when you're down that early," Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman said. "But 7-1, it's not good, it's very disappointing. … You're going to have bad games, but you don't want it to be 7-1. It's embarrassing."

Former Coyotes goalie Louis Domingue (23 saves) allowed three goals on the first seven shots he faced and five on the first 16.
"We weren't good enough. We hung him out to dry," Lightning forward Ryan Callahan said of Domingue, who was traded from Arizona to Tampa Bay on Nov. 14, 2017.
Oesterle scored from the left point at 6:55 to give the Coyotes a 1-0 lead. His first goal with Arizona was upheld by video review after Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper challenged for goalie interference by forward Brendan Perlini.
Keller put a shot from above the circles between Domingue's pads at 8:51 to make it 2-0, and Stepan sent a wrist shot over Domingue's left shoulder at 12:57 for a 3-0 lead.

Hinostroza made it 4-0 at 8:26 of the second. Grabner scored at 11:48 of the second to make it 5-0 and again at 8:59 of the third for a 6-0 lead.
"The [first goal] went in, it wasn't my best shot, but it went in. It kind of released everything and made it easier when I had the second chance to get on the board," said Grabner, who scored his first two goals with the Coyotes after signing as free agent July 1. "Hopefully, I can keep it up now."
Arizona has scored four shorthanded goals in two games and leads the NHL with five this season.

Adam Erne scored on the power play at 9:27 to make it 6-1. The goal was upheld by video review after Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet challenged that the Lightning were offside.
Richard Panik scored his first of the season at 12:50 to make it 7-1.
Tampa Bay, which won 3-2 at the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday, played the second half of the back-to-back without injured defenseman Victor Hedman (upper body) and forward Ondrej Palat (lower body).
"They were a tired club. This was the last game of a road trip, and they played last night," Tocchet said. "We had energy. And some of the shots that weren't going in (earlier in the season) were going in."

They said it

"It's tough (to lose 7-1), but the whole season is tough. I just think we didn't have it. Giving up two goals on the power play is unacceptable." -- Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman
"We're not to where I want us to be, but we're trending up. … But we're not ordering any rings around here." -- Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet on Arizona being .500 after 10 games for the first time in three seasons

Need to know

Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov's point streak ended at seven games. He had three goals and six assists in that span. ... Tampa Bay defenseman Mikhail Sergachev was minus-6. ... The Coyotes are the only NHL team with more shorthanded goals (five) than power-play goals-against (three). ... Grabner is the first NHL player with two shorthanded goals in a game since Stepan against the Colorado Avalanche on Dec. 23, 2017. ... Keller has three goals and an assist in his past three games against the Lightning. ... The Coyotes have outscored their opponents 15-3 during their three-game winning streak. ... Arizona scored at least seven goals in a game for the first time since a 7-4 win against the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 15, 2014.

What's next

Lightning: Host the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; SUN, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Coyotes: Host the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday (10 p.m. ET; FS-A, RDSI, TSN5, NHL.TV)