In Glendale Saturday night, the Arizona Coyotes got two shorthanded strikes from Michael Grabner to lead them to a 7-1 thumping of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“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.”
The win moved the Coyotes to 5-5-0 on the season.
“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 head coach Rick Tocchet said after the win.
Antti Raanta made 30 saves to get the win.
Arizona built a 5-0 lead through the second period and had the Lightning on their heels throughout the game.
“It’s tough to find your way back in games when you’re down that early,” 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.”
Jordan Oesterle, Derek Stepan, Clayton Keller, Vinnie Hinostroza, and Richard Panik also scored for the Coyotes.
“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.”
Adam Erne scored the only goal for the Bolts.
[WATCH: All Lightning vs. Coyotes highlights]
Louis Domingue made 23 saves in the loss.
“We weren’t good enough. We hung him out to dry,” Lightning forward Ryan Callahan said.
The Lightning dropped to 7-2-1 with the loss.
“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,” Stralman said.
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