Tampa, FL – Martin St. Louis had four assists and Teddy Purcell added a goal and two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning pounded the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-1, on Sunday.
Steven Stamkos had a goal and an assist while Eric Brewer, Vincent Lecavalier and Victor Hedman all scored for the Lightning, who have won three straight. Anders Lindback stopped 24 shots in the win.
"It was huge," Lecavalier said. "Guys are doing a great job and overall we played a 60-minute game. We've been playing some good hockey, but tonight was 60 minutes."
Sean Couturier scored the lone goal of the game for the Flyers, who were coming off a 7-1 thrashing of Florida on Saturday. Michael Leighton gave up all five goals on 26 shots.
The Flyers got on the board just 59 seconds in when Couturier's sharp angle shot from the left side snuck in between the post and right pad of Lindback, but it was all Tampa the rest of the game.
Shortly after killing off a double-minor, the Lightning were awarded a power play and went to work. In the Philly end, a short pass from the right boards by St. Louis went to the right circle where Stamkos sent the puck to the left circle for a one-timer by Purcell at the 14:34 mark.
Tampa then took a 2-1 lead when a one-timer from the right point by Brewer nicked off of Tye McGinn and got past Leighton with 3:50 to play in the frame.
Skating on another man advantage, the Lightning made it a 3-1 game when St. Louis' pass from the slot went over to the right circle and Lecavalier one- timed it home with 1:05 to play in the first stanza.
After a scoreless middle period which saw Lindback make 11 stops and Leighton five, the Lightning added to their advantage early in the third.
The team scored just 58 seconds in as Adam Hall threw a backhand shot on net from the left side that Leighton stopped, but he kicked the rebound out front and Hedman was there for the easy slam.
Stamkos' redirect in the slot off a one-touch pass by Purcell with 7:31 left accounted for the final score.
"We can't use that as an excuse," Flyers forward Matt Read said. "Everyone's playing a lot of games in a short amount of time. When you're playing back to back, you've got to keep it simple and play smart hockey. We've got to learn how to play both nights and come to play for 60 minutes every game, every night."
Game Notes
The Lightning went 2-for-5 on the power play while holding the Flyers scoreless on six chances ... Tampa hosts Florida on Tuesday ... The Flyers play in New York against the Rangers on Tuesday ... The Lightning took three of four from the Flyers last season ... Philadelphia sent forward Scott Laughton back to Oshawa of the Ontario Hockey League on Sunday.
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