St. Louis and Gagne score as Lightning top Devils
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Martin St. Louis and Simon Gagne had early second-period goals, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Friday night to end an opponent's eight-game winning streak for the second consecutive game.
Dwayne Roloson made a pad save on Ilya Kovalchuk's shot during a breakaway early in the second period for the Lightning, who ended an NHL record-tying 12-game homestand at 7-3-2.
New Jersey got a third-period goal from Mark Fayne. The Devils' eight-game run was tied for the second longest in the NHL this season.
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Tampa Bay also stopped Phoenix's stretch of eight victories in a row with an 8-3 win over the Coyotes on Wednesday night.
The Devils, 16-2-2 over their last 20 games, dropped 11 points behind Carolina, which is eighth in the Eastern Conference. The Hurricanes beat Pittsburgh 4-1.
After St. Louis beat Devils goalie Johan Hedberg from the top of the left circle at 2:20 of the second, Gagne made it 2-0 from near the right circle 54 seconds later. Hedberg, making his eighth straight start, had allowed just one goal over his previous three games.
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St. Louis has three goals and 11 points during an eight-game point streak. Gagne stopped a personal nine-game goal drought.
Hedberg kept the Devils within two goals later in the second by making in-close saves on Teddy Purcell and Steven Stamkos.
Kovalchuk had an assist to extend his point streak to 12 games (seven goals, 14 points).
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Hedberg had won his seven previous starts.
Notes: New Jersey G Martin Brodeur was the backup for the fourth consecutive game since returning from a sprained right knee. ... The California Golden Seals, who went 4-7-1, are the only other NHL team to play 12 consecutive home games. ... Lightning D Mattias Ohlund didn't play because of a lower-body injury. ... Pittsburgh's 12-game winning streak, from Nov. 17 to Dec. 11, is the NHL's longest this season. ... Tampa Bay recalled G Mike Smith from Norfolk of the AHL.