Arizona CoyotesArizona Coyotes vs. Tampa Bay LightningTampa Bay Lightning Pick Center

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After an evening full of milestones on Tuesday, the Tampa Bay Lightning will finish off their two-game homestand on Thursday when they host the Arizona Coyotes.Tuesday night's act will be a tough one to follow for Tampa Bay when the puck drops against Arizona.Rookie forward Carter Verhaeghe notched his first career hat trick as the Lightning skated to their season-best eighth consecutive win in a 9-2 pummeling of Vancouver. Verhaeghe and five other teammates scored in a spectacular second period.The stretch of wins is the third-longest in team history and longest active streak in the NHL. The club has also earned a point in six straight home games (5-0-1).The Canucks led 1-0 after one period and tied it at 2 on Loui Eriksson's goal with 5:55 remaining. The goal-scoring dam burst wide open as Alex Killorn, Verhaeghe, Nikita Kucherov and defenseman Erik Cernak each tallied in the period to lock down the club's fourth straight home win.The Lightning's nine goals matched the franchise record, which was most recently achieved on Nov. 14 in a 9-3 rout of the New York Rangers. They also posted a 9-0 blanking of Pittsburgh on Nov. 8, 2003.Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos, who netted his 17th goal and had a pair of assists Tuesday, has noticed a change in the play of the 24-year-old Verhaeghe."He has been playing with some more confidence now and we saw that (Tuesday)," Stamkos said. "He could've had four or five. Obviously, it was great to get him out there and (Kucherov) made a great play and as you could tell by the celebration on the bench we were so happy for him." The Coyotes should take note of the Lightning's recent dominance of the Pacific Division, too.Tampa Bay has won all three games against the division this season and its last six overall. The team also has points in its last eight versus the Pacific (7-0-1).Arizona fought off a strong push by Florida in the third period Tuesday, pulling away in a 5-2 win behind stout goaltending from backup goalie Adin Hill. Taylor Hall recorded his first game-winning goal with the Coyotes.With the goalie tandem of Antti Raanta and Darcy Kuemper sidelined with lower-body injuries, Arizona coach Rick Tocchet turned to Hill to make his first start of the season.Hill, 23, stopped 37 of 39 shots to run his career mark to 9-8-0. Ivan Prosvetov, who has never played in an NHL game, served as Hill's backup.The Coyotes, who rank in the top half of the NHL on the power play, received goals on the man advantage from Hall and Christian Dvorak.Arizona improved to 29-for-138 (21.0 percent) on the power play and have also killed 14 straight penalties over the last five games."It was just like a workman kind of game," Tocchet said. "Special teams was something that we were really happy with that we won that battle. (Florida) pressed a couple of times. We defended really well at the end." Arizona improved to 14-6-3 on the road on Tuesday after Phil Kessel (three assists) and captain Oliver Ekman-Larsson (one goal, two assists) contributed three-point performances.The Coyotes on Tuesday recalled forward Barrett Hayton after the 19-year-old was loaned to Team Canada for the 2020 World Junior Championship. Hayton recorded 12 points (six goals, six assists) for the Canadians, who captured the gold medal in the tournament.--Field Level Media

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