Lightning 5, Devils 2

For a second consecutive game, the Tampa Bay Lightning took a lead into the third period.

This time they made it count.

Nate Thompson scored twice, and Martin St. Louis and Alex Killorn both added a goal and an assist each for Tampa Bay, which snapped a five-game losing streak following a 5-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center on Tuesday night.

Tampa Bay reached double digits in the win column as a result of the victory, improving to 10-12-1 on the season, good for 21 points.

BJ Crombeen added an empty-net tally in the third to cap the scoring, while goaltender Anders Lindback chipped in with 25 saves for the Lightning.

Vincent Lecavalier and Cory Conacher each had two assists in the win.

New Jersey, also coming in to complete the second half of a back-to-back after playing last night, dropped its sixth straight.

With Martin Brodeur out due to injury, Johan Hedberg started the game, but allowed three goals on 11 shots and was pulled in the second period in favor of Keith Kinkaid, who made his NHL debut in relief.

Kinkaid made 12 saves.

Adam Henrique and Patrik Elias scored for New Jersey, sparking a late rally that made things interesting late.

After Henrique got New Jersey on the board at 13:44 of the third with a shorthanded goal, Elias cut the deficit in half to make it 4-2 while on the power play at 15:15, completing a sequence that produced two goals in a span of 1:31.

But even at that, it wasn’t enough to overcome the Bolts’ fast start that saw the visitors get out to a 4-0 lead through nearly the first 50 minutes.

Thompson opened the scoring at 17:04 of the first when he took a feed in front from Conacher and wristed one past Hedberg to give the Lightning a 1-0 advantage.

St. Louis then doubled the lead near the halfway point of the middle frame when he took a perfect pass from Killorn right on the tape to beat Hedberg for a 2-0 lead at 5:53.

“It was about managing the puck,” Thompson said. “I felt like we were doing the right things and making plays, it was just about limiting mistakes at key moments of the game.”

Tampa Bay’s third goal, credited to Killorn, stretched the Lightning lead and also chased Hedberg from net, as Kinkaid came in to take over between the pipes for the Devils at 13:13.

Thompson’s second of the night made it 4-0 at 8:36 of the final frame, as he took a feed in the slot from Conacher and sent one past the netminder to record his first career two-goal game.

Crombeen capped the scoring at 18:40 while on the power play.

“I thought we came out and played great,” Lindback said. “I didn’t think we gave them too many chances.”