NHL: Carolina 9, Tampa Bay 3

TAMPA, Fla., March 7 (UPI) -- Eric Staal had four goals and two assists Saturday night to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 9-3 rout of Tampa Bay.

Tuomo Ruutu had two goals and three assists, Erik Cole had four assists and Cam Ward stopped 22 shots for the Hurricanes, who won for the fourth time in their last five games -- and took over the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference by one point over the New York Rangers and the Pittsburgh Penguins, who both had the night off.

Vincent Lecavalier and Ryan Malone scored for the Lightning, who lost their third straight game and their ninth out of 11. Mike McKenna let in three goals on 15 shots before being replaced by Karri Ramo, who gave up six goals on 22 shots.

Staal's first goal came after a pass by Rod Brind'Amour when the Hurricanes were on the short end of a power play at 7:01 of the first period. He scored again a little over 2 ½ minutes later.

Carolina took a 3-0 lead into the second period and then scored six unanswered goals in the middle frame to put the game out of reach.