Stamkos scores 100th career goal in Lightning win

TAMPA, Fla. – Steven Stamkos scored his 26th goal this season and the 100th of his career, leading the Tampa Bay Lightning past the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1 on Monday night.

Stamkos had one of three Lightning goals late in the second period that put Tampa Bay ahead 5-1. The center's milestone goal came in his 194th NHL game.

Dominic Moore, Martin St. Louis, Randy Clark and Sean Bergenheim also scored for the Lightning. Tampa Bay is 10-2-2 at home.

Sergei Samsonov had the Carolina goal. Hurricanes backup goalie Justin Peters started in place of Cam Ward, who missed the Southeast Division game due to a mild infection on his forehead.

Ward had started the Hurricanes' previous 10 games.

Clark started the second-period surge with a goal to make it 3-1 at 14:51. Stamkos (20 years, 316 days) became the sixth NHL player to reach 100 goals before his 21st birthday with a power-play tally at 16:26.

Other players with 100 goals before turning 21 include Wayne Gretzky, Jimmy Carson, Brian Bellows, Dale Hawerchuk and Ilya Kovalchuk.

Bergenheim extended the Lightning advantage to 5-1 during a power play with 1:02 left in the second. The left wing was stopped on a penalty shot by Peters with 5:10 remaining in the third.

Moore stopped his 18-game goal drought and put the Lightning up 1-0 at 5:48 of the first. After Samsonov tied it on a power play at 15:52, St. Louis gave Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead from the left circle with 1 second left in the first.

St. Louis also had two assists.

NOTES: Lightning G Mike Smith hurt his left knee during a morning practice and is expected to be sidelined approximately two weeks. He was replaced by Dan Ellis, who made 21 saves. ... Samsonov hadn't scored a goal in his previous 10 games. ... Peters came off the bench once — playing 58 minutes on Dec. 15 against Florida — over the previous 10 games. ... Lightning LW Ryan Malone left with an upper-body injury. ... Tampa Bay captain Vincent Lecavalier got his 750th career point on Bergenheim's goal.