NHL: Carolina 5, Phoenix 2

Eric Staal’s fifth NHL career hat trick Friday let the Carolina Hurricanes to their third straight win, a 5-2 victory over Phoenix.

Staal, who snapped an eight-game goal drought, scored once in the first period, which ended with Carolina facing a 2-1 deficit, and then scored twice in the second period to give Carolina a 3-2 advantage at the second intermission. Ray Whitney scored twice in the third, once into an empty net.

Joni Pitkanen had three assists, Scott Walker had two, and Cam Ward surrendered two goals on 28 shots for the Hurricanes, who improved to 6-4-0 on home ice.

Phoenix got first-period goals from Kevin Porter (power play) and Shane Doan (unassisted).

Ilya Bryzgalov was beaten four times on 32 shots in the Coyotes’ fourth straight loss following a three-game winning streak.

On the power play, Phoenix went 1-for-3, and Carolina was 0-for-3.