Hurricanes 7, Coyotes 2

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GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -Sergei Samsonov and the Carolina Hurricanes simplified the power play and mystified the Phoenix Coyotes.

Samsonov had a goal and three assists on the power play, and Tuomo Ruutu scored twice to help the Hurricanes beat Phoenix 7-2 on Saturday night, the Coyotes' sixth straight loss.

"We had a little meeting before the game and said we needed to try to do the simple things, - take shots when they're there, get some movement and go to the net hard," Samsonov said. "Our power play came through."

Carolina scored a season-high four power-play goals in five chances after converting on just two of their past 16 chances spanning five games.

"We put a lot of pucks on the net instead of trying to make the miracle plays," said Matt Cullen, who also scored a power-play goal.

Eric Staal, who was a game-time decision because of a lower-body injury, and Chad LaRose and Patrick Eaves added goals for Carolina.

Carolina's sixth win in eight games since dropping five straight lifted the Hurricanes past Florida into eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

Steven Goertzen scored his first career goal, and Shane Doan also scored for the Coyotes, who have lost six straight games in regulation for the first time since a 10-game losing streak in 1993-94 as the Winnipeg Jets. Phoenix's losing streak is its longest since dropping six in a row Feb. 7-19, 2007.

"We gave them too much time and way too many opportunities and when you do that it's going to be ugly," Doan said. "That was about as ugly and embarrassed as I've been. As a player you have to be embarrassed. You have to be. have to be embarrassed to wear the uniform.

"You have to be embarrassed when it's your job to play hockey and your job to be pro athlete and win games. Tonight we were just embarrassing. In this locker room a lot of guys who have to look at themselves, myself included."

Coyotes coach Wayne Gretzky was late arriving to the interview room and as he answered questions the players held a 20-minute meeting behind closed doors.

"Tonight we just bottomed out," Gretzky said. "It just was not satisfactory. It was not good. When you have two guys who have played the whole year in San Antonio (Phoenix's American Hockey League affiliate) and they're the best two players in the hockey game ... I'm happy for them but we need the work ethic we had from Shane Doan and the two San Antonio guys from everybody."

Cullen snapped a 2-2 tie at 15:10 of the second period when he was left alone between the circles and one-timed Samsonov's pass from the left wing past Ilya Bryzgalov.

"Our power play's something we've tried to jump start," said Carolina coach Paul Maurice. "We've had a lot of power plays where we felt we were almost there for a night like this."

Ruutu's second goal, a redirection off the base of the right post, gave Carolina a 4-2 lead with 53 seconds left in the second period. Eaves added an insurance goal 3:42 into the third against Mikael Tellqvist, who replaced Bryzgalov at the start of the period, and Samsonov made it 6-2 on a wrist shot with 10:10 to go.

LaRose capped the scoring with a short-handed breakaway with 2:23 left.

Bryzgalov allowed four goals on 29 shots through two periods en route to his sixth consecutive loss and seventh in his past eight starts.

"It wasn't Breezy's fault," Gretzky said. "He's played a lot of hockey in the last month and I thought it might jump-start the team."

Ruutu needed 62 seconds to open the scoring, bouncing a shot from the left off a skate in front of the crease and past Bryzgalov. Goertzen tied the game at 6:37 of the period, corralling the puck at the top left corner of the crease after Jeff Hoggan broke his stick attempting a shot from the bottom of the right circle.

Staal put Carolina ahead 2-1 at 2:03 of the second, pulling the puck from his backhand to his forehand and slipping a shot between Bryzgalov's pads.

"We did some good work yesterday treating it and obviously took the day off," Staal said. "I had a good warmup, and once the game starts you just play and don't think about it."

Doan tied it at 2 at 9:42 with a power-play goal after Carolina's Ryan Bayda slipped and fell along the near boards before he could clear the puck.

Notes: Samsonov's four-point game was the Hurricanes' first this season. ... Hurricanes captain Rod Brind'Amour missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. ... Coyotes center Martin Hanzal and left wing Daniel Carcillo both left the game in the second period and did not return. Hanzal separated a shoulder and will miss at least two weeks while Carcillo is day-to-day with a mild concussion sustained during a first-period fight. ... Newly acquired Jussi Jokinen made his Hurricanes debut and had an assist. ... Tellqvist allowed three goals on 12 shots. ... Doan's goal was his 600th career point. It also was his 248th career goal, tying him with Paul MacLean for fourth place in franchise history. ... Phoenix defenseman David Schlemko assisted on Doan's goal for his first career point.