Lacavalier scores twice in four-goal second period

— -- TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Vincent Lecavalier did it all for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Lecavalier had two goals, an assist and was involved in a fight as the Lightning beat the Atlanta Thrashers 8-5 on Friday night. "It was just a great game for everybody,'' Lecavalier said. Lecavalier scored twice in Tampa Bay's four-goal second period as the Lightning rallied from a two-goal deficit. He also fought Atlanta's Dan Synder with a 1:14 to play. The Lightning have opened the season with three straight wins for the first time, and are three games over .500 for the first time since Oct. 24, 1996. "It's a good start for us, but it's a long year,'' Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella said. "The thing I'm happiest about is that everybody's contributing and we're playing as a team.'' Fourteen of 18 Lightning skaters had a point, including five multipoint efforts. Lecavalier scored twice in a 1:16 span midway through the period to tie it for Tampa Bay at 3-all. On the game-tying goal at 9:20, Lecavalier dived forward for a loose a puck during a breakaway and chipped it over goalie Pasi Nurminen. "I was skating as fast as I could,'' Lecavalier said. "I knew the only way that I could score was if I poke-checked it high. It's a lucky goal, but I'll take it.'' Vaclav Prospal put the Lightning ahead 4-3 with 5-on-3 rebound power-play goal at 14:16. Tim Taylor scored his first goal in 20 games to make it 5-3 at 17:05. Ruslan Fedotenko, Martin St. Louis and Taylor added third-period goals for the Lightning, who have scored 17 times in three games. Ilya Kovalchuk got the Thrashers within 6-4 at 11:40, but St. Louis scored a shorthanded breakaway goal with 3:39 left. Patrik Stefan, who hadn't scored in his previous 22 games, had two goals in the first period as the winless Thrashers (0-3-0-1) took a 3-1 lead. "You expect to win the game after the first period,'' Atlanta coach Curt Fraser said. "We got ourselves in some problems. A lot of little things. Five goals should be more than enough.'' Shawn McEachern, who has four goals in four games this season, had Atlanta's other first-period goal. Dan Boyle scored for the Lightning.