Hagel gets hat trick, lifts Lightning past Islanders late for 4th win in row
Forward breaks tie with 1:44 left in third, also has assist, Guentzel scores twice
By Stefen Rosner
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
ELMONT, N.Y. -- Brandon Hagel had a hat trick, including the go-ahead goal at 18:16 of the third period, and an assist for the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 5-3 win against the New York Islanders at UBS Arena on Saturday.
Hagel gave Tampa Bay a 4-3 lead after beating Ilya Sorokin blocker side through a screen. He then completed his fourth NHL hat trick with an empty-net goal 21 seconds later for the 5-3 final.
Jake Guentzel scored twice for the Lightning (4-1-0), who won their fourth straight. Max Crozier had two assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves.
“It's a good feeling for the group,” Hagel said of Tampa Bay’s winning streak. “Obviously, not everything's the same here in this group. We've got new players, and you want to be able to build some confidence within the team, within the group, and doing that early into the season is a big part of that. Yeah, credit to everyone.”
Tony DeAngelo had a goal and an assist, and Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Brayden Schenn also scored for the Islanders (2-3-0), who have alternated wins and losses through their first five games. Sorokin made 21 saves.
“That's a tough one,” New York coach Pete DeBoer said. “I liked how we handled the adversity of the night. It was self-inflicted with our start. But, over the last 40 minutes, we went toe to toe with a really good hockey team there and found a way to work back into that game.
“It was a good measuring stick game for us. We passed quite a few of the tests in my mind of how we have to play. We just have to do it for 60 minutes. You can't spot a team like that two goals.”
Guentzel gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 5:45 of the first period. Pageau turned the puck over along the right boards before Guentzel skated to the slot and beat Sorokin high blocker side.
Vasilevskiy got his blocker on a Bo Horvat breakaway attempt at 11:14.
Hagel extended it to 2-0 at 15:42. Victor Hedman floated the puck through the neutral zone to Hagel, who cut right to left across the crease before he beat Sorokin high blocker side.
“It wasn't our best period, but at the end of the day, we learned, and we adapted our game style,” Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer said. “They came out a little hot, and then I think our back half was definitely a lot better than our start. But we're going to get better. We're going to have a better start hopefully next time and keep it going throughout the game.”
DeAngelo cut it to 2-1 at 6:27 of the second period. With Pageau screening Vasilevskiy, DeAngelo scored glove side from the point.
Guentzel’s power-play goal made it 3-1 at 7:54. Nikita Kucherov, stationed in the right dot, found Guentzel all alone in front.
Pageau cut it to 3-2 at 11:41 on a deflection of Schaefer's shot near the blue line.
Schenn tied it 3-3 on the power play at 19:53 after his redirection from the low slot banked off the stick of Tampa Bay defenseman Erik Cernak and passed Vasilevskiy’s right pad. Schaefer’s one-timer from the high slot was blocked, but Matias Maccelli jumped on the loose puck and fed Horvat deep in the right circle before he found Schenn in front with a slap pass.
“Look, they're a stingy team,” Guentzel said. “I think they're a stingy defensive team, and they have some gifted offensive players, so you've got to be ready for that. Schaefer is a generational player, and he's up in the ice a lot. So you've got to make sure you don’t waver.”
Sorokin denied a Zemgus Girgensons backhand try at 7:52 of the third period to keep the game tied.
Vasilevskiy then got the tip of his left skate on an Anthony Duclair wraparound try at 12:02.
“That was a good road game for us,” Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. “We came out, got the lead. I didn't love our second, obviously, giving up three kind of the way we did it. We were probably a little unlucky on the power-play goal against. It was a great block, and then the shot breaks the stick, and they make a play.
“But now you're going into the third period, tied on the road, and I thought we bent but didn't break. And then one of our playmakers made a play. It was good for us.”
NOTES: Hagel scored his third hat trick with the Lightning and the franchise’s 18th since his first full season with Tampa Bay in 2022-23. Only four have more during that span: the Edmonton Oilers (23), Buffalo Sabres (20), Colorado Avalanche (19) and Carolina Hurricanes (19). … Hedman (one assist) recorded his 812th career point to pass Sergei Gonchar (811 points) for the third-most by a defenseman born outside of North America in NHL history. The only others with more are Nicklas Lidstrom (1,142) and Erik Karlsson (941).
