Brandon Hagel broke a third-period tie with 1:44 left, then sealed his hat trick into an empty net 21 seconds later as the Tampa Bay Lightning skated out of UBS Arena with a 5-3 win over the New York Islanders on Saturday.
Hagel added an assist for Tampa Bay, which has won four straight and moved to 4-1-0. Jake Guentzel supplied two goals, while Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside 20 shots in the Lightning net.
The Islanders fell to 2-3-0, continuing an opening five-game stretch in which they have alternated wins and losses. Tony DeAngelo posted a goal and an assist, with Matthew Schaefer and Brayden Schenn also scoring. Ilya Sorokin made 21 saves.
How the game swung at UBS Arena
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Guentzel opened the scoring at 5:45 of the first period. Jean-Gabriel Pageau lost the puck along the right-side boards, and Guentzel worked into the slot before snapping a shot over Sorokin’s blocker for a 1-0 Tampa Bay lead.
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Vasilevskiy protected that early edge at 11:14, getting his blocker on Bo Horvat’s breakaway attempt.
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Hagel made it 2-0 at 15:42. Victor Hedman sent the puck ahead through neutral ice, and Hagel moved from right to left across the crease before lifting a shot past Sorokin on the blocker side.
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DeAngelo got New York on the board at 6:27 of the second. With Pageau planted in front to take away Vasilevskiy’s sightline, DeAngelo fired from the point and beat the Tampa Bay goalie glove side.
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Tampa Bay restored its two-goal margin 1:27 later on the power play. Nikita Kucherov set up in the right faceoff circle and spotted Guentzel alone near the net for a 3-1 score at 7:54.
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Schaefer brought the Islanders back within one at 11:41. After a spin move helped him escape pressure at the left point, he carried toward the middle, stopped and beat a screened Vasilevskiy from the blue line.
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The Islanders completed the comeback with seven seconds remaining in the second period. Schaefer’s high-slot one-timer was blocked, but Matias Maccelli recovered the puck and moved it to Horvat deep in the right circle. Horvat’s slap pass found Schenn low in the slot, and the redirect deflected off Erik Cernak’s stick before slipping through Vasilevskiy’s right side to tie it 3-3.
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Sorokin held the game even at 7:52 of the third, stopping Zemgus Girgensons on a backhand chance.
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Vasilevskiy answered with a key stop at 12:02, stretching his left skate to deny Anthony Duclair on a wraparound attempt.
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Hagel delivered the winner at 18:16. With traffic in front of Sorokin, he sent a shot through the screen and inside the blocker side for the 4-3 lead.
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After the Islanders emptied their net, Hagel completed the three-goal night 21 seconds after his winner, closing a 5-3 Tampa Bay victory.
Notebook
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Guentzel’s second-period finish was Tampa Bay’s power-play goal of the night.
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DeAngelo’s goal and assist led the Islanders’ multi-point efforts.
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Hagel’s four-point night supplied the difference after New York erased a two-goal deficit in the second period.
