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Brandon Hagel's Gordie Howe hat trick lifts Lightning
Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Brandon Hagel. Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Brandon Hagel's Gordie Howe hat trick saves Lightning from 2-0 hole in win over Canadiens

By Clark Dalton  |  Last updated Apr 21, 2026 11:53 PM ET
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Tampa Bay Lightning left winger Brandon Hagel was a busy man on Tuesday night. 

He was busy scoring, assisting and fighting in a game that may mark a turning point in Tampa Bay's first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup playoffs. 

Brandon Hagel achieves a notable postseason feat with performance against Canadiens

Hagel dropped his gloves early in the second period when he and Canadiens left winger Juraj Slafkovsky got into a duster. The Lightning star laid a right hook across Slafkovsky's face, dropping him on the ice. Of course, both players were sent to the penalty box for that scuffle. 

Lightning head coach Jon Cooper won't appreciate the fight. He called out his team for committing too many silly penalties following a 4-3 loss in Game 1 on Sunday. Everything else Hagel did, however, made up for that.

Hagel also scored a goal in the first period, which gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead. Then in the third period, he assisted on a goal scored by right winger Nikita Kucherov, tying the game at 2-2. The goal gave the left winger a Gordie Howe hat trick (a goal, assist and fighting major), making him the first player in Tampa Bay history to record one during a Stanley Cup playoff game (via ESPN Insights).

More importantly for the Lightning, Hagel's key assist helped them push the game into overtime. Tampa Bay defenseman J.J. Moser scored the winning goal past the halfway point of the period, sealing a 3-2 win and evening the best-of-seven series at 1-1. Tampa Bay will head to Montreal for Game 3 on Friday (7 p.m. ET, TNT/truTV/HBO Max).

"Every team would love to have a Brandon Hagel," Cooper told The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun for a story published Monday. 

The Lightning loved having Hagel even more on Tuesday night. His excellent all-around performance helped prevent the team from falling into a 2-0 hole, and Tampa could use it to turn the series in its favor. 

Clark Dalton
X Muck Rack

Clark Dalton is a 2022 journalism graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He gained experience in sports media over the past seven years — from live broadcasting and creating short films to podcasting and producing. In college, he wrote for The Daily Texan. He loves sports and enjoys hiking, kayaking and camping.

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