Lightning coach Jon Cooper wasn’t sure whether Brandon Hagel would be able to play when Tampa Bay resumed play Sunday night at home against Seattle.
Following Team Canada’s euphoric championship win in the 4 Nations Faceoff on Thursday night, an illness bug that went through the dressing rooms at the tournament had hit Hagel when he returned to Tampa. It had taken most of Hagel’s voice, but certainly not his will to compete.
While the five Lightning players who competed in the 4 Nations — plus Cooper, who was Canada’s head coach — had a busy break, most of the team played their first game in two weeks Sunday. Even though the Kraken arrived in Tampa for the tail end of a back-to-back after playing in Sunrise on Saturday, they already had their legs under them when they took the ice at Amalie Arena.
The Lightning found themselves in a tightly-contested game that was still scoreless until nearly midway through the second, when Hagel’s shorthanded goal on the only power play of the game gave Tampa Bay the edge it needed in an eventual 4-1 win over the Kraken.
Taking a one-goal lead into the third, goals by Nikita Kucherov and Luke Glendening provided a cushion. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 36 shots, 29 of them coming in the first two periods.
Nick Paul’s empty-net goal with 1:46 left sealed the win, which was the Lightning’s fifth straight. Tampa Bay (32-20-4, 68 points, third in the Atlantic) is now 6-0-1 in the last seven games.
“You just don’t know what to expect,” Cooper said of the Lightning’s first game back. “Some teams got tons of rest and nobody played in the tournament, or one guy. Then there are teams like us that had four in the final. ... The emotional gymnastics you go through in one of those tournaments, it’s huge. You want them to have a break as well. I could tell our guys were fresh, and I was worried about the tournament players, and they delivered tonight.”
Hagel back in business with shorty
The offensive production the Lightning have created from the penalty kill has been remarkable, and Hagel’s shorthanded goal provided the special-teams offense Tampa Bay needed in a scoreless game.
Shortly after the nine-minute mark in the second period, defenseman Ryan McDonagh scooped the puck out of the corner into the air toward the center of the ice, where Hagel corralled it after crossing his own blue line.
Hagel then fought off Oliver Bjorkstrand into the offensive zone, spinning around to face away from Bjorkstrand before backhanding a shot past Ales Stezka from near the right hash. Hagel then celebrated with the home crowd as he circled around the boards, lifting his right hand like he was prompting the fans to get out of their seats.
“It’s credit to him and just his will and want to win hockey games, whether it’s for the Bolts or Team Canada,” Cooper said of Hagel.
The goal gave Hagel an NHL-best seven shorthanded points this season and was the Lightning’s 10th shorthanded goal of 2024-25, second most in the league trailing only the Panthers (12). His 27 goals rank second on the team.
Vasilevskiy clutch after rest
It seems like forever ago, but before the break, Vasilevskiy won four games in six days. That included both games of a road back-to-back in Detroit and Montreal during a stretch in which the Lightning desperately needed points against division opponents to separate themselves from the pack in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Sunday, Vasilevskiy withstood early pressure. The Kraken had 16 scoring chances in the second period, including seven in the high-danger areas, but Vasilevskiy kept Seattle scoreless until Shane Wright ended his shutout bid with 4:36 left in regulation.
“If there’s one guy that needs or one position player that needs the rest, it’s the goalie,” Cooper said. “... So to me, I was glad he got the break. And you can see (Sunday) he was really dialed in and hopefully this continues.”
Patience pays off
Sunday’s tight contest was the latest in a recent string of ones in which the Lightning showed composure. They didn’t rush to try to break the game open, especially when Seattle controlled play early.
Even after getting an early lead, they let opportunities come to them. Take for example in the third period when Kucherov was able to rocket a shot off when an offensive-zone faceoff win came to him. Glendening provided an insurance goal from the fourth line shortly after that.
“We’ve had a lot of games now like that, where we stick to our process, stick to our structure, don’t beat ourselves by trying to make something happen when it’s not there and kind of take what the game gives you,” McDonagh said. “We certainly weren’t frustrated per se by our first period, but knew we had to raise our level here if we wanted to get going. And we did that, we responded well, and it was a great team win.”
