Hagel Plays Hero Again as Bolts Battle Back to Knot Up Series
- Riley Gillespie-Wilson
- Apr 26
- 6 min read
By Riley Gillespie-Wilson | Thunderstruck Sports
The Tampa Bay Lightning gave the Montreal Canadiens a taste of their own medicine in the fourth game of their playoff series. The Habs, the season's cardiac kids, were nursing a 2-0 lead through nearly 40 minutes of play at Bell Centre Sunday night. That's when Jake Guentzel happened, and Brandon Hagel took it from there, driving the bus to a 3-2 Bolts win that evened the series up at 2-2.
It's safe to say Game 4 was a massive one for Tampa Bay. 3-1 vs. 2-2 is a mammoth difference in the series. The mentality was clear: dig deep and give the effort level that seemed to evade the Lightning during their first trip to Bell Centre in this series.
The start would be crucial. The first goal? That would also be nice. Up until this point in the series the team scoring first had won every game.
A power play early on was a dream turned reality when too many men was called on the home Habs.
The Lightning generated a Brayden Point net-mouth chance he didn't seem to get all of, and a Darren Raddysh shot was turned aside as well. The story of the period though? That would be the Montreal power play attempts, or in this case, the Bolts surviving them and avoiding surrendering that ever-important ice breaker.
Bent but Didn't Break
Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy was called upon to make several stops both 5-on-5 and down a man. His best even-strength denial was likely keeping Cole Caufield quiet. His awakening and debut in the goal column this postseason would have lit a fire under the Bell Centre.
On the PK, 'Vasy' had excellent rebound control and stopped several second chance opportunities, turning away the likes of Juraj Slafkovsky in the process.
The penalties Tampa Bay took overlapped and gifted the Canadiens a 12-second 5-on-3.
Due to all the time shorthanded, Tampa didn't get a lot of their top dogs activated until late in the period.
That's when it felt like they settled in. A goal-crease scramble was their closest bid. The attempt from the top of the crease from Kucherov, though, never made it through the traffic as Montreal goalie Jakub Dobes dove in an attempt to square back up to the action.
Even Steven
Not much changed Sunday in terms of just how close this series has been. Overtime thrice, and this one was 0-0 after the first.
Despite some good chances for the Lightning, it was a 9-6 edge in shots on goal in favor of the Habs after the opening stanza.
Bad Bounce Opens the Scoring
It felt like this game was being played in a phone booth in the second. Very little open ice available, so it wasn't shocking when Montreal capitalized on a bounce to get on the board first.
Zachary Bolduc found a sliver of open ice and burst away on a partial break. Vasilevskiy got the poke check but it bounced into the air, off the midsection of Bolduc, and in.
It was 1-0 Montreal around the midway mark of the hockey game.
Cole on Cue
It felt like only a matter of time before Caufield, the 51-goal-scorer, came to life. That just happened to occur at a brutal time for the Lightning.
Caufield found just an inch of his own out front of the cage. He made no mistake in tight taking a rocket feed and re-directing it home. Two goals in less than four minutes and the Habs had the first two-goal lead for either team in the series.
Must Kill
Tampa Bay among other penalties in this second frame were called for what could have been a pivotal puck over glass infraction. It felt like a kill was essentially required if the Bolts had any shot of avoiding a 3-1 series deficit.
That was one very key moment in the frame, when they got it done to keep the game 2-0 for the home team.
Richter Scale Hit Lights the Fuse
Who would have thought it would be Max Crozier making a play that just might save the season of the Tampa Bay Lightning? Crozier was making his first appearance in these playoffs in this game.
He absolutely levelled Juraj Slafkovsky. You can bet that would raise the temperature of this hockey game. Montreal took a penalty in retaliation.
It wasn't the power play that would get it done, but Tampa Bay did get on the board to close this period. That marker came 4-on-4 after Brandon Hagel was called for an O-Zone slash.
JJ Moser continued his excellent campaign with a beautiful dish. It was Guentzel who finished it as this game became just that: a game. One with promise for the Lightning moments after it seemed rather bleak for them.
It was 2-1 after forty minutes. Tough, but not insurmountable in a near must-win game for Tampa.
Power Play Cashes at Pivotal Moment
An early power play to start the second was just what the doctor ordered for Tampa Bay. Dominic James appeared to be caught up high with a stick, and though it was tough to say there was much contact, his reaction drew a penalty. Of note as well, there was a missed high stick on Point later in the period.
Regardless of the reason for the whistle, it came at a perfect time for a power play that had been struggling to generate offense most of the night.
Then? Well, then, Brandon Hagel took this game over. He began it by taking a perfect dish from Nikita Kucherov and making good on it.
The power play goal had us knotted up 2-2 early in the final period.
Bolts Bury Despite Big Montreal Kill
A series of penalties had the Lightning feeling like they had a chance to take this game and run with it. First, Guentzel had an errant stick catch him up high. That was the first of two penalties. The second saw Kucherov take an awkward fall into the boards after he was the recipient of a healthy cross-check.
The funny thing, though? The Bolts would take the lead after a huge penalty kill of 1:11 5-on-3 time for the home Canadiens that had the building buzzing.
That barn was quieted just as quickly when who else but Hagel went to the cage and was rewarded for his efforts. Another setup from Kucherov, who this time blasted one high off of Hagel and it found a home in the net.
"It's Brandon Hagel," exclaimed Lightning Radio's Dave Mishkin on the tally.
Let's be real, when has it not been Brandon Hagel in this series??
His sixth of the playoffs already was a massive one that turned out to be the game-winning tally.
Hagel joined Lightning legends Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos in the Bolts' history books by scoring at least one goal in his first four games to open the playoffs. Give Hagel credit, though--Lecavalier (2007) and Stamkos (2024) only scored five times in four games.
Hagel also joined a list of impressive players, past and present, to score the most goals in the NHL through the first four games of a postseason with six. The list includes Nathan McKinnon (2021), Peter Forsberg (1998), and Petr Nedved (1997).
Work to be Done for Elusive Regulation Win
Battle is the right word for this series, as finally getting it done without extra hockey wouldn't be easy for the Lightning. They'd need to kill a penalty with just 2:33 left to skate.
It was Kucherov, who suddenly is re-emerging as public enemy number one in Montreal, who was the culprit on a slashing call.
The Bell Centre crowd wasn't thrilled when Kucherov came back onto the ice following his tumble to join the earlier Tampa power play. So him setting up the GWG? Beautiful stuff for this Lightning team as they played spoiler.
The Bolts would kill off the minor, survive the remaining ticks, and skate away with a 3-2 win.
The victory ties the series up at 2-2. Game 5 will be back in Tampa on Wednesday with a puck drop time TBD.
Three Stars of the Game
Brandon Hagel: A monster again with two goals including the game-winner.
Nikita Kucherov: This guy loves playing the villain, and he's doing a mighty fine job with his two assists in this one.
Jake Guentzel: Guentzel got the party started with a massive goal to close the second and give the Lightning life. He added an assist.
Up Next
Game 5 Wednesday in Tampa Bay will be followed by Game 6 on the first of May in Montreal. If necessary, an all-deciding seventh game would take place in Tampa on Sunday, May 3rd.
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