Point Streak Hits 14 Games as Hagel, Bolts Take Down Upstart Sharks

Michelle Gordon
Jan 20
3 min read

Hagel and Cirelli team up for a goal to help defeat the San Jose Sharks. — Photo Credit: Alyssa Shimko | Thunderstruck Sports

The Tampa Bay Lightning's point streak is up to 14 games after a convincing 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks. Brandon Hagel tallied three points with a goal and two assists. The Bolts' defense held rising superstar Macklin Celebrini off the scoreboard and held their opponents to under two goals in regulation for the 7th straight game. Nikita Kucherov had another multi-point game (as did Anthony Cirelli and Jake Guentzel), and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 22 of 23 shots.

Evolution of The Point Streak

The Bolts came into this game on a 13-game point streak. They saw their 11-game winning streak snapped last week when they lost in a shootout to the Pittsburgh Penguins. But the point streak carried on, and the Lightning looked to start to a new win streak after taking down the Stars in Dallas on Sunday. Tonight marked the first game back home since beating the Avalanche here two weeks ago. The last five games were road games, and the Bolts brought home 9 out of a possible 10 points from the trip. They hoped to carry that success over to the home crowd tonight.

Hagel Ignites Quick Comeback

The San Jose Sharks have been playing very well lately. They are 7-3-0 in their last 10, including a big 4-1 victory in Sunrise last night against the Florida Panthers. The two teams exchanged chances in the first half of the opening period. Early on, the Bolts were outshooting their opponents 5-1. But then, the Sharks began tilting the ice in their favor. After a flurry of shots, they were rewarded with a somewhat lucky bounce to open the scoring. Tyler Toffoli netted his 14th of the season at 14:37. But the Lightning would strike back just 33 seconds later. Brandon Hagel tipped in his 24th of the season at 15:10 from Cirelli and Kucherov to tie the game at 1-1.

The Hagel Line Strikes Again

The first period ended in a 1-1 tie, but the Lightning were quick to break that tie in the opening minutes of the second period. Just under two minutes in, the Hagel line struck again. Hagel originally got credit for the goal, but it was later changed to Cirelli. Hagel happily settled for an assist on his line-mate's 13th goal of the season. Nikita Kucherov earned himself yet another multi-point game with his second assist of the night.

Clicking with the Young Guys

Last game, Jake Guentzel found some magic on a line with Dominic James and Gage Goncalves. That line continued to click tonight as Guentzel tallied his 22nd of the season less than a minute and a half later. James and Goncalves got the assists to give the Lightning a 3-1 lead early in the second.

Hagel's Hat Trick That Wasn't

The Lightning defended well in the third. There were a few small lapses, including a breakaway by Ryan Reaves. But for every mistake his defense made, Andrei Vasilevskiy was up to the challenge.

With time ticking down, San Jose pulled netminder Yaroslav Askarov for the extra attacker. Brandon Hagel and Jake Guentzel glided down the ice uncontested. Hagel put it in to seal the 4-1 victory, and hats poured onto the ice to celebrate the hat trick. Unfortunately, several of the fans in attendance hadn't heard that the Lightning's second goal of the game had been given to Anthony Cirelli, so the empty net goal was just Hagel's second of the game (and 25th of the season). Apologies to all fans who needlessly lost hats tonight.

With the win, the Bolts build on their lead in the Atlantic division with 66 points. They are tied with the Carolina Hurricanes, but the Canes have played two more games.