Here are three reasons to like the Lightning’s new-look power play. Thursday’s moves were transformative, because the personnel and positional changes made it difficult to tell which was the top unit and which was the second. Point men Victor Hedman and Darren Raddysh switched units, with Brayden Point and Jake Guentzel matched with Raddysh.
Anaheim opened the scoring 6:03 into the game on a redirection by forward Troy Terry, but the Lightning tied the score eight minutes later on the power play. Hedman got the puck at the left point and fed forward Brandon Hagel in the right corner, where the latter passed the puck to Anthony Cirelli at the back post for a tap-in and a tie game.
Special teams and defensive responsibility served as the bedrock to the Tampa Bay Lightning's fine first half in the immediate post-Steven Stamkos era.
He remains on a career pace with 43 points (18 goals, 25 assists) in 38 games. At his current rate, Hagel could top 90 points and stuff home almost 40 goals. The 26-year-old is a smart fantasy option,
This was a high-shot volume, high-chance game that featured terrific goaltending from Andrei Vasilevskiy and Lukas Dostal. The teams each scored three goals through 60 minutes but easily could have exceeded that total. In the end, the Lightning netted the only goal in the shootout to secure a crucial second point in the standings.
Jake Guentzel, who won a Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in 2017, had two assists to become the second player in Lightning history with at least 20 goals and 40 points in his first 40 games with the franchise. Guentzel signed a seven-year deal with the Lightning in the offseason.
The Tampa Bay Lightning, with Brandon Hagel, will be on the ice Tuesday at 7:00 PM ET, facing the Boston Bruins. Considering a bet on Hagel in the Lightning-Bruins matchup? Use our stats and information to assist you.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are a few games behind the rest of the NHL, but it’s still time to grade every Lightning player’s performance through the first half of the season.
The Lightning center is on pace to shatter his career high for goals. Could he also finally win a much-deserved Selke Trophy?
The Anaheim Ducks and Tampa Bay Lightning faced off for the second time in two weeks last night when they battled for 65 minutes plus a shootout at Amalie Arena in Tampa.
Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli and Guentzel scored for the Bolts while Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 34 saves and stopped all three shots he faced.