Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov led the Lightning to a dominant 4-1 win over the New York Rangers on Saturday. Hagel scored twice, which extended his scoring streak to five straight games with a goal. Kucherov had three assists, which brings him to 21 total assists on the year as the Lightning went on to win their seventh straight game, really heating up after starting the season on the slower side.
Hagel got the Lightning on the board first halfway through the first period on a wrist shot that was assisted by Darren Raddysh and Kucherov.
He then extended Tampa’s lead over New York on the road with his second goal 8:57 into the second period. The same duo assisted Hagel as Kucherov had the lead and Raddysh also assisted on the goal.
J.T. Miller then got a goal back for the Rangers in what would be their only goal of the game. He was assisted by Adam Fox and Mika Zibanejad on a deflected shot that would be the last shot they put through the uprights.
As the third period got under way, Nick Paul scored the Lightning’s third goal 2:02 into the period. He was assisted by once again, Kucherov and Charle Edouard D’Astous.
Jake Guentzel capped off the Lightning’s night on an empty net shot with just under :20 seconds left to play. His wrist shot that extended Tampa Bay’s lead was assisted by Yanni Gourde and Raddysh on his 13th assist of the year.
The Lightning have now split the season 1-1 with the Rangers. The Rangers defeated Tampa 7-3 on November 12 and the Lightning came away victorious on Saturday.
The two teams have one more game against each other this season. They will face off on April 15, 2026 at Benchmark International Arena. That will be the game that decides who gets the series win.
Until then, the Lightning are back on the ice on Tuesday night against the New York Islanders in New York.