Takeaways: Isles Comeback Effort Erased By Hagel’s Hat Trick

Brandon Hagel recorded a hat-trick and netted the game-winning goal with 1:35 remaining, and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New York Islanders 5-3 at UBS Arena on Saturday.

The Islanders erased deficits of 2-0 and 3-1 as Tony DeAngelo, Matthew Schaefer and Brayden Schenn netted goals. However, Hagel’s four-point night and Jake Guentzel’s two-goal game propelled the Lightning to their fourth straight win.  

“I liked how we handled the adversity of the night,” DeBoer said. "Self-inflicted with our start but over the last 40 minutes, we went toe-to-toe with a really, really good hockey team there and found a way to work back into that game. It was a good measuring game for us, and we passed quite a few of the tests in my mind of how we have to play. You just have to do it for 60 minutes. You can't spot a team like that two goals.”

Tampa Bay carried much of the play in the opening period as goals from Guentzel and Hagel gave the Bolts a 2-0 lead after the first stanza.

DeAngelo got the Isles on the board with his first goal of the season after a frenetic sequence in which Andrei Vasileveskiy kicked the puck off the goal line.

Guentzel’s second of the game came on the power play and Tampa Bay led 3-1 over halfway through the second period before Schaefer made it 3-2.

Schaefer scored the 24^th goal of his career and tied Bobby Orr for the second-most by a teenage defenseman in NHL history. He’s now in sole possession of third place in Islanders history for points by a teenager with 63.

The Islanders found the equalizer seven seconds before the end of the second period as Brayden Schenn scored on the power play. Schenn scored his second of the season and has five points in the last four games.

It’s the fourth consecutive game with a power-play goal for the Isles. The last time that happened came when the Islanders scattered six power play goals across five consecutive games from Nov. 28, 2023, to Dec. 7, 2023.

“Special teams were great for us,” DeBoer said. “If we're going to beat teams like that, we've got to win the special teams battle. We got a power play goal. I thought our PK was really good even though we gave one up. I like where the direction our special teams are going in.”

Hagel’s game-winner was a seeing-eye shot through a slight screen and past Ilya Sorokin who made 21 saves. Hagel capped his hat trick with an empty-netter 21 seconds later.

DeAngelo had a multi-point effort with an assist on Schaefer’s goal and Ondřej Palát had two assists.

Matias Maccelli played in his 300^th career NHL game and recorded a secondary assist on Schenn’s goal. Maccelli has recorded an assist in three consecutive games.

The Islanders are now 2-3-0 on the season.

Sensational Schaefer

Schaefer danced the blueline and crossed over from along the wall to the middle of the ice. He stopped on a dime as he was blanketed by Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli, and the ankle-breaking move created Schaefer enough space to rifle a blocker side shot past Vasilevskiy.

Schaefer gave his patented passionate celebration after his goal brought the Isles down one and injected UBS Arena with life.

The lively crowd recognized Schaefer’s excellence and serenaded the 19-year-old phenom as play resumed with chants of “Matthew Schaefer.”

Schaefer played a game-high 27:07 and had a single-game career-high nine shots on goal, one shy of matching Denis Potvin’s single-game record of shots by an Islanders defenseman.

“He went to another level in the second and third,” DeBoer said. “It's just fun to watch.”

A Roll Of The Dice, Stanley Scrap Brought Isles Into Game

With the Islanders offense looking for a spark, DeBoer made a small tweak to the lines that paid immediate dividends.

DeBoer placed Palat from the fourth line in Simon Holmstrom’s place on the third line and alongside JG Pageau and Anthony Duclair. In their first shift together, a strong offensive zone sequence led to DeAngelo’s goal.

While that was one of the catalysts for the Isles, another was the actions of Logan Stanley who helped drag the Islanders into the fight – quite literally.

Stanley jawed with multiple players on the Lightning bench just moments after the horn sounded to close the first period and after Tampa’s third goal, Stanley fought Scott Sabourin. It got the Isles emotionally and physically engaged seeing one of their own go to battle with the tough Sabourin.

“I didn’t love a couple of our lines early and I had given some of those lines some runway hoping that it works but it was time for a change,” DeBoer said. “I would also add that I think the Stanley scrap got us involved in the game too. I think it was the line changes were a piece, but I think Stan kind of dragged us into the fight there.”

“It starts with Stans [Stanley] obviously dropping the mitts just riding for our team, answering the bell, getting us going,” Schaefer added. “I think that is where it started. Tony [DeAngelo] gets one, and then obviously (a) good screen in front on mine, and it just found its way in. It's fun when we're when we're you know going and we're moving like that. We had a couple shifts there where we were hemming them in their zone, and we just kept going to work and it's fun.”

The Lightning have historically been known as a physical team and one that likes to engage in extracurriculars after whistles.

Stanley’s fight ignited the physical dynamic of the Isles game and that was evident on the Islanders forecheck as Schenn, Bo Horvat and Victor Eklund all had four hits. The Isles out hit the lightning 30-18, and it showed how an engaged, physical effort could lead to consistent 5-on-5 play.

“I think it made it a pretty tight checking game,” Kyle Palmieri said. “That's how we want to forecheck playing our defensive zone and making sure we're physical and separating guys from pucks. here's definitely some good things to build on and try and carry that to Tuesday."

Next Game

The Islanders conclude their three-game homestand with a matchup against the Vancouver Canucks at UBS Arena on Tuesday. Faceoff is set for 7:45 p.m.