Hagel helps Lightning defeat Blackhawks in 4th straight win

CHICAGO -- Brandon Hagel had a goal and an assist in the third period for the Tampa Bay Lightning in their fourth straight win, 4-1 against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Tuesday.

Hagel, who played for Chicago from 2020-22, assisted on Alex Killorn's go-ahead goal before giving Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead midway through the third.
"Obviously it's a good feeling," Hagel said. "It's good to play, and it's good to get one, I guess. It was obviously a little bit emotional; it was where my career started. This is the organization that gave me the opportunity to live my dream. I played a hundred-and-some games here. It was weird coming back and a little emotional, but I'm glad it went the way it went."

Pat Maroon and Nicholas Paul each scored, and Brian Elliott made 25 saves for the Lightning (24-11-1), who began a three-game road trip that continues Wednesday at the Minnesota Wild.
"It's great; we've got another big game [Wednesday]," Killorn said. "Obviously, a loss tonight would have been difficult going into a back to back."
Seth Jones scored, and Alex Stalock made 25 saves for the Blackhawks (8-25-4), who have lost five straight and 13 of their past 14 games.
"It's a fine line," Jones said. "We're not going to accept losing by any means, these results that we're getting. But at the same time, we're not going to do ourselves any favors by coming into the rink every day and pouting about it and hoping that someone comes to save us.
"It's got to be within the leaders in this room and really everyone in this room to play a little bit better every night, bring a little bit more, and that's the only way we're going to get through this."
Chicago played the third without forward Patrick Kane because of an undisclosed injury. Blackhawks coach Luke Richardson said Kane was still feeling the effects of a hit from forward Evgeny Svechnikov during a 5-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks on Sunday.
"I talked to him before the game, he seemed fine," Richardson said. "But when you get into the game and start banging around, things flare up. So, I think it got worse probably as the game went on.
"He's getting checked out tonight, so we really don't know much until tomorrow probably when he'll see the doctors here tonight and tomorrow and get an update on that. He got hit last game. Nothing huge or major, but [he] just felt it a bit and then he felt it that it came on more today."
Jones gave Chicago a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 4:50 of the first period when he tapped a feed from Taylor Raddysh past Elliott.
Maroon tied it 1-1 at 11:24, redirecting Victor Hedman's shot from the left point.

The Lightning hit the goal post three times in a scoreless second period, but Killorn made it 2-1 at 7:10 of the third, taking a pass from Hagel and stuffing it past Stalock while falling to the ice.
"The big thing for us was we got out of that first period tied 1-1," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said. "We were a little flat. I don't know if it was a long day in the hotel. We didn't come to the rink this morning.
"Give Chicago credit; they pushed on us. But Elliott made some big saves for us in the first and kept it close. You get to the third period tied, and you're tempting fate a little bit."
Hagel scored from the edge of the crease on the power play at 10:14 to give the Lightning 3-1 lead, and Paul scored into an empty-net while short-handed at 18:54 for the 4-1 final.
Hagel was in the penalty box after taking a holding penalty at 17:52.
"I was so happy for him for 58 minutes, until he took the penalty with two minutes left," Cooper said with a smile. "I'm sure he's brought tons of memories for the fans here. He wasn't here super long, but I thought he had an impact. He's having that same impact for us, and he's such a great kid. It's great for him. Big thrill."
NOTES: It was the Lightning's 12th comeback win this season, tied with the Edmonton Oilers for the most in the NHL. … Hedman had two assists, giving him 493 to surpass Vincent Lecavalier for the third-most in Tampa Bay history behind Martin St. Louis (588) and Steven Stamkos (515). … Stamkos had an assist but remains two goal shy of 500 in his NHL career. … Blackhawks forward Tyler Johnson was a late scratch because of an illness. They played seven defensemen, including Caleb Jones, who was used as a forward for parts of the game.