Brandon Hagel completes late hat trick as Lightning rally past Islanders 5-3

Tampa Bay found another late gear against the New York Islanders, and Brandon Hagel finished the night the way his team needed most. Hagel scored twice in the final two minutes to complete his hat trick, with the Lightning turning what could have been a closer finish into a 5-3 victory on Saturday night.

Hagel’s third came after Tampa Bay worked its way back into a decisive moment. He recorded the go-ahead goal with 1:44 remaining, breaking the game open at the end of regulation. Twenty-one seconds later, he capped the hat trick with an empty-net goal to seal the result.

The hat trick was not just about the timing, either. Hagel also had an assist earlier in the game, contributing in more than one phase of Tampa Bay’s offense as it built the lead and protected it through the closing stretch.

For the Lightning, the win extended their winning streak to four games. While each NHL matchup is different, streak wins tend to reflect a team’s ability to keep pushing through late-game pressure, and Tampa Bay’s ability to score in the final minutes became the defining difference against New York.

The Islanders, meanwhile, were left to absorb another late swing that shifted the outcome quickly. When opponents score with the clock running out, it can flatten a team’s final-game decision-making, turning what was likely an organized push into a race against time.

This game also underscored the importance of end-game situational execution. Hagel’s empty-net finish suggests the Lightning were able to create the conditions to pull away, and that New York’s final push did not produce the tying goal it needed.

As Tampa Bay moves on, the immediate question is whether the Lightning can turn this late-game scoring into consistency over a larger span. With a four-game winning streak already in place, the next test will be whether they maintain the same ability to find goals in high-leverage minutes, or whether Saturday’s finish was a one-off that came from a particularly sharp matchup against New York.