Four goals for Hagel
What a start for Brandon Hagel.
Hagel had a dynamite regular season for Tampa Bay, scoring a career-high 36 goals and surpassing the 70-point mark for a third straight season.
He is an Olympian—an all-word player. Fitting, considering all-world would be a good way to describe Hagel’s start in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The 27-year-old forward has been Tampa Bay’s best skater so far and co-leads the team in scoring with five points through the first three games against the Canadiens.
Hagel’s four goals are tied with Dallas forward Jason Robertson and Carolina forward Logan Stankoven for the most of any NHL player this postseason, and the Bolts forward has already set a new career high for postseason goals.
Hagel is the fourth player in team history to score in the first three games of a postseason, and he mixed in a Gordie Howe hat trick (goal, assist, fight in one game) for good measure. Another goal from Hagel on Sunday would tie the franchise record for longest goal streak to start a postseason (Steven Stamkos 4 GP in 2024, Vincent Lecavalier 4 GP in 2007).
His next playoff point will tie the career-high six points he posted over 23 games for the Lightning in their 2022 trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
“I got traded here, and I went to the Stanley Cup Finals and haven’t been back since. It’s a hard place to get,” Hagel said before Game 1. “Long summers aren’t that fun. Everyone wants to play. Everyone dreams of this moment, and at the end of the day, there was a message that was sent at the start of the year, and it seems that all 25 guys have bought into that. We’re gonna go into these playoffs…we do have a really good team that we’re up against, and it’s gonna be a good test for us.”
So far, Hagel has passed that test. He’ll aim to keep doing so in the latest chapter at the Bell Centre on Sunday.