Hagel's Gordie Howe Hat Trick

Brandon Hagel gave Tampa Bay a rare all-in playoff night on April 21: a goal, an assist and a fight in a 3-2 overtime win over Montreal. (espn.com) J.J. Moser scored 12:48 into overtime in Game 2, tying the first-round series at 1-1 after the Canadiens won the opener in overtime. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves, while Montreal’s Jakub Dobes stopped 31 shots. (espn.com) Hagel opened the scoring at 8:40 of the first period, fought Juraj Slafkovsky at 5:14 of the second, and set up Nikita Kucherov’s tying goal at 12:33 of the third. Kucherov’s goal was his first of the postseason and forced overtime. (espn.com; nhl.com) A Gordie Howe hat trick is not three goals. In hockey, it means one player records a goal, an assist and a fight in the same game. (wikipedia.org) The feat is named for Hall of Famer Gordie Howe, even though Howe himself is credited with doing it only twice in his National Hockey League career. The term stuck because Howe’s game combined scoring, playmaking and physical play. (wikipedia.org) For Tampa Bay, Hagel’s stat line also landed in franchise history. The Lightning said it was the first playoff Gordie Howe hat trick by a Tampa Bay player. (nhl.com) The game itself was chippy before it settled down. Tampa Bay’s team recap said the first 25 minutes featured “lots of rough play,” and Montreal had built a 2-1 lead late in the second period before the Lightning pushed back in the third. (nhl.com) The result mattered beyond one box score because Tampa Bay had dropped four straight home playoff games and 10 of its previous 11 at home in the postseason, according to the Associated Press recap carried by ESPN. The series now moves to Montreal for Game 3 on Friday and Game 4 on Sunday. (espn.com) Hagel summed up the night in blunt playoff terms after the win: “Whatever it takes to win.” On April 21, that meant doing a little of everything. (espn.com)