Can Brandon Hagel keep the Tampa Bay Lightning alive?

THE FIGHT WAS BRIEF, but consequential.

Juraj Slafkovsky had pulled Brandon Hagel away from a scrum near the Montreal Canadiens’ net. Hagel went visor-to-visor with the Canadiens winger, and asked him to drop the gloves. Slafkovsky agreed and landed a few punches to the back of the Tampa Bay Lightning winger’s helmet. Then Hagel dropped him with a right hook.

The Lightning fans at Game 2 roared, but the fight wasn’t for them. It was for Hagel’s teammates, playing in a 1-1 game, knowing they were already down in their series against the Canadiens after an overtime loss in Game 1.

“Everyone in the room knows we’re good when we play with emotion,” Hagel said. “Guys are willing to bring everyone into the fight. That was what I was trying to do.”

The Lightning fought back to win Game 2. Hagel scored the opening goal of the game and assisted on a Nikita Kucherov goal. Add in the fighting major, and it was the first Gordie Howe hat trick in Tampa Bay playoff history.

“I never really would have expected that, to be honest,” he said, smiling. “Whatever it takes to win. Sometimes it takes fighting. It’s obviously going to take scoring goals.”

In five games, Hagel has six goals and an assist for the Lightning against Montreal. But Hagel failed to generate a point in their Game 5 loss, which put Tampa Bay down 3-2 in the series and on the brink of elimination in Friday night’s showdown at Bell Centre (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2). Hagel called his team’s effort “sad, to be honest” in failing to win at home.

“I think everyone, personally, when Game 6 is over, this team will learn a lot about themselves,” he said. “There’s not much more to say. I think it’ll show a lot about our team and a lot about who we are as people.”

This is not the same Brandon Hagel that arrived in 2022 from the Chicago Blackhawks, although it’s the Brandon Hagel that the Lightning hoped he could become when they shocked the NHL by flipping two first-round picks and two players for him.

“He just does it all. He’s a 200-foot player, plays on both sides of the puck. And he’s obviously the hottest guy in the league right now,” Lightning winger Jake Guentzel said.

He has also been one of the most valuable players in the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs. Hagel’s teammates refer to him as “the heartbeat” of the Lightning, from his clutch play to his physicality to his increasingly vocal leadership.

“He’s the straw that’s been stirring us,” said coach Jon Cooper. “He was traded for, at the time, [what] seemed like a lot. It probably doesn’t seem like so much today with the way he’s playing.”

How did Hagel find this next level in his game? Around the Lightning, they believe that a pair of international tournaments created the current version.

IN APRIL 2024, the Lightning were rolled in five games by the Florida Panthers in the first round, including digging themselves an 0-3 hole against the eventual Stanley Cup champions. Hagel had five points in the series but went scoreless in their losses in Games 2 and 3 and finished with a minus-5.

“We had chances to capitalize. We didn’t,” Hagel said after the series.

Hagel had been playing through an injury. He could have called it a season, but there was a standing invitation from Hockey Canada to join its team at the IIHF world championships in Czechia. Though it wasn’t a memorable tournament for Canada — losing in the third-place game to Sweden — it was for Hagel, who had three goals and four assists in 10 games. He played his way into the conversation for Team Canada for the next two years’ big events: the 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Whether it was that Team Canada carrot or a renewed confidence, Hagel was shot out of a cannon to start the 2024-25 season with 12 goals and 19 assists in his first 24 games. He earned a roster spot for the 4 Nations Face-Off, the four-team tournament presented by the NHL and NHLPA in February 2025 that would further change the trajectory of Hagel’s career.

The United States and Canada met in the preliminary round in Montreal, the first battle between the hockey superpowers in a “best-on-best” tournament since the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Anticipation was off the charts. Bell Centre was a powder keg. Matthew Tkachuk asked Hagel if he’d like to set it off after the opening faceoff.

Two seconds into the game, Hagel and his heated rival from the Panthers threw fists, one of three fights in the first nine seconds between the U.S. and Canada. After they wrestled to the ice, Hagel got up and motioned to the crowd to get on their feet.

“Trying to get some energy in the building. He asked and I’m not backing down from him. It’s a long time coming,” Hagel said.

But the fight didn’t end there. When Matthew and Brady Tkachuk gained instant notoriety for their fights, Hagel openly questioned their motivations. “What happened the other night, I did it for the flag and not for the cameras,” he infamously said.

Hagel played four games in winning gold at 4 Nations, and then six more for Canada’s silver medal winners at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, getting the chance to observe how players like Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon operate behind the scenes.

Hagel was 23 years old when he was acquired by the Lightning in March 2022, making him one of the youngest players on a veteran-laden roster that featured leaders like captain Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Alex Killorn and Pat Maroon.

“We had a different team when he came. Not necessarily older, but a lot of established players. A lot of guys that had won on the 2020 and 2021 teams,” Cooper recalled.

“Hages didn’t come in guns a’blazing. He came in and found his way. Where’s my niche? Let me see what I can do. And then he slowly started elevating his play. He was forcing my hand to play him more and in all situations. That’s what you wanted from a player.”

Gradually, the veterans from that team moved on, because of attrition and the salary cap. The biggest change came in 2024 when Stamkos and the Lightning split, with the franchise’s all-time goals leader signing in Nashville.

The team needed more vocal leadership. Hagel’s voice grew louder.

“He may not wear a letter now, but eventually he’s going to,” Cooper said. “There are certain guys that have that trait and he has it.”

That was never more evident than in Game 4 against Montreal. The Lightning were down 2-1 in the series and needed a boost — especially with Hedman, their captain, having missed the entire series for personal reasons. The Canadiens had a 2-0 lead in the game. Hagel stood up from the bench. He looked left, looked right and delivered a captivating and emphatic message to his teammates.

“Heggy’s a competitor. He’s the heartbeat of this team. He kind of brought us back in there,” defenseman Darren Raddysh said.

The Lightning would eventually rally for the win.

“It’s one thing to say it. There are just some guys that mean it. It is coming from their heart, their soul,” Cooper said. “You talk about the progression of things that helped us during this game. I think that was a big part of it.”

DESPITE ALL THE SPEECHES and fights and goals, Hagel’s team is still one loss away from seeing its season end in Game 6 at Montreal. Which would mean two very frustrating postseasons in a row for the Lightning winger, for different reasons.

Tampa Bay lost to the Panthers in five games last year, before once again watching its archrivals lift the Stanley Cup a few weeks later. Hagel played in only three of those games. He was suspended for Game 3 after what the NHL Department of Player Safety called “an extremely forceful body check to an unsuspecting opponent” that injured Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov.

Cooper said part of Hagel’s growth is trying to avoid those repercussions.

“I think when he walks a fine line because he is an emotional player, and I think that’s what drives him, that’s why he has success,” he said. “But he’s really found a way to keep it within the lines.”

Hagel returned for Game 4 but played just 11 minutes, leaving the game and the series after an elbow to the head by Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad, which earned Ekblad a two-game suspension. Raddysh said the Lightning players can see how much being in the playoff lineup one year later means to Hagel.

“I know when he was out, he was in the locker room, he was still giving speeches. He was trying to get the guys going. He cares and that’s what you want in a hockey player,” Raddysh said. “So having him playing and being a big part of our team again this year is huge for us.”

Despite being an integral part of the franchise now, Hagel wasn’t with the Lightning for their Stanley Cup wins in 2020 and 2021. His first season saw the dynasty crumble, thanks to the Avalanche in the 2022 Stanley Cup Final. He’s among the group of Tampa Bay players with no Stanley Cup rings.

“There’s a push to get a ring for the guys that don’t have one, and Hagel’s leading that charge,” Cooper said.

By any means necessary.