Hagel’s two lifts Lightning over Rangers, helps extend win streak to seven
NEW YORK — Brandon Hagel scored twice and Jonas Johansson made 11 saves, as the Tampa Bay Lighting beat the New York Rangers 4-1 Saturday to extend their winning streak to seven games.
Nick Paul and Jake Guentzel also scored and Nikita Kucherov had three assists, as the Lightning ended New York’s three-game winning streak. Tampa Bay is 7-0-0 since Nov. 18 and has outscored opponents 30-10 in that span.
The Rangers heard boos from the Madison Square Garden crowd as they fell to 2-8-1 at home where they have been shut out five times and scored once on three other occasions. New York is 11-4-1 on the road.
Hagel scored at 10:53 of the opening period as his shot deflected off Rangers defenceman Carson Soucy’s skate. He made it 2-0 with his team-best 15th goal at 8:57 of the second when he slid his own rebound past Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin.
Defencemen Darren Raddysh and Kucherov assisted on both goals.
Kucherov has a nine-game points streak, consisting of four goals and 14 assists. He leads the Lightning with 32 points. Raddysh has 11 points in his last seven games.
J.T. Miller ruined Johansson’s shutout bid with his seventh goal at 17:31 of the second. Adam Fox and Mika Zibanejad assisted.
Paul scored at 2:02 of the third to make it 3-1. Rookie defenceman Charle-Edouard D’Astous also assisted.
Guentzel added an empty-netter at 19:41.
Fox left the game at 7:03 of the third after he was checked hard into the boards by Hagel. Fox’s left arm appeared to absorb the brunt of the hit.
Shesterkin made 31 saves.
The Lightning outshot the Rangers 11-2 in the first. New York didn’t register its first shot on goal until the 9:29 mark.
The Lightning were missing injured defencemen Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak, as well as forward Brayden Point, out for a fourth-straight game.
Up next
Rangers: Hosting the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
Lightning: At the New York Islanders on Tuesday.
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