Brandon Hagel had a natural hat trick in a 6:28 span of the second period and later contributed an assist for the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning in an 8-5 win against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday evening in Newark, N.J.
Victor Hedman scored two goals, Janis Moser had a goal and two assists, Anthony Cirelli had four assists and Jake Guentzel added a goal and an assist for the Lightning, who were coming off a 5-2 loss at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Monday.
Jonas Johansson made 30 saves in his first start of the season for Tampa Bay.
Timo Meier scored two goals, Jack Hughes had a goal and two assists and Jake Allen made 29 saves for the Devils, who have lost two in a row.
Hughes scored on a breakaway to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead at 11:02 of the first period.
Tampa Bay went on the game’s first power play and Brayden Point scored off a rebound with the man advantage to tie it 1-1 at 14:09 of the first.
The Devils moved back in front 51 seconds into the second period when Meier scored on a one-timer from the slot.
The Lightning responded with five unanswered goals in the period, including three straight by Hagel.
Hedman tied it 2-2 when he roofed a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle at 7:34.
Hagel followed with a slap shot from the right point for a 3-2 lead at 9:27. He then finished off a 2-on-1 rush with Conor Geekie to extend the lead at 13:01, and he followed up Emil Lilleberg’s drive to the net by scoring the rebound to make it 5-2 at 15:53 and tally his third NHL hat trick.
Hedman finished off the scoring in the period with a slap shot from the high slot for a 6-2 lead at 17:28. Hagel earned the primary assist to give him his first four-point game in the NHL.
Nathan Bastian got to a loose puck and swept it into the net from just above the crease to cut the deficit to 6-3 at 2:56 of the third.
New Jersey went on its first power play and Meier scored with a one-timer from the right circle to make it 6-4 at 5:24.
The Lightning then went on a power play following a disputed goalie interference penalty, and Guentzel scored off the faceoff to extend the lead to 7-4 at 5:48.
Tampa Bay scored a short-handed goal to make it 8-4 at 9:19. Moser tried to clear the puck along the boards, and it took an odd bounce and was redirected into the net while Allen was out of the crease.
Stefan Noesen scored on a one-timer on a power play to cut it to 8-5 at 12:45.
–Field Level Media
