Brandon Hagel celebrated making the Olympic roster with three assists, including one on Darren Raddysh’s game-winning, overtime goal as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeat the Anaheim Ducks, 4-3, in Jon Cooper’s 1000th game. It wasn’t the prettiest game the Lightning have played on the West Coast, but once again, they found a way to pick up two points to keep their winning streak going.
First Period:
The Lightning took a few minutes to get their flow going and it almost cost them a goal as Nikita Nesterenko snapped a shot off of the post. Some wayward passes in the neutral zone allowed Anaheim to counter and use their speed, but after a few minutes, the Lightning cleaned up their game a little bit.
The Ducks looked like a team that was pushing for offense, and it led to some gaps in their coverage that the Lightning exploited in order to get into the attacking zone. Once there they took advantage of Anaheim’s conservative defense to generate some chances. A pretty passing play off of transition briefly led to a Lightning lead when Brayden Point poked home a pass from Gage Goncalves, but an offside review wiped the goal off of the board.
A few minutes later, J.J. Moser had the puck down low, waited for the defender to clear in front of him and picked his spot on the far post to make it 1-0.
J.J. Moser [4] (Darren Raddysh, Brandon Hagel) 1-0 Lightning
"NO DOUBT ABOUT THAT ONE!!!!! J.J. MOSER!" Moser opens the scoring after Brayden Point's overturned goal minutes before! #TBLvsANA 🎧: boltsaud.io/live 📻: 102.5 The Bone
— Lightning Audio Network (@boltsradio.bsky.social) December 31, 2025 at 4:40 PM
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Anaheim gave Darren Raddysh all day to make the pass as they were all playing at the hash marks or below. That is just too much space to give the Lightning offense.
Pontus Holmberg had a chance to make it 2-0 but Lukas Dostol (25 saves) made a solid save as the Lightning forward crashed down the royal road for an opportunity. From there, Anaheim started to get their forecheck going and, while they didn’t generate a ton of dangerous chances, they at least kept Tampa Bay honest. The Bolts were solid in front of their own net, not allowing too many second chances as the Ducks bombed shots from distance.
Second Period:
The space that was there for the Lightning in the first period evaporated in the second. In fact, neither team could really generate a lot of sustained offense. Anaheim was rolling early, but Vasilevskiy was sharp, stopping Leo Carlsson twice on good opportunities. The iron came a calling again as Beckett Sennecke found the outside of the post.
A Lightning power play came and went without much to talk about, and the Ducks were starting to push the play a little. Tampa Bay was doing an okay job of keeping the front of their net clear, but Anaheim had the better of the play. In a tight checking game, unforced errors can prove to be the difference, and such was the case. Charle-Edouard D’Astous had the puck on his stick as he skated out towards his blueline. He did something he’s probably done two-thousand times in his career where he played the puck with his backhand to his forehand in order to fire it off the boards and out.
Unfortunately, the puck rolled off his stick and Ross Johnston was there to take control. Darren Raddysh tried to break up the cross-ice pass with a dive, but couldn’t, and Janson Harkins slid it into the open net.
Janson Harkins [3] (Ross Johnston) 1-1
Anaheim goal! Scored by Jansen Harkins with 04:43 remaining in the 2nd period. Assisted by Ross Johnston. Anaheim: 1 Tampa Bay: 1 #TBLvsANA #FlyTogether #GoBolts
— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) December 31, 2025 at 5:34 PM
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The Ducks went on the power play shortly after and it seemed like they were primed to take the lead, but the Bolts killed it off fairly easily. Vasilevskiy had to kick out the left pad on Cutter Gauthier off of a quick shot, but that was the only real dangerous chance.
With time ticking down, the Brayden Point line finally put together a little time in the neutral zone and it paid off when Point was able to redirect a shot-pass from Max Crozier to give them the 2-1 lead.
Brayden Point [7] (Max Crozier, Nikita Kucherov) 2-1 Lightning
Tampa Bay goal! Scored by Brayden Point with 00:49 remaining in the 2nd period. Assisted by Max Crozier and Nikita Kucherov. Anaheim: 1 Tampa Bay: 2 #TBLvsANA #FlyTogether #GoBolts
— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) December 31, 2025 at 5:41 PM
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Third Period
The Lightning went into the third period with the lead, and Anaheim didn’t seem happy about it as they came out with a lot of pressure early. A bit of a jumbled exchange behind the net between Andrei Vasilevskiy and Erik Cernak, back from his injury, led to a turnover to the Anaheim forecheck. Sennecke showed why he’s leading rookies in goals as he sniped one past Vasy to tie the game.
Beckett Sennecke [12] (unassisted) 2-2
Anaheim goal! Scored by Beckett Sennecke with 16:03 remaining in the 3rd period. Anaheim: 2 Tampa Bay: 2 #TBLvsANA #FlyTogether #GoBolts
— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) December 31, 2025 at 6:11 PM
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The Bolts reestablished their lead on, of all things, the power play. Of course, it wasn’t pretty. The Ducks are a dangerous team short-handed (even if they struggle to kill penalties). Old friend Alex Killorn was all alone in front of the net, but Vasilevskiy (who finished with 25 saves) was there to make the pad save. The Lightning were able to break the other way and Anaheim never really got set before Hagel sent a pass across the ice and Nikita Kucherov ripped one from the right circle past Dostal.
Nikita Kucherov [18] (Brandon Hagel, Charle-Edouard D’Astous) Power Play, 3-2 Lightning
"Cross ice Kucherov, right circle shot! SCORREEE!!!!!" Kuch with the one timer after a stellar save by Vasy! #TBLvsANA 🎧: boltsaud.io/live 📻: 102.5 The Bone
— Lightning Audio Network (@boltsradio.bsky.social) December 31, 2025 at 6:24 PM
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After a mostly disciplined game, the Lightning took a couple of penalties. One was killed off, but Yanni Gourde’s slashing penalty ended with him skating out of the box with the crowd celebrating another game-tying goal.
The Lightning were a stick poke away from a two-on-one shorthanded breakaway, but Pavel Mintyukov was able to keep it into the zone and feed it to Mason McTavish. The young forward had some open space to skate in and pick the upper corner over Vasilevskiy’s shoulder.
Mason McTavish [10] (Pavel Mintyukov) Power Play, 3-3
Power play goal for Anaheim! Scored by Mason McTavish with 06:58 remaining in the 3rd period. Assisted by Pavel Mintyukov. Anaheim: 3 Tampa Bay: 3 #TBLvsANA #FlyTogether #GoBolts
— NHL Goals (@nhlgoals.bsky.social) December 31, 2025 at 6:29 PM
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With time ticking off the regulation clock, the Lightning put forth their best effort since the first period as they tried to snatch the game away at the death. They weren’t quite able to pull it off, but dominated play in overtime. Kucherov put one off of the pipe and Cirelli crashed the net (for the second time in the game) but Dostal kept it out.
Anaheim allowed one too many ice-stretching passes and that allowed Brandon Hagel to enter the zone. He made a nice move to keep the puck along the boards and with all of the Ducks looking at him, Hagel found Darren Raddysh crashing down the backside. The pass was on point and Raddysh tapped home the back-door pass for the winner.
Darren Raddysh [9] (Brandon Hagel)
"DARREN RADDYSH!!! HE WINS IT FOR THE LIGHTNING!!!" RADDY 🦅 CALLS GAME IN ANAHEIM!!! #TBLvsANA 🎧: boltsaud.io/live 📻: 102.5 The Bone
— Lightning Audio Network (@boltsradio.bsky.social) December 31, 2025 at 6:54 PM
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