The Latest Breaking News from Brandon Hagel

NEW YORK — The Rangers and Lightning are likely to finish third in the NHL’s Metropolitan and Atlantic Divisions, respectively, in which case they could not meet in the playoffs until the conference finals.

TAMPA, Fla. — The Lightning opened Saturday night honoring the franchise’s founding father and two key players from their first Stanley Cup team.

NEWARK, N.J. — With Steven Stamkos out for Tuesday’s road game against the Devils, Brandon Hagel was reunited with Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov on the Lightning’s top scoring line.

Both teams have since doubled down on their respective strategies, with the Hawks continuing to convert all valuable players into draft picks and the Lightning continuing to do the opposite. And Hagel has fully lived up to expectations in Tampa while Taylor Raddysh has flourished a bit in Chicago.

TAMPA, Fla. — This Lightning season has had its share of ups and downs, but one thing the team has avoided is a major injury to one of its top players.

The Lightning built off the momentum of Thursday’s shutout home win over the Avalanche, starting a challenging four-game road trip by beating the Central Division-leading Stars.

TAMPA, Fla. — No championships were won Thursday night at Amalie Arena. No team paraded around the ice hoisting the Stanley Cup.

TAMPA, Fla. — Something had to give.

TAMPA, Fla. — Steven Stamkos left the building Thursday night with everyone wanting just one more goal. The Lightning captain snapped a four-game drought with a power-play goal to pull within a goal of the 500 mark in a 5-4 win over the Vancouver Canucks at Amalie Arena.

CHICAGO — Opening their three-game road trip Tuesday night against the league’s worst team, the Lightning had plenty of opportunities to pull away from the Blackhawks at the United Center, but found themselves going into the final period of regulation still deadlocked at 1.

TAMPA, Fla. — Closing their six-game homestand Thursday night against a Blue Jackets squad with the fewest points in the Eastern Conference, the Lightning had to be careful not to be lulled into a letdown game.