‘Rat pack' of Hagel, Cirelli, Guentzel have led the way for Lightning

Sports admin October 13, 2026 0 Comments

‘Rat pack’ of Hagel, Cirelli, Guentzel have led the way for Lightning

ELMONT, N.Y. – Lightning coach Jon Cooper loves the way Jake Guentzel has meshed with Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli during the first five games of the season. The trio has formed the team’s top all-around line – and statistically one of the best in hockey – creating a ton of opportunities in the offensive zone while being stingy in the defensive end.

Off the ice, the three have become good friends and often hang out together. Sometimes that matters, because the camaraderie can carry out onto the ice.

“The three of them are like a little rat pack,” Cooper said after Monday’s practice at UBS Arena. “You kind of know they get together, they talk about things. I think there’s a good feel for each other.”

The line accounted for three goals in the Lightning’s 5-3 win over the Islanders Saturday night and has outscored its opposing line 4-1 over the past two games after going scoreless over the first three (despite out-attempting its opponents 21-7).

The Lightning will look to build on that when they take their four-game winning streak into Madison Square Garden Tuesday night for a rematch with the Rangers 12 days after their season-opening flop in Manhattan.

The Lightning (4-1-0) have grown a lot since then, and a big part of it has been their ability to play an effective all-around game with 11-forward, 7-defensemen lineups.

Guentzel’s addition to the rarely separated pairing of Hagel and Cirelli has given the team a two-way anchor line to base it all around. Cooper doesn’t hesitate to throw his lines in a blender, but when he built them to open the season the priority was putting Guentzel with Hagel and Cirelli and going from there.

“He’s good at everything,” Hagel said of Guentzel. “He’s a really, really, really smart player. And when you add a smart player to any line, good things are going to happen and, lucky enough for us, we get to play with him.”

Adding a finisher

The decision has paid off. Not only is the trio plus-3 through five games, it has outshot its opposition 35-15. The line’s Corsi For Percentage, which uses shot attempts for and against to evaluate zone time and two-way effectiveness, is 67.7% (it has out-attempted its opponents 65-34), compared to 51.3 for the rest of the team at 5-on-5.

Guentzel had spent much of his first two seasons with the Lightning in a top-line role with Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov. Cooper said he wanted to put Guentzel alongside Hagel and Cirelli to give the line a bona fide finisher. Guentzel averaged nearly 40 goals over his two seasons in Tampa Bay and last year had 28 goals at 5-on-5.

“I’m not saying ‘Tony’ and ‘Hags’ can’t, but ‘Guentz’ is an elite finisher,” Cooper said. “So we kind of have a really good blend of guys that check a lot of boxes in their line.”

Getting greedy in a good way

The biggest beneficiary, however, might be Hagel. He entered Monday leading the NHL in shot attempts per 60 minutes (27.48), according to Natural Stat Trick, well ahead of top goal scorers like Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon (25.89) and Boston’s David Pastrnak (24.34). Following a hat trick on Saturday, Hagel leads the Lightning with four goals, including two at 5-on-5.

“I don’t know,” Hagel said. “I believe my game’s in a good spot early, and when you’re kind of playing good, that’s where these types of things kind of happen. I’m just going out there trying to score, honestly, play the right way, play hard, do what I’m asked of, and if the chances come, they come. And lucky enough, they’re coming for me right now.”

That stat was a pleasant surprise for Cooper, because he said the one thing he’d like to see more of from the line of Hagel, Cirelli and Guentzel is them taking their own shots.

“It’s hard to sit here and say with ‘Hags,’ can he be more aggressive, because he’s already really aggressive,” Cooper said. “I think ‘Hags’ is just being ‘Hags,’ but the shooter mentality is something he needs, because I think he defers.

“I tell that line all the time, ‘You guys are too nice to each other. You’re being too friendly. Be a little mean. Shoot the puck.’ They’re too friendly too each other.”

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This story was originally published October 12, 2026 at 4:23 PM.