Colorado Avalanche at Tampa Bay Lightning
· National Hockey LeagueBrandon Hagel scores winner as Lightning beat Avalanche 4-2
Jake Guentzel and Zemgus Girgensons also scored for the Lightning, and Anthony Cirelli added an empty-netter. Nikita Kucherov recorded his seventh straight multipoint game with a pair of assists.
Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 31 saves for his sixth consecutive win.
Parker Kelly and Brock Nelson scored for Colorado, which has dropped consecutive games in regulation for the first time this season. The Avalanche had just three regulation losses on the season entering Tuesday.
Scott Wedgewood stopped 24 shots for Colorado.
Hagel scored the winning goal after Kucherov protected the puck near the left circle, found Max Crozier who cut down the slot before finding Hagel for a sweeping one-timer at 8:31 of the third period. Cirelli scored an empty-net goal with 1:25 left.
Guentzel put Tampa Bay up 1-0 coming out of the corner on the power play with space to get out front and find the top far corner with 12 seconds left in the opening period.
Colorado scored twice in six minutes to take the lead. Kelly found a loose puck in the paint at 3:22 before Nelson fired a shot from the left faceoff dot that deflected off the stick of Erik Cernak and knuckled past Vasilevskiy at 9:31.
Girgensons pulled the Lightning even again late in the second, getting inside position on Cale Makar on top of the crease and getting his stick down for Yanni Gourde to find for the redirect at 17:22.
Colorado played without captain Gabriel Landeskog and defenseman Devon Toews, who both returned to Denver earlier in the day. Landeskog was injured after running into the net against Florida on Sunday and Toews was injured on Saturday against Carolina. Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said both are expected to miss weeks.
Lightning: Visit Philadelphia on Saturday.
Regular Season SeriesSeries tied 1-1
Scoring Summary
![]() |
Goal | 1st Period 19:48 | Jake Guentzel Goal (19) Wrist Shot, assists: Nikita Kucherov (40), Darren Raddysh (23) |
![]() |
Goal | 2nd Period 3:22 | Parker Kelly Goal (8) Wrist Shot, assists: Zakhar Bardakov (5), Ilya Solovyov (1) |
![]() |
Goal | 2nd Period 9:31 | Brock Nelson Goal (19) Snap Shot, assists: Cale Makar (36) |
![]() |
Goal | 2nd Period 17:22 | Zemgus Girgensons Goal (6) Tip-In, assists: Yanni Gourde (9), Pontus Holmberg (7) |
![]() |
Goal | 3rd Period 8:31 | Brandon Hagel Goal (20) Snap Shot, assists: Max Crozier (9), Nikita Kucherov (41) |
![]() |
Goal | 3rd Period 18:35 | Anthony Cirelli Goal (12) Snap Shot, assists: Brandon Hagel (18), Darren Raddysh (24) |
Statistics
COL |
TB |
|
|---|---|---|
| 19 | Blocked Shots | 16 |
| 20 | Hits | 21 |
| 4 | Takeaways | 5 |
| 33 | Shots | 28 |
| 0 | Power Play Goals | 1 |
| 2 | Power Play Opportunities | 2 |
| 0.0 | Power Play Percentage | 50.0 |
| 0 | Short Handed Goals | 0 |
| 0 | Shootout Goals | 0 |
| 38 | Faceoffs Won | 17 |
| 69.1 | Faceoff Win Percent | 30.9 |
| 19 | Giveaways | 12 |
| 3 | Total Penalties | 5 |
| 6 | Penalty Minutes | 18 |
Tampa Bay Lightning Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Ryan McDonagh, D | Injured Reserve | Jan 9 |
| Scott Sabourin, RW | Injured Reserve | Dec 30 |
| Victor Hedman, D | Injured Reserve | Dec 12 |
Colorado Avalanche Injuries
| NAME, POS | STATUS | DATE |
|---|---|---|
| Joel Kiviranta, LW | Out | Jan 8 |
| Devon Toews, D | Out | Jan 6 |
| Gabriel Landeskog, LW | Out | Jan 6 |
| Mackenzie Blackwood, G | Injured Reserve | Jan 2 |
Game Information
Benchmark International Arena
Location: Tampa, FL
Attendance: 19,092 | Capacity:
Location: Tampa, FL
Attendance: 19,092 | Capacity:
2025-26 Central Division Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PTS | OTL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Colorado |
32 | 4 | 71 | 7 |
Dallas |
26 | 10 | 60 | 8 |
Minnesota |
26 | 11 | 60 | 8 |
Utah |
22 | 20 | 47 | 3 |
Nashville |
20 | 19 | 44 | 4 |
Chicago |
18 | 19 | 43 | 7 |
St. Louis |
17 | 20 | 42 | 8 |
Winnipeg |
16 | 22 | 37 | 5 |
2025-26 Atlantic Division Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PTS | OTL |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Montreal |
25 | 13 | 56 | 6 |
Detroit |
26 | 15 | 56 | 4 |
Tampa Bay |
26 | 13 | 55 | 3 |
Buffalo |
23 | 15 | 50 | 4 |
Boston |
24 | 19 | 50 | 2 |
Toronto |
21 | 15 | 49 | 7 |
Florida |
22 | 18 | 47 | 3 |
Ottawa |
20 | 18 | 45 | 5 |




COL
TB
Colorado
Dallas
Minnesota
Utah
Nashville
Chicago
St. Louis
Winnipeg
Montreal
Detroit
Tampa Bay
Buffalo
Boston
Toronto
Florida
Ottawa