The Tampa Bay Lightning‘s rocky month of November has come to a close. A mix of upset losses and failed comeback attempts resulted in them finishing with a 5-6-2 record and 12 points. Not the best follow-up to a 7-3-0 October.
Regardless of the final record, three standout players delivered day in and day out. Without further ado, here are the Lightning’s three stars of the month. The list will go in ascending order just like how it’s done at the games following a win.
Third Star – Victor Hedman
Victor Hedman, the new Lightning captain, played in all 13 games and averaged exactly a point per game, scoring two goals and tallied 11 assists for 13 points.
He played a strong role in the power play’s resurgence last month. On the man advantage, Hedman has one goal and six assists for seven points, representing a near-even split between his production on the power play and his even-strength totals. It shouldn’t surprise you that he leads all Lightning defensemen in goals, assists, and points.
Hedman continues to be one of the key producers on the blue line even at 34 years old. His defensive play continues to be strong as well; He’s ever-so-barely trailing fellow defensemen Ryan McDonagh and JJ Moser for the best defensive points share (DPS) on the staff. (3.1 vs 3.2). He had a 5.4 DPS to finish last season, so he could be in for a career season defensively.
That extension he signed over the offseason continues to look like an even better deal.
Second Star – Brayden Point
Brayden Point seems to really like November. Last season, he had 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points. This season, he had yet another 10-goal November.
He only played in nine of the 13 games, but Point made it count, scoring 10 goals over that span. Six of those goals came on the power play and two of them were game winners. One of those game-winning goals came in overtime against the Pittsburgh Penguins back on Nov. 19, capping off a comeback he helped lead the charge on.
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Six of his nine NHL-leading power-play goals came in November. Now, this level of production is nothing new. He’s scored 50 goals before and has had 20 power-play goals or more twice in his career – more than former captain Steven Stamkos.
But the pace that’s even greater than we typically see out of him netted him the second star of the month. Some new career highs in goal scoring could be coming, if he can stay healthy, and November was the sneak peak.
First Star – Brandon Hagel
It was a masterful month for Brandon Hagel. Playing in all 13 games, Hagel had four goals and 13 assists for 17 points.
The standout game was in the 8-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche. He had a five-assist night and helped lead the Lightning to a dominant win. It was also a historic night as he became the fourth Lightning player to record five assists in a game matching Mark Recchi (no goals-5 assists-5 points on March 1, 2009), Martin St. Louis (0-5-5 on Nov. 18, 2010) and Darren Raddysh (0-5-5 on March 9, 2024).
He also became the fourth-fastest player to reach five assists in a game, doing so in 29 minutes and 38 seconds. He sits behind Wayne Gretzky (23:58 on March 4, 1988) and Mario Lemieux twice (25:02 on Nov. 1, 1995, and 26:06 on Feb. 23, 1989).
The longer Hagel has played in a Lightning sweater, the more he has made the trade with the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2022 an even better move. His November pace has put him on pace for 103 points, blowing last season’s career-high of 75 points out of Tampa Bay.
It was an easy choice to award him the first star for the month.
