Brandon Hagel’s hat trick—including the game-winning goal with less than two minutes remaining—along with timely saves from Andrei Vasilevskiy helped the Tampa Bay Lightning fend off a late New York Islanders push in a 5-3 victory Saturday night at UBS Arena.

With the game tied entering the third period, Hagel’s goal with 1 minute, 44 seconds remaining stood as the game-winner to halt an Islanders comeback bid.

“You want to learn this stuff early and know that we’re able to do it,” Hagel said of holding on to win. “I think the goalie stood on his head. Was it perfect? No, but we found a way to win on the road, and that’s what you need to do in this league.”

Tampa Bay held a 3-1 lead on Saturday before the Islanders fought back to even the score with a trio of second-period goals.

Jake Guentzel opened the scoring, denying a clearing attempt at the boards before skating to the right hashmark and firing a shot past Ilya Sorokin’s blocker 5:45 into the game.

Tampa Bay then cushioned its lead late in the opening period, this time off a strong individual effort from Hagel. Captain Victor Hedman flipped a puck to the neutral zone from below the goal line, and Hagel outpaced both Islanders defensemen, got inside positioning to drive the net and roofed his shot through Sorokin.

Hedman’s assist on the play was his 812th career point, passing Sergei Gonchar for third-most by a defenseman born outside of North America in NHL history.

The Islanders halved the Lightning lead 6:27 into the second period when a Tony DeAngelo point shot weaved through a bevy of bodies in front of the net to make it 2-1, but Tampa Bay’s power play reclaimed its two-goal advantage quickly.

Guentzel’s second goal of the night came on a quick move to the net, when he accepted a Nikita Kucherov pass at the right post, spun and fired a shot under Sorokin’s arm just over a minute after DeAngelo’s goal.

Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer showed off his skill to make it 3-2, escaping a Lightning player at the offensive blue line and firing a goal through a screen 11:41 into the period. The Islanders then tied the game in the dying seconds of the middle frame with a Brayden Schenn power-play goal at the net.

“Good road game for us,” head coach Jon Cooper said. “We came out, got the lead. Didn’t love our second obviously with giving up three, kind of the way we did it. Probably a little unlucky on the power-play goal against. A great block breaks the stick and they make a play, but now you’re going into the third period tied on the road, and I thought we bent but didn’t break. And then one of our playmakers made a play, and it was good for us.”

Vasilevskiy denied a Bo Horvat breakaway in the win and kept the game tied by denying all nine Islanders shots in the third period, including a key save with the toe of his skate on an Anthony Duclair wraparound try.

He stopped 20 of the 23 shots he faced and earned his 373rd career win, breaking a tie with Andy Moog for 20th in NHL history for wins by a goaltender.

“They pushed in the second, kind of let them back in there. But that’s what good hockey teams do,” Guentzel said. “You just find a way when sometimes you don’t have your best, and Vasy played unbelievable. He kept us in there in the second and third, and whenever you get a late one it helps the team.”

Hagel won the game with 1:44 remaining. He entered the zone, let Anthony Cirelli skate in front of him to take away Sorokin’s view and then buried the puck from distance inside the left post. He capped the hat-trick and the scoring with an empty-net goal 21 seconds later.

“I just saw Tony coming across and there were a couple screens, so I knew if I got it through it had a chance,” Hagel said. “Did I know where it was going? No, but I knew if I got it through it had a chance.”

Hagel led all Bolts with four points, while Guentzel’s two goals joined Max Crozier and Nikita Kucherov (two assists each) as multi-point performances.

Tampa Bay’s fourth straight win marked its first on the road this season and improved the team’s record to 4-1-0.

The Lightning next visit the New York Rangers on Tuesday for a 7:15 p.m. puck drop at Madison Square Garden.

Benjamin’s Three Stars:

1. Brandon Hagel, TBL (3 goals, assist)

2. Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL (20 saves) 

3. Jake Guentzel, TBL (2 goals)