TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The Tampa Bay Lightning are back on their home ice to open a five-game home stand, starting with the Buffalo Sabres Thursday night at AMALIE Arena.

The Bolts picked up four points on their three-game road trip, keeping them in the second Eastern Conference Wild Card spot. They’re holding on to a five-point cushion over the New Jersey Devils in the standings and know the importance of these final 21 games of the regular season.

“We know every game matters,” said Lightning forward Nick Paul. “So, right now, we’re just trying to put our foot in the ground and run and go and collect points and get on a streak and feel good and get our playoff hockey going” 

“We have to get these points here just because other teams are going to be climbing the ladder,” said Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. “We’re going to watch teams play games when we’re not playing, and so it’s pivotal that we start getting points out of these games.” 

Their home ice has been favorable nearly all season, with just five regulation losses there until their most recent homestand. Now, they’re up to eight at home. 

“The part we have to not forget is what happened our last three home games here,” Cooper said. “We got zero points out of that, and this is a place we’re used to picking up points. If that isn’t an alarm ringing for us, you know, shame on us.” 

Much of the spotlight has been on Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov lately, as he still leads the Art Ross Trophy race with 103 points. But quietly contributing for the Bolts has been forward Brandon Hagel, who’s on a career-long 14-game point streak– tied for the second-longest in franchise history. 

“I think my play itself; I try to work as hard as possible, and that’s kind of my leadership in this room,” Hagel said. “That’s how I try to bring everyone into the fight. I think that’s kind of the way and my mentality. It doesn’t really matter about the point streak, to be honest. I want to get wins. I want to get into the playoffs, and I want to try and help this team in every way possible.” 

“We can talk about what [Kucherov]’s done,” Cooper said. “He’s been arguably the MVP of this league, but [Hagel]’s been right behind him on our team. (He’s) a player that may not get the press the other guys get, but man, has he been good for us.”