In their own words: A first taste of playoff hockey

This postseason, tampabaylightning.com will periodically talk to Lightning players and coaches to get their first-hand look into the battle for a potential third-straight Stanley Cup.
In this installment, we hear from Brandon Hagel, who is skating in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in his career after the Bolts acquired him at this year's trade deadline from the Chicago Blackhawks.
Hagel came to Tampa without knowing a single player on the team and had never been traded in his entire hockey career. Learning from leaders like Steven Stamkos and Pat Maroon, Hagel quickly discovered what it takes to be successful in the postseason, both on and off the ice.
As told to tampabaylightning.com beat writer Chris Krenn, Hagel talks about the first postseason action of his NHL career and shares what the first two rounds have looked like from his perspective ahead of the Eastern Conference Final.

I never expected to get traded.
Some players know something's coming, but I didn't.
I've never been the type to make excuses, but getting traded was tough. I didn't know a single person with the Lightning. I was trying to juggle fitting in with my new team and getting all my stuff moved from Chicago to Tampa. Processing everything in such a short amount of time was a bit of a challenge.
But here I am.
It may have took a little time, but now I feel so much more comfortable.
Tampa is an unbelievable place to play hockey. As a Canadian kid from Alberta, you never really know what you're going to get with hockey in Florida. Now, I can't imagine being anywhere else.
It's summer all the time. The fans are amazing. The people in this city are incredible.
You would think this place is an Original Six franchise by the way you get treated and the way the fanbase interacts with you outside of the rink. It's crazy.
I haven't skated in a playoff hockey game since juniors. Three years ago, I was playing in the Western Hockey League with the Red Deer Rebels and in my final season, we got swept in Round One by the Prince Albert Raiders.
In my first year with Red Deer in 2016, we made it to the Conference Final before losing to the Brandon Wheat Kings.
Now, I'm in the Eastern Conference Final in the National Hockey League with the back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions.
It all started in one of the hockey meccas of the world, Toronto.
Heading into Game 1 on the road at Scotiabank Arena, there were definitely some nerves. The whole experience was just a giant unknown for me. I didn't know how that game was going to go.
It was loud.
It was crazy.
I just couldn't wait to get out there.
Needless to say, we didn't want to start the playoffs with a 5-0 loss. But when we got back to that dressing room following Game 1, it was pretty surreal to see the confidence this group had.
It's a seven-game series. You don't lose it in one game. You can't sit there and hang your head when you've got six more games to go, potentially.
That wasn't how I wanted my first playoff game to go, but it was pretty damn cool to see the guys rally together right away. The confidence of the group was never even close to being lost.
Down 1-0, we needed a response in Game 2. We showed up. After two periods on the road, we were up 3-1 and just had to get through 20 minutes to head home with the series tied.
You know what they say about being up by two, it's the most dangerous lead in hockey. We weren't satisfied after two periods. We wanted to be up by three, but I don't think we knew that we would need to go up by three.
My first playoff goal in the NHL put us up 4-1 and ended up being the game-winner. That one felt pretty special. Every young hockey player dreams of scoring a goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The fact that my goal ended up being the game-winner just made it that much better.
Being down by five goals in Game 1 was embarrassing, but like I said, the confidence was never lost.
I really think that's something special about this team. The confidence is never lost. I haven't seen it lost and, to be honest, I'm not sure it's going to be lost until we're either going home or we have the Stanley Cup in our hands.
We know we have a job to do. To see everyone to stay confident, keep their heads high, and continue to push through all the adversity, it's pretty cool.
We went back and forth with the Leafs. Lose, win, lose, win, lose.
That brought us to Game 6 in Tampa. Trailing 3-2, it was do-or-die for our group and that building was rocking.
It was just crazy. I don't even know how to describe it.
Our backs were against the wall and it was so loud at AMALIE that those walls were shaking.
Putting the result aside, just being part of that opportunity to keep the series alive was exhilarating.
The group was focused.
We were ready.
There was a calmness in the room before Game 6. At the end of the day, it's a game. Someone has to win. Someone has to lose. We knew that as long as we put our best effort out there, we'd have a great chance to win. We just wanted to get out there and do the things that make us successful.
Follow the recipe.
If we deliver, we'll have no problem.
When we got to overtime, that calmness was still there. We were there to win that game.
Late in the third period, I missed an open net with the game tied at three. All I wanted was another chance to make an impact. When the Leafs flipped that puck into the neutral zone, that was my chance.
Looking back on it now, it all feels like a blur. All I remember was jumping over the boards, grabbing the puck, and trying to make a play. It just got so loud when that puck crossed the line. The fans were awesome.
Moments like that really are about the team. It's all about winning with this group.
To be part of Pointer's game-winner was pretty cool, but honestly, I was just happy that we were going to Game 7.
Listen, this is what hockey players dream of, playing in a Game 7. We live for these games. We were born for these moments.
Tons of people outside. Tons of people in the building. Tons of people watching around the world.
To be able to win a game like that, that's something I'll never forget.
How many players get to play in the playoffs? How many players get to play in a Game 7? It's one of the biggest moments of your career. I don't care if it's First Round, Second Round, Third Round, Stanley Cup Final.
Everyone was fired up and everyone was ready to go. All that training we do in the summer, we do it for moments like this. Like I said, this is what we were born to do.
I'll never forget Pauly getting the game-winning goal with that sick play in the second period. Just unbelievable.
He somehow finds the puck after going through the guy's stick and just rips the perfect shot, in his hometown nonetheless. I couldn't be happier for him. You dream about scoring a goal like that as a kid.
I remember the excitement on the bench, but also just the mentality that we needed to be ready for that next shift. It's that mentality that makes this team great.
Closing it down in the third period in that environment was such a huge building block for us going into Round Two. We celebrated that win, but we turned the page quick and moved right along to Round Two.
I remember watching the Round One series between Florida and Tampa Bay last season. The penalty minutes, the craziness. I kind of thought our series against them would be a little nastier to start, but I think both teams just wanted to be disciplined.
We had so many penalties called in the First Round, on both sides, so that probably played into that. You just don't want to be killing penalties all the time. It's not a good look, especially in the playoffs where special teams are so huge.
Starting our series against Florida, we had a clean slate. Seven more games to work with. Obviously, we wanted to play our absolute best and, like every team, we hoped we would win the series in four games.
Did we expect that to happen? Probably not. But we just built off that series against Toronto and played every game the right way.
I will say it definitely helps when you have 88 standing on his head between the pipes. I remember going against Vasilevskiy when I played with Chicago. It was never fun. You knew you probably weren't getting on the scoresheet that night.
Before I even got here, I thought he was the best goalie in the league. I think most people around the league feel that way. Look at what he's done for his team. Seeing it up close every day is just unreal. There's no doubt in my mind now. He's the best.
We won Game 1 by three, but that game was tied heading into the third period. Vasy stood tall and we played the right way. The goal is always to take one on the road. I remember Stammer keeping us hungry after that game and saying "Let's get greedy." We approached Game 2 with the same urgency as Game 1.
That game was intense. Close the entire way, physical, just a true playoff game.
I remember Perrs, Sergy, and Cerny all took a puck to the face in that game. All of them went down the tunnel and came back.
Stammer was blocking shots, going down the tunnel, and coming right back to the bench.
Mac was blocking shots like he always does. Heddy was making big blocks. Everyone was doing their part. It was a total team effort.
Those are the moments that you want to be a part of. Guys were taking their bumps, but there was no chance that anybody was coming out of that game. It was just more of that team-first mentality that everyone has here.
Nobody was coming out and everybody was willing to do anything to win.
Guys just do that here and I don't think it's just because we're in the playoffs. I noticed the attitude right when I came in here. It's just what this team does and that's the way they operate.
That's Lightning hockey.
So for me, coming in here, that's what I wanted to do. I wanted to be part of that.
I just see our captain lay down in front of shots and sell out for the team and think to myself, 'He's doing it. Why shouldn't everyone else be doing it?'
That's the leader of the team. Everyone wants to follow him. He's scoring goals, making plays, hitting guys, blocking shots.
That's the type of player everyone wants to be - a superstar in this league and a Hall of Famer one day. It's pretty easy to follow that guy.
That game-winning goal right at the end of regulation, I think we were just trying to get the puck deep and keep it in their end. Obviously you want to score, but there's limited time and you just don't want to risk making any big mistakes. Pally made a great play to get that puck down low.
If there's one thing I know, it's when the puck gets on Kuch's stick, you better be ready for anything. It doesn't matter where you are or how much time is on the clock. There's nobody we want controlling that puck more than Kuch.
He takes a peek and puts it out front with that ridiculous pass, but you've got to have someone there to finish it. Ross was there to do that with a perfect shot and another big-time goal
The feeling on the bench was just relief. Excitement. Shock. It was unreal.
If you have to go to overtime, you have to go to overtime, but you want to limit that extra time as much as you can, especially when you don't know what's going on with some guys. I'm sure a lot of guys were feeling sore after that game. That's another one that I'll never forget.
After we won another close one in Game 3, it was right back at it for Game 4 the very next day. We weren't really worried about playing back-to-back games at all. They were in the same boat as us. We had our home crowd, so we knew that would help.
We were more concerned with winning that fourth game because we all knew that's the hardest one to win. We knew they would push and they did. They played an unbelievable game that night. They're one hell of a team, but Vasy just stood on his head for us again.
Vasy's just so calm back there. Sometimes you see the puck squirt out to the backdoor and you're like, 'Oh no," but he's right there to make the save and he doesn't even break a sweat. I'm sweating more watching from the bench.
He's just unbelievable. We couldn't have asked for a better effort from him that night. Like I said, we knew they were going to push and we did everything we could to stop them. Their season was on the line, but as far as we were concerned, nothing was accomplished in those first three games. Until you get that fourth win, you've really done nothing. Nothing's really accomplished until you get that fourth one.
We got it.
If everyone commits to the plan and our goalie plays that way, we're a tough team to beat.
Now, we're halfway there. It's been a lot of emotions, a lot of ups and downs.
I've learned how important it is to have mental toughness this time of year. You need to be able to control those ups and downs. It's one day at a time, but it's do or die.
The best part for me is that I'm learning from a group of winners. Since I got traded, I've just been trying to take it one period at a time, one step at a time, and go from there.
It's been pretty crazy seeing how tight-knit this group is. Everyone gets along with everyone. Patty's been awesome. Killer, Pauly, Stammer - all the guys have been great. Every one of them.
It sounds weird, but having time off is never easy. You don't want to get too comfortable and our coaching staff has done an amazing job navigating that. Everyone's staying prepared and sticking together. We've had a few dinners together to make sure the group doesn't get too separated. We feel like we're in a great spot.
But now, it's back to business.
The First Round, I thought we were good.
The Second Round, we were even better.
The Third Round, we need to elevate our game even more.
We just have to keep doing what it takes to win.
Sacrifice. Play the right way. Stick to the recipe. The rest will take care of itself.
It's one game at a time, but all we need is eight more.
Just eight more.
We're ready for the challenge.
See you in New York.