He was definitely great on that 5-3 PK, playing to his strengths of just getting in the way of the shooter. The offense is just him being lucky. And he's NOT GOOD in his own end. I HATE the way he plays defense. HATE it. HATE, HATE, HATE it.
It's just him running around his own end a step behind the offense pinning guys to the wall whenever he can catch them but never recovering the puck, or if he does, unable to skate or pass it out. It's all passive reactive stuff that allows him to post gaudy hit and blocked shot totals and people confuse that for good defense. The next time he anticipates a play like Ghost does regularly and breaks it up before it even starts (and then sends the puck the other way for a scoring chance) will be the first time he's ever done it. He's been better this year and frankly he's been tolerable, but last year he was my least favorite player on a team that included Brandon freaking Manning.
Far from having some high pedestal, I think too many people have ridiculously low expectations of what an NHL player should be able to accomplish on the ice.
The Ghost comparison is really good actually. When the play is infront of Ghost, hes very good defensively, breaks up many rushes and posts great Corsi numbers because hes effective in the neutral zone. He is very much a positive player and is a credit to the flyers, hence why he plays so much.
The trouble comes when he actually has to defend for the other 47% in his own end when the puck is down low or beneath the hash marks. He often gets bullied by larger wingers with a greater stick length, and loses more board battles than he wins. He's still a plus player, but if the puck is down low with the opposition set up, hes not my first choice.
But here is the absolute kicker!!! And oh boy is it a big one. Ghost is paid 4.5 million dollars a year to play a bigger part on the team than Hagg. Hagg is paid to be a 5th/6th defenseman. Hagg is literally paid to get on the ice and ensure that he doesnt negatively affect the team, to absorb some minutes so that we can roll out rested better defenseman who can push the play. He isnt there to create offense, thats not his game at all.
People don't confuse it with good defense, we just appreciate the role that he plays. You don't roll 6 offensive defenseman for a reason. His goals arent "luck" either. Love how you can use that to discredit a player. Hagg had proper offensive chops in Junior, its still there, he just needs way more time than he gets at the pro level.
Litterally getting worked up on one of the smallest parts of the team that isnt even a negative. You should probably just aim all that angst against someone like Weise or Simmonds, who really are negatives at this point in time.