NEW YORK -- The Tampa Bay Lightning looked overmatched and out of place on the big stage of the Eastern Conference Final in Game 1 on Saturday. They jumped on Tyler Johnson's diminutive shoulders in Game 2 on Monday and looked like they could be good enough to win the Stanley Cup in a 6-2 victory against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

"In Game 1, we participated in the hockey game," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said, "and in Game 2 we came to win a hockey game. That was the difference."

Tyler Johnson

Center - TBL

GOALS: 11 | ASST: 5 | PTS: 16
SOG: 43 | +/-: 4

He got it.

This wasn't the Lightning at their absolute best; it was the Lightning at their most opportunistic. It was yet another sign in a series of them that the Lightning know how to learn from their mistakes. They were more physical, more determined. They played a harder game.

It was proof that they belong here after showing no signs of being ready for the conference final in Game 1.

"The mindset was a little different for whatever reason," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. "Obviously, we needed to make an adjustment from the first game. We weren't there mentally. Physically, we didn't compete. We have the skill and the speed to do anything if we're willing to battle and compete. We did that [Monday]. At times it wasn't pretty. We bent, we didn't break. We took advantage of our opportunities."

That it was Johnson who carried the Lightning with the first playoff hat trick in franchise history is not a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention. His line, with Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov, has been doing it all season, particularly during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, when they have 21 of the Lightning's 41 goals.

Johnson has 11 goals; nobody else in the NHL has more than seven. Johnson is generously listed at 5-foot-8. He was never drafted.

"[Johnson] in particular, that line in particular, has been huge for us all year," Stamkos said. "I think that's the best line I've seen in a long time with all three guys being able to contribute and just have that chemistry. Usually you see a lot of pairs in the NHL. To have three guys on a line, it's pretty special."

That it was Johnson also made it eerily reminiscent of what Lightning fans should remember from the player he has essentially replaced in Tampa; a player who is now playing -- and struggling -- on the other side of this series.

Martin St. Louis, also generously listed at 5-foot-8 and who made his way in the NHL after never being drafted, had so many big moments in a Lightning uniform from the start of the 2000-01 season until March 5, 2014, when he was traded to the Rangers. He scored 24 points in 23 games to lead the Lightning to the Stanley Cup championship in 2004. He is the franchise leader with 33 goals and 68 points in the playoffs.

But when St. Louis reportedly asked to be traded to the Rangers last year, part of the reason general manager Steve Yzerman obliged had to be because he knew Johnson was the Lightning's next great St. Louis.

How right he was.

As much as Stamkos is the captain and leader of the Lightning in the way Vincent Lecavalier was for the Lightning during the last decade, Johnson is the heart and soul of the team the way St. Louis used to be.

"I've said this before, you walk into that kid's house and you look at the trophy mantle and all you see is trophies of where this kid has won -- Memorial Cup, Calder Cup, World Juniors," Cooper said. "Winning follows that kid. You're a special player for that to happen. Tyler Johnson is not the only one this happens to, but to do it in the greatest league in the world on the biggest stage, in the world's most famous arena, it's pretty impressive. It doesn't get any bigger than that. I don't know. I can't say enough."

But Johnson was only a story within the bigger story Monday. The Lightning as a team needed a big response after their lifeless Game 1 performance. They needed to show the Rangers they won't be a pushover, that they're here to compete, to win.

Johnson gave the Lightning the oomph for their big effort, starting with his shorthanded goal that was officially a 4-on-5 goal but really was scored 3-on-5 because it came just as the door to the penalty box was swinging open to let Brian Boyle back onto the ice.

The Lightning had a poor start and were in danger of falling into a hole early when Johnson busted loose on a shorthanded breakaway after a turnover by St. Louis.

When the Rangers pushed back with Chris Kreider's power-play goal, Johnson responded with a 4-on-3 power-play goal to put the Lightning up 2-1 at 11:15 of the first period. He completed his hat trick 8:17 into the second period with an even-strength goal that made it 3-1.

His teammates took over from there, outscoring the Rangers 3-0 in the third period after goalie Ben Bishop made back-to-back saves on Rick Nash and Jesper Fast during a Lightning power play, back-to-back saves that could easily be labeled the turning point of the game.

Tampa Bay was ahead 3-2 at the time.

"We can talk about what [Johnson] did, but it wasn't just him, it was everybody else who picked it up behind him," Cooper said. "And that's why we won tonight."

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