Burns: 3 Things we learned from a comeback in Detroit

Even when they're not at their best, the Tampa Bay Lightning are still a tough team to overcome.
The Detroit Red Wings learned that lesson the hard way in Tuesday's series opener from Little Caesars Arena.
Tampa Bay played one of its poorest periods of the season in the second period in Detroit, a 2-1 lead entering the middle frame dissolving into a 3-2 deficit after the Red Wings outhustled and outworked the Lightning over the 20-minute frame.
But their hold on the game was fleeting.
The Lightning got back to playing their brand of hockey in the third period, tied the contest on Erik Cernak's first marker of the season and secured the win and two points in overtime when Blake Coleman capped off a two-on-one opportunity with a one-timer past Detroit goalie Thomas Greiss for the first overtime goal of his career.

With the win, the Lightning remain the best team in the NHL on point percentage. They pulled into a tie with Toronto on points. And with 38 points, the Bolts are off to their best start through 24 games than in any other season in Lightning history.
Here's three things we learned from another come-from-behind win by Tampa Bay.

1. REFUSE TO LOSE
The odds were stacked against the Lightning entering the third period down a goal, even against the last-place Red Wings.
Tampa Bay was playing the fifth game of a season-long six game road trip. The Lightning had been on the road for nine-consecutive days and were coming off a hard-fought series in Chicago, three games in four nights versus a Blackhawks team determined to prove their hot play of late was no fluke.
Detroit, meanwhile, was well-rested having not played a game in five days. The Red Wings looked like a team full of energy in the second period too, outplaying the Lightning for most of the stanza to retake the lead and momentum into the third.
Had the third period been a continuation of the second, it would have been understandable. Some nights its just too difficult to find the energy or the will to find a way out of a difficult situation.
But this Lightning team thrives in difficult situations. They showed it Sunday when they rallied from a 3-0 deficit in Chicago to score six unanswered goals in a 6-3 win to take two of three from the Blackhawks.
And they displayed their resiliency again Tuesday in finding a way to rediscover their game in the third period against a pesky Detroit team and grab the win and two points in an overtime victory.
"I think this team has really grown into that," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "I think we saw that in the playoffs last year. They've really learned how to win. Give Detroit credit, they pushed in the second, but we felt we had more in us. We're playing a team that's fairly rested, had a lot of energy, hadn't played in five days. We're at the tail end of a lengthy road trip, so we had to muster the energy and the guys did. I just really liked how they played that third period. You want to have success in this league, you've got to find ways to win, and our group has really done that."
The Lightning found their forecheck again in the third period and began to put more pressure on Detroit, leading to increased turnovers and better scoring opportunities. The Red Wings couldn't break the puck out of their own end as cleanly as they did in the middle frame. Some of the 50/50 puck battles the Lightning lost in the second period they were winning in the third.
"I don't think there was ever a doubt in our room we were going to make a push," Blake Coleman said.
The Lightning push was rewarded when Erik Cernak got free in the right circle and wristed a shot five-hole through Greiss at 9:40 of the third period to tie the game.
In overtime, Mikhail Sergachev sent a stretch pass from his own end to the opposite blue line for Tyler Johnson with Detroit in a line change. Johnson started a 2-on-1 and threaded a pass across the ice for Coleman, who delivered a one-timer into the back of the net to complete the comeback.
"Even when we're not at our best, when you're playing an opponent that is playing as well as Detroit did today, you've got to find different ways to win games," Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman said. "We did that once again today. I think that we weren't happy after two periods being down a goal and we came out and we pushed in the third and we got that goal. Then we sealed it in OT. We're a resilient group. I think I've said that word a million times, but that's what we are. We don't like losing and we do whatever it takes to try and win every game."

2. ERIK THE CONQUEROR
There was a question as to whether Erik Cernak would even be able to play in Tuesday's contest, the Lightning defenseman on the receiving end of a high, hard hit from Chicago's Connor Murphy two nights earlier and forced to leave that contest midway through with an upper-body injury.
Following the team's morning skate in Detroit, Jon Cooper hinted Cernak should be okay to play later that night.
And good thing he did.
Cernak was a difference maker in the 4-3 come-from-behind victory.
He started off his night with the second assist on Tyler Johnson's go-ahead goal in the first period, Cernak taking a puck off the right wall, ignoring the horn that went off randomly throughout the opening stanza and swinging the puck over to the point for Blake Coleman to drive onto net, the shot tipped by Johnson at the edge of the crease to give the Bolts a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.
Early in the second, Cernak, showing no regard for his own health, dropped the gloves with Detroit's Anthony Mantha and managed to deliver a couple solid blows before the refs came in to break up the fight.
And then in the third period with the Lightning trailing 3-2 and in danger of losing to the last place team in the NHL, Patrick Maroon was battling for a puck below the goal line and managed to free himself to backhand a pass toward the slot. Cernak hopped onto the puck in the right circle, and with a bit of time, picked his spot five-hole and delivered a shot into the back of the net that leveled the score 3-3 and forced overtime, Cernak completing the Gordie Howe hat trick in the city where Howe did his damage.
"He shows in all parts of the game today how important he is to our group," Hedman said. "…For him to do that and come through in the third was huge for us. Great pass by Patty as well. Thought that line with Patty and (Alex Barre-Boulet) and (Mathieu Joseph) were having a lot of energy tonight, and Cernak on the back end was a horse. He's very important to our D corps and got rewarded with a goal an assist and a fight."
Cernak nearly had a second goal moments later on a nearly identical scoring play, but his shot ricocheted off the leg of Ondrej Palat at the edge of the crease and then the right post before bouncing away.
"I thought that was going in because I had a really good view of that," Cernak said.
Cernak recorded his first goal and multi-point game of the season.
"I was feeling really good tonight, especially after last game I only played like 12 minutes, so I had so much energy," he said. "I was rested up and feeling really good. I'm happy for that, and I'm more happy for the win tonight."

3. THE SEARCH FOR A FULL 60
During his morning skate availability, Jon Cooper was asked what areas he'd like to see his team improve as the season rolls along.
There's not a lot for the Lightning head coach to nitpick.
The Bolts lead the NHL or rank in the top three for nearly every major team statistic. They paced the League for point percentage, goal differential, goals scored per game and fewest goals allowed per game entering Tuesday's contest.
Cooper acknowledged how well his team is playing currently and admitted there's not much he doesn't like. One area, though, that could use improvement, he said, was their habit of taking a few minutes off each game, and those stretches coming back to hurt his squad. It's not even a full period, the coach explained, but maybe a case where 45 minutes are really good and maybe 15 aren't up to their standard in some contests.
It happened during Sunday's game in Chicago when the Blackhawks used a stretch between the majority of the first period and the start of the second to go up 3-0 before the Lightning hit their stride and pulled away.
The second period against Detroit on Tuesday could serve as another example.
The Lightning entered the middle frame with a 2-1 lead. Typically, the second has been one of their better periods all season. But in Detroit, the Lightning were unable to match the compete level of the Red Wings and fell flat.
"We were pretty close to making it 3-1, and they end up making it 2-2, they get a little bit of life," Cooper said. "Bottom line is this is a tough league. Everybody pushes, and that was their push. They did a good job. We just weren't, we were losing our battles, we were losing our 50/50s. Not sure our compete level was where it normally is. The boys regrouped in the third, and they did what they needed to do to get back into it. Our compete level was a lot higher in the third than it was in the second."
The Lightning were outscored 2-0 in the second, forcing them to play from behind going into the third. Patrik Nemeth blasted a shot from distance that Andrei Vasilevskiy never saw because he was screened in front by Filip Zadina to tie the game 2-2. The Red Wings went back into the lead a couple minutes later when Dylan Larkin got an open look from the right circle and was accurate with his shot.
"We weren't happy with the way we were playing in the first two periods," Hedman said. "We had a lot of power plays in the first and kind of got us going, but then I think they were the better team in the second and we were kind of on our heels. We only had six shots and that's one of those standards that just wasn't good enough on our part."
As we've learned throughout this season and particularly of late, the Lightning are never out of a game, no matter how large the deficit or the circumstances in their path.
"We're finding different ways to win," Hedman said. "You always like to have the lead as much as you can but if you're playing from behind it's a good sign that we're never out of it and we're always trying to mount a comeback."