Burns: 3 Things we learned from a loss in the round robin finale

Tampa Bay lost for the first time in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, falling 4-1 to the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday night at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena in the round robin finale for both teams.

The Flyers secured the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference by virtue of the victory.

The Lightning will be the No. 2 seed in the East and play the winner of Sunday's Game 5 between Toronto and Columbus in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

Most concerning from Saturday's contest, however, was the loss of Norris Trophy finalist Victor Hedman, who got his feet tangled underneath him dealing with a rush from Tyler Pitlick in the first period and was unable to finish the game.

The Bolts blueline was already banged up heading into the Philly game as Jan Rutta was unavailable and deemed "unfit to play" by Lightning head coach Jon Cooper following the defeat.

The loss of Hedman is a major blow for the Lightning, however, and one that could have a serious impact on their Stanley Cup chances.

Here's what we learned from a difficult night for the Lightning.

1. THE WORST POSSIBLE SCENARIO
The image of Victor Hedman smashing his stick against the arena railing and breaking it in frustration before limping down the tunnel is one that will haunt Lightning fans.

For how long will depend on the extent of Hedman's injury.

Jon Cooper didn't have an update on his star defenseman after the game. But it's clear the Lightning need him on the ice if they wish to go on an extended run this postseason.

Andrei Vasilevskiy might be the most indispensable player in the Lightning lineup, but Hedman is 1A.

Scoring, defending, power play, penalty kill, leadership: Hedman does it all and then some for the Lightning. There's a reason he's been named a Norris Trophy finalist each of the last four seasons.

"You hate to see any of your teammates have to leave a game," Ryan McDonagh said. "Obviously we know the significance and role that Heddy plays on our team. We don't really know the status right now, how he's feeling and what not. But we've got to continue on here and continue as a group and have that kind of next-man-up mentality until he gets back."

Following the defeat Cooper said it wasn't just Hedman who was lost but the Bolts' top pair as Rutta was "unfit to play" and unavailable. The Lightning brought in Zach Bogosian at the trade deadline, and he's performed well as a right-side partner for Hedman. With Braydon Coburn and Luke Schenn sitting on the bench, the Lightning are going to need their depth to plug the hole until Hedman is able to come back, whenever that may be.

"The guys who are coming into the lineup, we have total faith in them," Kevin Shattenkirk said. "This is what happens in the playoffs. You have to roll with the punches. It's a tough job to fill, but we have to do it collectively. It's not just going to be one person coming in and trying to emulate Victor Hedman. I think we all have to do it as a group. We're all going to be asked to do a little bit more and we're certainly ready for that."

The pause allowed a number of Lightning skaters to get healthy, and the Bolts seemed to be in pretty good shape when they broke training camp, sans the lingering lower-body injury to captain Steven Stamkos.

But now the Lightning are losing major pieces of their team right as the elimination round is set to begin, and the depth they've accumulated will be tested as they search for a way to overcome these absences.

"We've dealt with injuries before," Cooper said. "Our captain's out. He's been out for a long time, and it's a little frustrating because it feels like we're going in the right direction and to lose some of the star power we have. But that's why you pick up guys at the deadline and you add depth to your team. You've got to circle the wagons and now prepare for Columbus or Toronto."

2. WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN
Tampa Bay found themselves trailing 2-0 after 20 minutes of play - the first time it has trailed in the 2020 Playoffs - and was outshot 20-6 in the first period.

The 20 shots against were tied for the most the Lightning have allowed in a playoff period in franchise history (also: 20 shots allowed in the third period of 2018 Game 3 Eastern Conference Quarterfinal at New Jersey, a 5-2 loss).

If a couple plays in the first five or six minutes go their way, however, the period could have had a much different outcome for the Bolts.

Early in the contest, Anthony Cirelli carried the puck into the zone and drew the attention of three Flyers his way. Cirelli spotted Nikita Kucherov skating unchecked toward the top of the circles and threaded a pass into the middle of the ice for him. Kucherov had a clear look at the goal. His shot came off the crossbar though and skipped away from danger, the Flyers escaping.

A couple minutes later, Kucherov stole a puck at his own blue line and outraced a couple Flyers to get in alone on Philly goalie Carter Hart for a breakaway. The puck bobbled on Kucherov a bit on his setup, but he controlled it in time and tried to beat Hart five-hole, the young goalie staying composed in goal and coming up with a huge stop, one that seemed to buoy his confidence for the remainder of the contest.

If either of those shots go in for Kucherov, the first period would have been a much different story. Those shots did go in for the Lightning in their first two round robin games, and they were able to take control of both games thanks to their early lead.

"The first five or six minutes, had some good looks, hit the post," McDonagh said. "Got to give the Flyers credit, they played a pretty simple game and really play as a team. That's one thing for us to look at moving forward is how well they support each other, and they play pretty simple too. They don't force things. That allowed them to get back into it and find their groove. We definitely made some errors, lost some pucks and kind of lost our structure. But at the end of the day, I think we can take a lesson of how simple and how competitive they worked in the beginning half of that game and allowed them to get the lead."

The injury to Hedman didn't help. The Lightning seemed discombobulated, both from their star defenseman's absence and their missed opportunities early. Philly seized on the Bolts' uneven play and were in complete control once they got over those opening hiccups.

3. THE RESPONSE YOU WANT TO SEE
Joel Farabee's goal at 14:22 of the second period was a heartbreaker for the Lightning.

Tampa Bay cut the deficit in half a little over five minutes into the middle frame on the power play when Brayden Point rimmed a puck down low to Alex Killorn, and Killorn spotted a wide-open Tyler Johnson in the slot for Johnson to one-time home for his second goal in as many games.

The Bolts dug in after getting on the board and played more like the team that opened the round robin with victories over Washington and Boston. They seemed to have put the disastrous opening period them.

Farabee's goal, however, which came off a beauty of a pass by Shayne Gostisbehere along the wall to the opposite circle was a momentum killer for the Bolts.

Still, the Lightning didn't pack it in. The third period was maybe their best of the round robin considering they outshot the Flyers 11-4 and were in possession of the puck in the Flyers end for what seemed like all 20 minutes of the period.

"Our group, we've got a lot of pride," McDonagh said. "There's no quit in our group, and we all know that. We're trying to get our game to as best where it can be going in to where it counts here. It was good for us to kind of have a pushback there. Didn't find the net but had a lot of good examples and have to continue to play with that same structure and keep that positivity here as we move forward."

For as much as the Lightning pushed back in the third period, the Flyers were equally good getting in shooting lanes, blocking shots, keeping the front of Carter Hart's net clear and preventing the Bolts from getting wide-open looks from good scoring areas.

Hart was sensational too, spurred by the confidence of making a couple tough saves early.

"We had 24 shots and 24 shots blocked," Cooper said. "When you get 60-plus shot attempts and hold the other team to much less than that, we've got to start getting pucks to the net. We can grow from this."

Tampa Bay's confidence certainly took a hit following the loss to the Flyers. And losing Hedman will have a ripple effect throughout the lineup.

But if there's anything they can take from Saturday's defeat, it was how they responded in the third period when things weren't going their way. That effort, more than anything, might be their most valuable takeaway from the three round robin games.