Burns: 3 Things we learned from a road-trip ending loss

Tampa Bay's contest in Carolina Saturday played out almost exactly like a loss two nights earlier in Dallas.
In both games, the Lightning opened up a 2-0 lead.
They then gave up that lead in the second period to head into the final period down by a goal.
And after finding the game-tying goal in the third, the Bolts surrendered a late score to fall 4-3.

On Thursday, Dallas' Roope Hintz split Lightning defensemen Victor Hedman and Jan Rutta to get in alone on Andrei Vasilevskiy and net the game-winner with 1:21 remaining.
Saturday, it was Carolina's top-ranked power play that was the Lightning's downfall, Martin Necas wiring a shot from beyond the right circle with 3:53 to go on the man-advantage to send the Bolts to their second-straight defeat following a 4-3 loss in Raleigh.
Carolina closed to within a point of the Lightning atop the Central Division standings, the Bolts holding a 50-49 edge.
Tampa Bay dropped to 3-2-1 against the Hurricanes this season and saw its three-game win streak over the Canes come to an end.
Here's what we learned from a hard-to-stomach loss for the Lightning Saturday in Raleigh.

1. HEADS IN THE GAME
Following Tampa Bay's 4-3 loss at Dallas Thursday, Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said his team wasn't "mentally sharp" from the start, their 2-0 lead in the game a bit of fool's gold and the Stars taking over the game in the second and building a 3-2 lead a better indication of how the game had played out.
That wasn't the case Saturday.
Tampa Bay was a focused group when the puck dropped in Raleigh. The Lightning had jump. They were all over the Hurricanes, the puck buried in the Canes end for long stretches.
The Bolts were rewarded when Blake Coleman got a tip on Jan Rutta's right point shot, knocking it over Carolina goalie James Reimer 3:12 into the game to go up 1-0.
That lead was extended to 2-0 about two-and-a-half minutes later, Ross Colton freeing up a puck around the net Reimer thought he was going to control, the loose biscuit squirting out toward the back post for Patrick Maroon to clean up.
In a pivotal Central Division matchup, the Lightning were up 2-0 before the first media timeout.
"I thought we had a really good first period," said Maroon, who finished with a goal and an assist for his first multi-point game of the season. "We stuck on them. We played our game."
Carolina started to generate more after going down by two. The Hurricanes spent a little more time in the Lightning zone, and their forecheck started making life difficult for the Lightning trying to break out of their zone.
Still, the Bolts took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, largely because of that early blitz combined with an extremely sharp Andrei Vasilevskiy, who made several tough saves throughout the contest (36-of-40 total).
Twenty minutes in the books, the Lightning felt pretty good about their game.
"It was just a momentum shift though," Cooper said. "We had the game under control and then they came out and for two periods took it to us."

2. SECOND PERIOD SWOON
As focused as the Lightning were to open the game, the Hurricanes were even more determined to start the second period.
Tampa Bay had a number of breakdowns that led to grade-A scoring chances for Carolina, which it converted.
Former Bolt Cedric Paquette got free for a breakaway on a delayed penalty following a poor line change by the Lightning and scored to get the Canes on the board at 2:24 of the second.
A little over a minute later, Sebastian Aho converted a 3-on-1 at the back post, Nino Niederreiter having all the time and space in the world coming down the slot to lead the charge before faking a shot and delivering the puck to Aho to score it.
In the blink of an eye, a game the Lightning had control of was now a dogfight.
"We've just got to be better defensively," Maroon said. "We've got to be sharper. The most concerning thing is turning pucks over. We did such a good job in the first period and then we try to play the long game. We try to go east-west, and it fed right into their game."
The Lightning stemmed the tide for a bit, but Carolina continued to push in the second. The Hurricanes owned a 14-7 advantage in shots. The Lightning were continually on their heels and defending.
The Canes took their first lead 3-2 at 15:44 of the second on a power play after an initial shot deflected off Aho's skate in front right for Necas on the back post to slam home.
Ross Colton, who recorded an assist, was plus-three and won 6-of-9 face-offs, said Jon Cooper's message to his team at the second intermission was wake up.
"The first 15 minutes we were dominating them and had them on their heels," Colton said. "We were making their D turn, making it tough for them. And then they kind of got a fluky one on that breakaway and then we kind of got away from our game plan and sat back and was almost like a slap in the face of what was going on and then kind of got away from playing fast and playing with speed."

3. PLAYING WITH FIRE
Tampa Bay came out for the third period like it did the first, Colton working a puck to Maroon on the opening shift and Maroon delivering a puck into an area for Mathieu Joseph to skate onto and roof over Reimer 22 seconds into the final frame to level the score 3-3.
"We had good momentum," Colton said. "Everyone was back buzzing on the bench because we had a tough second period. That was exactly what we needed."
But the Lightning were victimized by penalties throughout the contest, none more so than the third period when they were whistled for three separate calls with the game tied.
Some of the calls were questionable. Some were correct. The Lightning penalty kill did tremendous work to kill off the first two to Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn.
They couldn't keep counting on that unit to come through, however, especially against a Carolina power play ranked first in the NHL at 30 percent entering Saturday's game.
"(Penalties) killed us tonight," Maroon said. "But there's a reason why we took penalties. They were better than us. A little frustration. They were on the attack the whole night."
The final five minutes was as discouraging a stretch as the Lightning have played this season. The fourth line nearly created a third goal to put the Bolts ahead late, Maroon getting free on the back post with a half open net. But as he tried to one-time home the go-ahead goal, he was high-sticked with no call.
Moments later, Andreas Borgman was sent to the box for tripping Andrei Svechnikov.
The third time was the charm for Carolina's power play. Necas, above the right circle, picked his spot and beat Vasilevskiy with a fantastic shot to put the Canes ahead for good 4-3 with 3:53 to play.
"Absolutely frustrating," Maroon said. "That's a grade-A scoring chance, and my stick comes right to my face and no call and he's right there. And then Bogey pinches, and a guy steps on his stick, gets a penalty. Listen, you can't blame officiating. They're just doing their job. Are we hard on them? Yes. Do we get frustrated at them? Yes, but that comes down to us and how we manage the game."
The Lightning got a call late. Jan Rutta was tripped by Jesper Fast with 2:25 to go. But the Bolts couldn't work the puck into the zone as the Canes stood them up in the neutral zone and wouldn't let the Lightning power play get set up. The Bolts squandered the opportunity.
And the game.
Tampa Bay finished 0-for-4 with the man-advantage. Carolina was 2-for-6.
"They scored a power-play goal, and we had a chance to score and we didn't," Cooper said. "Special teams came into play, but that's not why we lost the game. Has reffing been in the news in our League for the last little while? Yes it has. Do I have a close scrutiny over the last two games we've played how they've been officiated? I have and I'm wondering what's going on at times, I'll be honest. But do not take that as complaining because that's not complaining. We could have won the last two games 5-0 and I'd still be thinking the same thing. We didn't win tonight because we got outworked. Penalties didn't have anything to do with it, other than the fact that our power play failed us and theirs came through for them. That's the crux of it."