Burns: 3 Things we learned from a rout and regained series lead

You knew the Tampa Bay Lightning were going to have a response after they played one of their worst periods of the season in the second period of Game 4 at the New York Islanders in a 3-2 loss.
But an 8-0 response? An absolute beatdown of a proud Islanders team?
I don't think anybody saw that coming.

"No one expected an 8-0 game, let's be honest there," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said following the rout. "But you earn everything you get."
The Lightning got just about everything they could in Game 5.
Stamkos scored 45 seconds in, and the Lightning were never in danger the rest of the way.
The lead was 3-0 by the end of the first period. It was 6-0 following the second. The third was just an exercise in making sure nobody got hurt and the Islanders didn't take any liberties on Lightning players.
Nikita Kucherov had a three-point night, as did Stamkos and Alex Killorn. Stamkos and Killorn each netted two goals.
Brayden Point scored a goal for his eighth-straight game with a marker, Point becoming only the second player in NHL history to record a goal streak of eight games or more and within two games of the longest, Reggie Leach's 10-game goal run in 1976.
Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all 21 shots he faced for his fourth career playoff shutout and third of the 2021 Playoffs.
And most importantly, the Lightning grabbed a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Semifinal with a chance to close out the Islanders and advance to the Cup Final for the second time in the last two seasons and the fourth time in franchise history in Game 6 Wednesday.
Tampa Bay's eight goals tied a playoff high. The eight-goal margin of victory was their largest ever in the postseason.
But when Game 6 starts Wednesday, the score will once again be 0-0.
"Love the effort, but it's one win," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "Regardless of what you win by, it's the win that matters, not by how much. It's a clean slate in two nights and we've got to get after it again."

1. STAMMER STRIKES EARLY
The Lightning liked their response in the third period of Game 4, nearly erasing a three-goal deficit and coming within a Ryan Pulock game-saving save at the buzzer of tying the game and potentially winning it in overtime.
They hoped that their play in that period would carry over into Game 5 at AMALIE Arena.
Safe to say, it did.
The Lightning wasted little time getting on the board, Steven Stamkos capitalizing when Alex Killorn's shot from the slot was blocked and caromed right to the Bolts captain at the side of the net for him to slam in.
Just 45 seconds into Game 5, the Lightning were already leading 1-0 and the rout was on, although they didn't know it yet at the time.
"Going into the third period of last game, I think that's kind of where the mentality started," said Stamkos, who finished as the game's First Star and passed Martin St. Louis on the Bolts' all-time playoff scoring list to move to third place. "We didn't know if we were going to come back. We almost did in Game 4, but I really liked the way we played and it carried over. We gained some confidence in that period, and that's the way series go sometimes. You have to create your own momentum sometimes, and I thought we did that. Coming back in front of our fans certainly helped, but we earned everything we got today because we played the right way. We were winning battles. We weren't turning the puck over. We had a game plan. We stuck to it."
The Islanders surged for about six minutes after Stamkos' goal, but they never really created any dangerous scoring chances off of those surges.
That would be nearly the last time in the game the Islanders made any kind of noise.
Yanni Gourde led a 2-on-1 with Barclay Goodrow, held the puck until Isles defenseman Andy Greene went down to the ice then banked a pass off of Greene and into the net to make it 2-0 Lightning at 11:04 of the second.
Alex Killorn pushed the lead to 3-0 at 15:27 when he got a tip at the edge of the crease on David Savard's shot from the top of the right circle.
The Bolts did to the Islanders in the first period of Game 5 what the Islanders did to the Bolts in the second period of Game 4.
The problem for New York, though, they never had the response the Lightning had to create momentum heading into the next game. The Lightning continued to pour it on after dominating the first.
"We played really well in all zones," Killorn said. "I really liked the way we broke the puck out. Guys were skating. We were winning battles. We were winning battles to forecheck. The first one kind of a fortunate bounce for us, but I think when you work hard and do the right things, those bounces kind of come your way. Really happy with the way the team played throughout the whole game. It was a good team effort."

2. THE CLINCHING GOAL
With a 3-0 lead going into the second period, you expected the Islanders to regroup at the break and push back.
If the Isles got an early goal in the second, it could have swung momentum back in their favor and got them back into the game. They almost had it too. The Lightning got caught in a bad line change early in the second, which produced a 2-on-0 that Vasilevskiy had to make a Grade-A save to keep out, the Isles missing on another Grade-A opportunity on the rebound. Seconds later, Vasilevskiy was again under heavy fire and had to make two more unreal saves to prevent the Islanders from getting on the board.
With the Islanders mounting their most dangerous, and what would turn out to be last, push of the game, the critical goal was Tampa Bay's fourth goal, the one that essentially broke the Islanders' back.
Steven Stamkos scored it on a power play, one of four power plays the Lightning got in the second period as the Islanders started to unravel. At 5:42, Stamkos hammered a patented one-timer from the left circle for his second goal of the game and a 4-0 Lightning lead.
"He had the (goal) earlier, and I think he was feeling it," Brayden Point said. "When he's feeling it, good things happen. We've seen that shot on our team a whole bunch. He's got one of the best releases in the league. He puts pucks in the mail slot sometimes. That's a big shot for us, and a big time in the game for him to get his second. He was on tonight."
That was the game. There was no way the Islanders were going to overcome a four-goal deficit, especially the way the Lightning were on it from the start.
Coming into Game 5, there were questions surrounding Stamkos and his line and whether they were producing enough 5-on-5 to be a difference-maker in the series. They heard those doubts and buried them Monday night, the trio combining for four goals and seven points to pace the rout.
Stamkos and Killorn scored their first goals of the Semifinal and Cirelli recorded his first point of the series.
"We talked about it, our line internally, we wanted to be better, and we certainly were tonight," Stamkos said. "It was great to see. Anytime something that good happens early in a game, it's always a great feeling as a player. But more importantly, it was a spark and a big jump for our team. It was great to see us build off that."

3. POWER PLAY FINISHES THE ROUT
Tampa Bay's power play was a difference maker in series victories over Florida in the First Round and Carolina in the Second Round.
But it had yet to have that same impact in the Semifinal series against the Islanders. Part of that is due to the Islanders being one of the least penalized teams this postseason. The Lightning weren't going to get many power-play opportunities. There were times earlier in the series, however, where the Lightning had a chance to grab a goal or momentum on a rare power-play chance and couldn't do it.
In Game 5, the power play was once back to its familiar lethal self.
Stamkos' power-play goal before the first media timeout in the second period was the one that effectively iced the game. And then the Lightning left no doubt with two more power-play markers, giving them three for the game, the third time this postseason they've scored three power-play goals in a single contest.
Alex Killorn added a second power-play tally at 17:53 of the middle frame on a tip at the net off of Victor Hedman's blast from the point to push the advantage to 6-0.
After Mathew Barzal dangerously cross-checked Jan Rutta in the face after the horn at the end of the second period, Barzal getting a five-minute major and a game misconduct penalty as a result, the Lightning continued to pour it on during the ensuing power play in the third.
Brayden Point pushed his goal streak to an incredible eight games at 1:59 of the third to put a touchdown on the board for the Bolts, their lead growing to 7-0.
"To be completely honest, I don't think there was a lot of adjustment," Stamkos said. "I just think it's been a pretty tight series in terms of the amount of power plays we've gotten. It certainly was one (power play) or whatever it was last game. You don't necessarily get the feels and touches than when you get multiple power plays, but our group, that's been a big part of our group is our special teams this year, whether it's been the power play or the penalty kill, that's a big factor at this time of the year. We got a couple early, and we were able to cash in. It's nice. They're really good on the penalty kill, but our group has just gained confidence as the playoffs have gone on and it was nice to get a couple looks tonight."
The Lightning have scored at least one power-play goal in every home game this postseason, netting 15 combined power-play goals over eight games at AMALIE Arena. For the playoffs, the Bolts are connecting on 39.2 percent of their power-play opportunities.
Hopefully, that unit can continue to produce in Game 6 and help the Lightning close out the series in what could be the final game at the Nassau Coliseum if the Bolts do advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
"Now we're going to get an extremely desperate team," Stamkos said. "They're a proud group over there. We know their rink's going to be rocking. It's going to be a great atmosphere, but I think that's where our heads are at. We're focusing on the next game. Whether it's 1-0 or 8-0, it's a win, and that's all that matters come playoff time."