Burns: 3 Things we learned from a second-straight win

Tampa Bay played one of its worst periods of the season in the opening period Saturday night in Nashville and went into the first intermission ahead 1-0.
That was a good sign for what was to come for the Lightning.
The Bolts scored a goal in each period, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all 36 shots he faced for his fourth shutout of the season in a 3-0 victory over the Predators, Tampa Bay's second win in a row and cooling off a Nashville team that had won nine of its previous 10 contests entering Saturday.

The Lightning improved to 6-1-0 against Nashville with one more game remaining in the regular season series, that coming Tuesday from Bridgestone Arena.
Tampa Bay didn't have the puck much in the first period, but Yanni Gourde executed a wonderful spin-move pass to Ross Colton on a 2-on-1, and the rookie backhanded a shot five-hole through Preds goalie Pekka Rinne to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead.
Vasilevskiy then went to work, denying and frustrating the Predators and keeping them off the scoreboard while under heavy fire through the remainder of the first.
The Lightning regrouped in the intermission and got better as the game went on. Nashville owned an 18-5 advantage in shots after the first period. The Bolts outshot the Predators 29-28 over the final two periods.
By virtue of Tampa Bay's win combined with Florida's loss to Dallas and Carolina's shootout loss in Raleigh Saturday, the Lightning moved back into a tie for first place in the Central Division standings.
Here's how they did it.

1. FINDING THEIR LEGS
After Ross Colton's seventh goal of his rookie season gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 6:45 of the first, the Predators dominated the remainder of the period, putting Andrei Vasilevskiy under constant pressure throughout.
Tampa Bay seemed a step slow to pucks. The Lightning were sluggish sorting out coverage in the defensive zone. They were defending in their own end for much of the period. And when they were finally able to break the puck out, they were forced to change, which resulted in the Predators dumping the puck in deep again and continuing to go to work.
The Lightning were fortunate to get out of the opening period with a 1-0 lead.
"Well, one, we got our legs, but, yeah, we had some structural issues," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said when asked what changed from the first period to the second and third for his group. "We were playing a little bit of D zone and then we were chipping pucks out and changing. But we had to tweak a few things to limit their speed, and I thought the guys did a really good job in the second and third. And then we started getting our legs. But, Vasy was big for us in the first when we needed him. And then the guys, they stuck to the plan and it worked."
Nashville heavily outshot the Lightning in the first period. The Bolts started to pick their play up as the game progressed, however. They were able to neutralize the Predators' speed through the neutral zone. They didn't turn the puck over in their own end nearly as much. And they were able to play with the puck in the offensive zone for longer stretches to wear down the Predators, much the same way the Preds were able to do to the Bolts in the opening period.
"In the first period, I'd say that we weren't really skating much," Lightning center Yanni Gourde said. "We were maybe forcing plays a little bit. We were too far from each other, so we had a hard time breaking the puck out. After that, we kind of came back to a little bit more of our identity, play north, play fast. We skated with them. They're a very fast team over there, so we've got to skate early with them in the game. I think as the game went on, we got better."
The Bolts started to assert themselves in the second period and went up 2-0 when Erik Cernak took a shot from the high slot that deflected off of two Predators before ending up in the back of the net. And Gourde sealed the win on his empty-net goal with 46 seconds left in the contest for the 3-0 final.

2. VASILEVSKIY LOCKED IN
It really didn't matter how many shots Nashville fired at the Lightning net Saturday night because Andrei Vasilevskiy was going to save all of them.
Vasilevskiy might have delivered his finest performance of the season, making all 36 saves for his fourth shutout of the season and 25th of his career.
He had to be sharp from the very beginning. Less than a minute into the contest, Mikael Granlund had a wide-open shot in front off of an early 2-on-1, which Vasilevskiy was able to deny. He continued to frustrate the Predators throughout the contest, particularly in the opening period when they created a ton of scoring opportunities but couldn't figure out how to unlock the Lightning netminder.
"He's so good for us every single night," Gourde said. "We can trust him every single night. It's amazing what he does back there. That first period, they had close to 20 shots, and there were some Grade-As. He turned back all of them. He's so good for us every single game. So good."
Over his last seven starts, Vasilevskiy has produced his four-highest save totals of the season. He made a season-high 37 saves in a loss March 25 at Dallas. He's made 36 saves three times since.
The increased workload doesn't seem to bother Vasilevskiy. Instead, he seems to get stronger with every shot he blocks away.
Too, he forces the opposition to be a little more precise with their shot every time he makes a strong save. And that leads to shots that miss the net and can turn into an odd-man rush the other way for the Lightning.
Vasilevskiy was rightly the first star from Saturday's game, and it probably wasn't necessary to name a second or third star because the Russian netminder was everything for the Lightning against Nashville.
"It looks bad because of the shots if you're looking at those stats, but he could see them and I think that was the big thing for us," Cooper said. "I didn't like the fact we were spending so much time in our D zone. We kind of figured out what we had to do there in the second and third and it got better for us. But still, we did have breakdowns, and Vasy was there to kick them out for us. As long as we give him an opportunity to see the puck and we clear the rebounds, he can take shots all day. It just depends where they're coming from."

3. COLTON FOR CALDER
There's no way he'll win the Calder Trophy given to the NHL's top rookie because of his limited number of games played -- well, unless he scores in every single remaining regular season game - but Ross Colton has made more of an impact since being recalled from AHL Syracuse than even the most optimistic Lightning fan could have hoped.
Colton scored his seventh goal of the season less than seven minutes into the opening period to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead and allow them to play from in front for nearly the duration.
On the scoring play, Mikhail Sergachev set the puck up ahead for Yanni Gourde to start a 2-on-1 with Colton off to his left. Gourde drew the lone Nashville defender toward him, then spun around and delivered a pass right onto the tape of Colton.
The rookie knew what to do from there, making a move in tight to get Nashville goalie Pekka Rinne to open up his five-hole then slipped a nifty little backhander through the wickets for his third-straight game with a goal.
Colton has more goals through his first 15 career NHL games than any other Lightning rookie in history.
And with five goals over the last six games, he shows no signs of slowing down.
"What a finish by the guy," Gourde marveled. "He's been so good for us. He's giving us a boost every single night. We follow his lead basically, and it's fun to watch. It gets everyone going."
Colton has recorded at least one point in 10 of his 15 games. He ranks tied for eighth among NHL rookies for goals, but he's the only rookie in the top 12 for goals with less than 31 games played.
Colton has been a revelation for the Lightning since being recalled from AHL Syracuse and inserted in the lineup. And despite the imminent return of Mitchell Stephens following his conditioning assignment in Syracuse, it's impossible to take Colton out of the lineup because the rookie just continues to produce each time he steps on the ice.