Burns: 3 Things we learned from blanking Dallas

Don't look now, but with the playoffs fast approaching, the Tampa Bay Lightning have won four games in a row.
The Lightning continued to elevate their game of late, blanking the Dallas Stars 3-0 Thursday at AMALIE Arena behind a 20-save effort by Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Ondrej Palat stole a puck in the defensive zone and buried his wide-open shot from the slot in the first period for the only goal the Lightning would need. Palat extended his point streak to seven games, matching a Lightning season long and one game from tying his career long.
Blake Coleman was hauled down on a shorthanded breakaway and converted the first penalty shot of his career midway through the third period to give the Lightning a little breathing room. And Brayden Point scored on an empty Dallas net with 1:21 to go to cap the Bolts' fourth-straight win and fifth over the last six games.
The Lightning saw a dip in their play late in March and continuing into April, the low point a 7-2 loss at Nashville April 13. But let's try to keep things in perspective. Tampa Bay owns a .700 point percentage currently. If the season ended today, that would rank second best all-time in franchise history, behind only the record-setting season in 2018-19 when they won 62 games and finished with a .780 point percentage.
All of which means, this team is pretty good.
They reminded us of that again Thursday against Dallas.

1. CHAMPIONSHIP HOCKEY
The Lightning liked the way they played the first period, thought they got away from their game in the second, particularly in the later half of the period, then re-established themselves in the third to close out the win in impressive fashion.
Blake Coleman said it was "championship hockey" the Lightning played in the third period when they limited a Stars team trailing 1-0 entering the final frame to only two shots on goal for the period.
"Guys were committed to blocking shots," Coleman said. "Guys were paying the price physically, smart F3s, up and down the board guys were doing their jobs. That's the kind of hockey we need going into the playoffs. I think we've had a little bit of defensive lapses and this was a good step in the right direction. I think we keep playing that way we're going to be a really hard team to beat."
The Lightning were facing a desperate Dallas team Thursday. The Stars need every win and point over their final seven games of the regular to pass Nashville and slip into the fourth and final playoff spot in the Central Division.
The Bolts relished the opportunity to square off against a team they know would be playing at a high level. It would give themselves a chance to raise their game to get ready for the playoffs, which they clinched two nights earlier in Chicago.
"It's going to bring out the best in us," Coleman said. "Those are the kind of games you want to be playing going into the playoffs. You want to be playing those teams that are really scratching and clawing because that's what every game's going to be in the postseason and that's what we need to start preparing for."
The Lightning matched that effort from Dallas throughout.
And then surpassed it in a convincing third.
"It's how you want to shut down games," Cooper said.

2. BIG NIGHT FOR THE BIG CAT
Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy had himself quite the game Thursday versus Dallas.
Vasilevskiy made 20 saves on 20 shots to record his fifth shutout of the season, tied with Colorado's Philipp Grubauer, Vegas' Marc-Andre Fleury and the New York Islanders' Semyon Varlamov for most this season in the NHL.
Vasilevskiy now has 26 shutouts for his career, by far the most in Lightning franchise history.
In the third period, Vasilevskiy provided the lone assist on Brayden Point's empty-net goal, giving him four assists this season, tied for the most in a single season in Tampa Bay history.
And he recorded his 30th win of the season, the fourth-straight season he's collected at least 30 wins. No other netminder in Lightning history has recorded more 30-win seasons than Vasilevskiy. He entered this season tied with Ben Bishop with three.
"I think he's just so much more aware of what he needs to do to be at the top level even more, if that's even possible," Ryan McDonagh said. "He's been so consistent this year. He's so mentally tough. He doesn't let bad bounces affect him and rile him up. He just knows what he needs to do in practice every day…He does a great job taking care of himself, and I think he understands what he needs to do to get sharp and you can see the results really paying off. He's playing at an unbelievably-high level."
Vasilevskiy was at his best in the second period when Tampa Bay's play dipped and the Stars created more scoring opportunities, generating 12 shots to the Bolts' two. Vasilevskiy never seemed in danger, though, as he calmly swatted aside every Dallas shot.
For his effort, he was named the First Star of the game.
"You need him to bail you out when things don't go the way you kind of planned," Cooper said. "It was good to see him get in his rhythm. You could see he was tracking pucks. He was on it. And then otherwise, guys were, there were some big blocks too. Like guys were sacrificing tonight, and it was nice to see."

3. A RARE PENALTY SHOT
Blake Coleman effectively sealed the win Thursday over Dallas with his penalty shot goal midway through the third period.
On a penalty kill, Coleman stole the puck in the neutral zone and raced in alone on goal for a shorthanded breakaway. He was hauled down from behind, and immediately the official pointed to the spot awarding a penalty shot.
"I was pretty gassed even before I stripped that puck at center, so it took everything I had just to get that breakaway," a smiling Coleman admitted. "I just wanted to get a good chance out of it. Felt like I was taken down, but you never know with those things where the guy was or things like that. I think looking over at the ref kind of hoping, but, honestly, I was so tired I was I guess it could go either way. Once he pointed, I tried to take a minute to regain myself."
Coleman swung out wide to the right as he made his approach then snapped a quick shot past the glove of Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger to convert.
"I have a couple moves I like to do, and that's one of them," he said. "The ice was a little bouncy tonight and sometimes you've just got to keep it simple and shoot the puck."
Coleman's now 1-for-1 for penalty shots. The attempt was the first of his five-year NHL career.
It was also the first successful conversion for the Lightning since Cory Conacher scored on a penalty shot February 3, 2018 at Vancouver. Coleman scored the 14th penalty shot goal in Tampa Bay history.
It came in a big moment too with the Lightning holding on to a 1-0 lead. Coleman's goal effectively ended any doubt as to the game's outcome, particularly with how well Vasilevskiy was playing and how well the team was defending in front of him in the third.
"Huge goal for us, and he deserved it," Cooper said. "They did a great job on the penalty kill. (Dallas) didn't have a lot of power plays, but they held them without a shot and he was a big part of that."