1. STRONG DEFENSIVE PLAY CONTINUES
Tampa Bay entered Wednesday's game having allowed just one goal total over its last three games combined.
The Lightning didn't have quite that level of success on the defensive end against Dallas, although that was to be expected considering the Stars were in a must-win scenario with its playoff hopes on life support.
The fact the Bolts limited the Stars to just two goals on 22 shots was another positive sign as the team concentrates on keeping pucks out of its own net before the playoffs. Since April 19, the Lightning are allowing just 1.89 goals per game, tied for fourth best in the NHL behind a trio of teams in Edmonton, Ottawa and the New York Islanders that are just slightly better at 1.88 goals per game.
Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said a few weeks ago the most important thing for his team down the stretch of the regular season would be getting back to that defense-at-all-costs approach that served his team so well during the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs and carried over to the beginning of the current season.
The Lightning have responded with some of their better defensive performances of the season, which should give them confidence heading into the postseason.
"We're playing pretty decent defensively," Cooper said. "To be honest though, it's our division. Our division checks. If you're not going to do that, it's going to be trouble for you. When you're playing the same teams over and over again and they've got pretty good structure in their defensive games, you've got to be on your game in that regard. So, it's probably helped us actually."
The Lightning faced another, tight-checking, structured opponent Wednesday night in Dallas. The fact the Bolts didn't get out of their own structure to try to chase offense, even after putting up just four shots in the first period, is another positive sign this team is trending in the right direction with the playoffs almost here.
"I think that was the team that was hungry, desperate," Killorn said. "It didn't seem to be a ton of offense out there, but I don't think we gave up a ton looking back at their goals. I think we were opportunistic. I loved Cerny's goal at the end. I think that's huge for us. So pretty happy with the way we found a way to win."