Burns: 3 Things we learned from going up 2-0 over the Devils

The Tampa Bay Lightning have never lost a playoff series after winning the opening two games, going 4-for-4.
They'll hope that stat holds up in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

For the second-straight game, the Lightning exploded offensively for five goals but had to withstand a pushback from the Devils. In Game 1, New Jersey was able to cut its deficit to 3-2 before Tampa Bay iced the victory with a marker from Alex Killorn and Nikita Kucherov's empty-netter.
In Saturday's 5-3 Game 2 victory, the Bolts scored four goals in the second period, setting a new franchise record for goals in a single playoff period, and held on for dear life down the stretch with a depleted lineup to open up a two-games-to-none lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series.
Now the series shifts to New Jersey, where the Bolts will look to continue building off the momentum they've established in Games 1 and 2.
There was a lot to like about the Lightning's play in Game 2. And there were a couple causes for concern.
We'll break down each in Three Things we learned from taking a 2-0 series lead over the Devils.

1. SPECIAL TEAMS WIN
Tampa Bay has owned the special teams battle so far in the series, the lone blip coming in Game 1 when the Devils were able to cut the Lightning lead to a single goal after converting a second period power play.
But in Game 2, the Lightning's special teams were, well, special.
Tampa Bay was successful on two of its three power plays. And the Lightning not only held New Jersey without a goal on the Devils' three attempts, but they kept the Devils from gaining any kind of momentum off of their power play.
"I think that we got out special-teamed tonight," New Jersey head coach John Hynes said following the game.
The Bolts' second period rout was sparked by their power play. With the game tied 1-1, the Lightning were gifted a power play when Ben Lovejoy played the puck over the glass from his own end for a delay of game penalty. It took the Lightning only 30 seconds to convert, Nikita Kucherov spotting Alex Killorn posting up in the low slot and feeding Killorn with a pass he was able to redirect high to the far post for the go-ahead goal.
Later in the second period with the Lightning up 4-1, Killorn again benefitted from Kucherov's exceptional vision. After having his initial one-timer from the right circle blocked, Kucherov collected the rebound and skated in close before dishing off to his left for Killorn who was able to put the puck past Devils goaltender Keith Kinkaid in a scramble.
That goal spelled the end of Kinkaid's night, who was pulled after allowing five goals on 15 shots.
"Two power-play goals there, and on plays that we knew what they were trying to do," Devils defenseman Andy Greene said. "We just have to be a little bit better there."
On the penalty kill, the Lightning scrambled to prevent open looks for the Devils and were particularly effective selling out to block shots. The kills came in big moments too. The first came with the Lightning up 4-1 and New Jersey looking to stem the momentum. The Devils couldn't, and the Lightning scored soon after. The Bolts had to kill another penalty five minutes into the third up 5-2 after Alex Killorn was called for hooking. A power-play goal there could have given the Devils life and enough time to mount a comeback.
The Bolts penalty kill handled that situation too.
A maligned unit during the regular season, the penalty kill showed signs of progress despite giving up a power-play goal in Game 1 and carried over that success for a full 60 minutes in Game 2.

2. SECOND PERIOD DOMINATION
The second period has been, by far, Tampa Bay's best frame this season.
The Lightning owned a plus-36 goal differential in the middle period this season, the best in the NHL.
After what could be considered a substandard second period for them in Game 1, the Lightning exploded in the second in Game 2, turning a tie game into a rout in a little over 13 minutes.
"In the first game I don't think we particularly had a good second period, so tonight was an emphasis put on having a better second period than we did the first game," Killorn said.
Starting with Killorn's power-play marker at 3:14 of the second period, the Lightning scored three goals in a span of 2:47 to take complete control.
Tyler Johnson followed Killorn's goal 1:22 later with his second score of the postseason, Johnson deflected Ryan McDonagh's shot from the point high over the glove of Kinkaid for a 3-1 Bolts lead. On the play, Johnson tapped his stick on the ice to alert McDonagh he was open in the slot, and McDonagh's shot/pass was perfectly placed for Johnson to redirect.
Just 1:25 after Johnson made it 3-1, Nikita Kucherov extended the Lightning lead to 4-1 when, on a rush with Steven Stamkos charging hard into the slot, Kucherov centered a puck that deflected off Devils defenseman Sami Vantanen and past Kinkaid.
Killorn added another power-play marker on a feed from Kucherov later in the period for good measure, the four goals the most the Lightning have ever scored in a period in their playoff history.
"Maybe it's adjustments, I'm not sure what it is," Brayden Point said when asked what it is about second periods that brings out the best in the Bolts. "I think it's just trying to keep playing our game and maybe it's just getting bounces in the second, who knows? We just try to play the same way in all three periods."
Whatever the reasoning, the Lightning have owned second periods this season.
That trend continued in Game 2 Saturday.

3. WAR OF ATTRITION
After scoring late in the second period, New Jersey controlled much of the action in the third period. The Devils racked up 19 shots over the final 20 minutes, more than the Lightning have ever allowed in a period in their playoff history.
That the Bolts only let in one goal in the third is a testament to the play of goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, who stopped 41-of-44 shots in a masterful performance to improve to 6-5 all-time in the postseason.
But what led to the Devils' dominance in the third period?
Well, for one, they're a good team, so of course they're going to push back down three goals going into the third. And on the flip side, the Lightning were trying to protect their lead and ended up on their heels for much of the period.
"It's the playoffs," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper explained. "People have to understand, what did New Jersey finish with, 97 points? That's a lot of points. You don't fluke your way to 97 points. They're a playoff team, and they've got a good team. There's a reason they finished ahead of eight other teams in the Eastern Conference…So there's going to be battles, there's going to be swings of momentum, but the big thing for me is we won the game. For a lot of that game, I thought we did a lot of good things."
Injuries also hampered the Lightning in the third period, the Bolts forced to play down a couple players as Ryan Callahan suffered an upper-body injury late in the second period and didn't return to the game and Dan Girardi never skated in the third period either.
The Lightning looked worn down toward the end of the game, partly from the pressure New Jersey sustained for much of the period but also as a result of playing shorthanded.
Cooper didn't have an update on Callahan or Girardi during his post-game comments.
"That was a little bit of the issue for us is we dropped down to five (defensemen) and 11 forwards," Cooper said. "It kind of changed things a little bit obviously for us."