2. THE WRONG APPROACH
When the Lightning came out for the second period up 3-0, their focus should have been on tightening up defensively and making sure Columbus got nothing the rest of the way.
Instead, they tried to go for the jugular, aiming for four, five, six or more goals to really send a message to Columbus.
And it nearly worked.
The Lightning had about a minute-and-a-half on the power play to start the second after a late first period penalty on David Savard for interference. The Bolts had two really good chances to add to their lead, both coming off the stick of Nikita Kucherov.
On the first, Stamkos and Kucherov were all alone down low, and Stamkos slipped a pass across the crease to a wide-open Kucherov on the back post, Bobrovsky sliding over to make a tremendous glove robbery on what looked like a sure goal.
Moments later, Kucherov struck iron with a well-placed shot from the right circle.
The ease with which the Lightning scored in the first period, however, may have come back to bite them. The Bolts got too loose with the puckas the second period progressed and turned it over with regularity, Columbus hemming the Lightning into their own zone for long stretches and forcing the Bolts to defend more as a result.
And the Lightning kept looking for the knockout blow rather than focusing on managing the puck well, which led to the Blue Jackets' first goal. Ryan McDonagh carried the puck into the zone and down toward the goal line before spotting Erik Cernak skating open into the slot. McDonagh's pass was ill-advised, however, having to travel through too many bodies and sticks to reach its intended target. Predictably, the pass was tipped out of Cernak's reach, sparking a breakaway the other direction for Nick Foligno to bury.
"We gave them some life with turnovers," Stamkos said.
With a foothold in the game now, Columbus went to work imposing its will, and suddenly what was a pretty comfortable game for the Lightning through the first 25 minutes or so became an increasingly difficult proposition.
"We played with a ton of emotion in the first period, the building was jumping and clearly had them on their heels and you build that lead, which is what you want to do," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "I think our mentality was we wanted to outscore them tonight instead of build the lead and shut them down. And when you have the mentality of you want to outscore teams, these are things that can happen."