Burns: 3 things we learned from shutting out the Blues

Tampa Bay's game in St. Louis, billed as the best in the East versus the best in the West, lost a bit of its luster when Blues' second-leading scorer Jaden Schwartz and top defenseman Alex Pietrangelo were placed on injured reserve prior to the game.
Still, the Lightning hadn't won in St. Louis since the 2009-10 season, going 0-4-1 since. And the Bolts and the Blues were the top teams in the NHL entering Tuesday's matchup.
The Lightning took care of business, leaning on Andrei Vasilevskiy, rapidly emerging as perhaps the best goalie in the NHL, for a 3-0 victory to establish supremacy atop the League standings.

Vasilevskiy recorded all 32 saves to earn his third shutout of the season and seventh of his career.
The Bolts recorded their 22nd win and 46th point on the season.
In Three Things we learned from shutting out St. Louis, we'll look at the main keys that led to another benchmark victory for a Lightning team quickly piling up passing grades on every test thrown its way.

Video: TBL@STL: Vasilevskiy makes superb stop off odd bounce1. THE BIG CAT
Andrei Vasilevskiy stands 6-foot-3 and exhibits the reflexes of a feline ready to pounce at a moment's notice.
He's also very fond of cats. In past interviews, he's talked about how if he wasn't an NHL goaltender, he'd be a veterinarian.
Perhaps it's no surprise then Vasilevskiy's teammates have started dubbing him the Big Cat.
On Tuesday, the Big Cat got his paws on everything sent his way in a dominating performance for his third shutout, setting a new career high for shutouts in a season just 25 starts in.
"He was on the puck. He was on his game," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "The guys call him Big Cat for a reason. He had reflexes like a cat out there."
At times, particularly in the second period when the puck spent most of the time in the Bolts' defensive zone, Vasilevskiy was the only reason the Lightning were able to hold onto their lead.
One play in the third period encapsulated Vasilevskiy's night. With St. Louis pulling its goalie for the extra attacker down 2-0, a shot from the right circle was blocked in front by Dan Girardi but right into the path of Vladimir Tarasenko in the opposite side. Tarasenko had a great look at a rebound one-timer, but Vasilevskiy slid over in time to swat the shot out of the air with his stick.
No matter what St. Louis threw at Vasilevskiy, the 23-year-old goalie had an answer.
Lightning fans really shouldn't be surprised by Vasilevskiy's heroics anymore. He's made so many unbelievable plays through his first 25 starts that they're almost becoming routine.
"He's big for us every night," Lightning forward Tyler Johnson said following the game. "He's been a guy that you can rely on night after night. You don't like doing that, but he's very talented. He can make those big saves for us and that's the reason why you win games."

2. SURVIVING THE SECOND
The physically-imposing Blues asserted their will in the second period.
With Tampa Bay defenseman forced to make the long change, the Blues were able to use their big bodies to lean on the Lightning and fatigue them, particularly the blueliners who were caught out for some extremely long shifts.
As a result, St. Louis was able to open up the Lightning at times in the second period when they hadn't been able to in the first. The Blues had three separate two-on-one odd-man breaks with all-world scorer Tarasenko as one of the pair each time.
The Lightning survived all three with some heady defensive plays and a little bit of luck.
On the first, Tarasenko led the rush and sent a cross-ice pass to Vladimir Sobotka, but Anton Stralman got in the passing lane and was able to tip just enough of the puck with his back skate to send it flying over Sobotka's stick.
On the second, Tarasenko was on the back post but sprayed his shot surprisingly wide for a scorer of his caliber, the puck likely hopping off his stick at the last second and preventing a clean shot.
On the third, a cross-ice pass bound for Tarasenko on the back post was knocked out of his reach by a lunging Jake Dotchin and cleared from danger by the right leg of Vasilevskiy.
"The second (period) left a little bit to be desired there," Johnson admitted.
"Our goalie had to bail us out," Cooper added.
St. Louis was the better team in the second period.
But the Lightning made enough plays and their goalie made enough saves to keep the Blues off the board through two periods.
And that had to be incredibly frustrating for the Blues.
Video: TBL@STL: Kucherov goes top shelf to extend the lead3. KUCHEROV WITH THE DAGGER
With St. Louis reaching a level of desperation as the third period clock ticked toward zero and the score still 1-0, the Lightning needed someone other than Vasilevskiy to step up and provide some breathing room.
Nikita Kucherov was that man, netting his 21st goal of the season with 6:23 remaining to score the goal that would, in effect, ice the victory for the Bolts.
On the play, Mikhail Sergachev carried the puck into the zone and centered a puck along the blue line and into the path of Kucherov skating toward net.
Kucherov spotted a sliver of an opening in a St. Louis defense that had been stout all night, took the open space by skating into the high slot, and, using the screen of Brayden Schenn, sniped a shot bar down over the blocker of Blues goalie Jake Allen for a 2-0 Lightning lead.
It was a world-class goal from a world-class talent.
And it came at a crucial moment with the Lightning seemingly holding on for dear life.
Backed by Kucherov's dagger, Tampa Bay ended a five-game losing skid in St. Louis and swept a multi-game season series from the Blues for the first time in franchise history.
"I'll be honest, this is my fifth year with the team, and I don't think I remember winning in this building," Cooper said. "It was finally nice to win here. I coached junior here. We had a lot of success in junior but just hadn't had it in the NHL coming to this building. So, definitely nice, especially a team that's got the most points in the Western Conference.
"It's a big confidence builder for us."