Burns: 3 Things we learned from snatching the series lead

For the first time in the Eastern Conference Final, the home team earned a victory.
And as a result, the Tampa Bay Lightning have their first lead in the series and are one win away from returning to the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in franchise history.
The Lightning benefitted from a pair of quick goals to begin the first and second periods and build a 3-0 lead, then held on for a 3-2 victory behind another strong performance by netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy, who stopped 28-of-30 pucks and has allowed just two goals in each of his last three starts.

The Bolts have now won three straight in the Conference Final and are up 3-2 in the series after starting in a 0-2 hole.
The Lightning will look to close out the Capitals Monday in Game 6 in Washington D.C., where the Bolts have never lost in the postseason.
Can they finish the job?
If the following Three Things continue into Game 6, the Lightning stand a pretty good chance.

1. THE NEW SCORING LINE?
The trio of Cedric Paquette, Chris Kunitz and Ryan Callahan isn't exactly known for their scoring prowess. Heck, entering Game 5, Paquette and Callahan had just one point apiece and Chris Kunitz was the lone Lightning regular yet to score this postseason.
That line isn't expected to score. Their job is to set a tone with their physicality, provide grit and toughness and, in this series anyway, shut down Washington's top scoring line of Evgeny Kuznetsov, Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson.
But in Game 5, the fourth line provided scoring punch, giving the Lightning a jolt of energy on the first shift of the first and second periods and allowing the Bolts to play nearly the entire game with the lead.
Off the opening face-off, Callahan forced a turnover in the neutral zone and chopped the puck into the Capitals zone, then hustled to beat Dmitry Orlov to the loose puck. Knowing that Paquette was wide-open coming down the slot, Callahan stretched his stick out as far as he could with his left hand to hook the puck around Orlov and get it in a prime position to Paquette, who buried the chance past Washington netminder Braden Holtby just :19 seconds into the game, sending AMALIE Arena into delirium.
"The roof nearly came off when we scored that first goal," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "You could see our team got a little taller on the bench."
After the Lightning took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, the Paquette line again victimized the Capitals for an early goal to start a period, this time the second, for what would ultimately prove to be the game-winner.
Anton Stralman made a strong move down the left wing to blow past Matt Niskanen and get open in front of the crease. Stralman's initial shot was saved by Holtby but caromed up in the air for Callahan, crashing the net in search of the rebound, to body into the goal.
After a review determined Callahan didn't bat the puck in with his hand, the Lightning had a 3-0 lead and were well on their way to winning Game 5.
The Lightning have gotten contributions up and down the lineup through these playoffs, but the fourth line hasn't really been a part of the offense.
Until Game 5.
"You look at the box score before tonight and say those guys don't have a ton of points, but what those guys bring to our team is inspiring," Cooper said. "They're heavy. They check. They're on the right side of pucks. And one of the luxuries we have is it doesn't matter who we put them on against, they're dependable and that's what makes them valuable."

2. LOCK DOWN DEFENSE
The first two games of the Eastern Conference Final were a vast departure defensively for the Lightning compared to how they shut the opposition down through the first two playoff series.
Game 3 was a better showing from the Lightning, but still not where they needed to be defensively. Game 4 was the Andrei Vasilevskiy show as the Russian netminder pretty much single-handedly won the game for Tampa Bay.
But Game 5 was a return to the way the Lightning have defended previously in these playoffs, in particular, the final three games of the Second Round to close out Boston.
"We just had to alter the way we played a little bit and understand that we're in the Eastern Conference Final," Cooper said when asked about what changed for his team defensively in Game 5.
The Lightning won the majority of the 50/50 puck battles. They made smart plays with the puck in their own end. They didn't carelessly turn the puck over. They broke the puck out of their own end deftly. They didn't allow a single odd-man rush. And they didn't commit any costly penalties. For the first time this postseason, the Lightning were never on the penalty kill.
"It's not just the D in our zone, it's defending all over the ice, being on top, making sure they don't get any rushes," Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman said. "And obviously being in lanes and blocking shots."
The two goals Washington scored weren't really break downs defensively, just opportunistic plays the Capitals took advantage of. On the first, Evgeny Kuznetsov got a tip on Matt Niskanen's shot from the point to redirect a puck past Vasilevskiy and get the Caps on the board at 4:21 of the second period.
And with 1:36 remaining in the game, Alex Ovechkin blasted a one-timer from the top of the left circle with the extra attacker, a play that happened so fast with the Ovechkin was able to fire the shot off and the speed of his shot, Vasilevskiy didn't have time to slide over and cover.
Other than that, the Lightning completely stymied the Capitals offense over the duration of Game 5.
"When you're up three in the second, you want to be aggressive but it's always right there where you don't want to take a chance and make a skill play," Lightning defenseman Dan Girardi said. "But no matter what happens, we've got to still be up. If we have a play to make, make it, but if not, we've got to get the puck all the way behind their goal line and make them play a 200-foot game. When we're doing that, we're successful. When they're playing three-quarter ice, half ice, they're a very good team."

3. SACRIFICING FOR THE WIN
Over the final two-plus minutes of the game, Washington threw everything it could muster at the Lightning with its net empty in a desperate search for two goals and a tie game.
The Capitals were able to get one goal back on Ovechkin's one-time blast, ensuring the final 1:36 would be extremely nerve-wracking for Lightning fans.
But they shouldn't have worried. The Bolts weren't about to let the lead slip away.
Over the final 90-plus seconds, the Lightning got in the path of everything the Caps tried to send at Vasilevskiy's net. And when a puck did manage to find a way through, Vasilevskiy ensured it went no further.
"Some incredible blocks," Stralman recounted. "G's big one on Ovi and I think Cirelli had one and Heddy had one. That's what you need, you need guys to step up and be in those lanes."
That's what it's about at this point of the season, sacrificing the body to win. Callahan was asked after the game how he's still able to put his body on the line for punishment by blocking shots or dishing out massive hits when he's obviously banged up from the cumulative wear and tear of the season.
His response was classic Cally.
"It's not hard, 23 other guys in that room would do the same thing," he said. "Obviously throughout the playoffs, there's bruises, but this is the time of year you play for. This is what it's all about. You hear all the stories when playoffs are done what guys play through, so it is what it is."
Despite the Lightning selling out to block shots, the Capitals still produced a couple dangerous scoring chances as the clock slowly trickled to zero. Vasilevskiy, who's gotten stronger in each round as the series has progressed, was a brick wall in net for the Bolts, securing the win and the chance to clinch Monday.
"You throw the six guys they have that can play 6-on-5, somebody's going to be open at some point," Cooper said. "As the last line of defense, the mere fact we let that guy - it was Carlson, right, that was down there? - great play by them to get it down to him, but it was laser focus by our guy. You needed a big save at the end when you're holding on to a one-goal lead, and he gave it to us. Team propelled us to that lead in front of him, and he closed it out in the end."