Burns: 3 Things we learned from sweeping a back-to-back

After a sub-par (for them) month of January, the Tampa Bay Lightning have gotten off to a perfect start in February after sweeping a back-to-back set in New York.
The Lightning outlasted the Islanders 1-0 in a shootout on Friday night behind a 36-save shutout effort from Andrei Vasilevskiy and a shootout conversion by Victor Hedman, his third successful shootout attempt in three tries this season.
The Bolts followed up Saturday by holding on to defeat the Rangers 3-2 in Madison Square Garden, a game where Tampa Bay was ahead 3-0 after 30 minutes but needed key saves by Louis Domingue down the stretch to see the victory through to the finish line.

The Lightning come home having won two of three on the road trip, which saw the Bolts play three times in four nights. Tampa Bay will play six of its next seven games at home, starting with the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday.
Saturday's win saw the Rangers control the action for large stretches, especially in the third period when they owned a 16-4 shot advantage and were pushing to tie the game. But the Lightning hit their stride in the second period and used a 10 to 15-minute stretch of superior play to pull through when maybe their legs weren't there like they were a night ago on Long Island
How were the Bolts able to eek out another win?
We'll examine with Three Things we learned from beating the Rangers.

1. ON CALL
Louis Domingue has gotten used to watching games from the bench over the last couple months.
The Lightning backup goaltender got just one start in January. Since Andrei Vasilevskiy returned from a broken left foot on December 13, Domingue has appeared in just two games.
It's been a difficult situation. When Vasilevskiy went down, Domingue made 11-straight starts and 14 of 15 while Vasilevskiy healed. Since Vasilevskiy's return, starts have been few and far between.
That's why performances like the one Domingue put up at Madison Square Garden are particularly impressive. Making his first start in 21 days, Domingue was sharp early and needed to be as the Rangers had a jump in their step at the beginning of the game. And in the third period with the Lightning basically holding on for dear life, Domingue was a stalwart in net, preserving the victory behind a 31-save effort and a Third Star-worthy performance.
"I'm not going to lie, it's pretty hard, especially with the bye week, Christmas break, I think I've only played two games since a little bit before Christmas," Domingue responded when asked how he stays fresh in the face of infrequent starts. "It's not easy. There's no special recipe to do it. Just got to find the details in practice and once your name is called, you've got to be ready. You've got to find a way."
Domingue has found a way pretty much every time he's been on the ice. In 21 starts, Domingue has won 17, establishing a new career high. He's won nine-consecutive starts -- his last loss came November 27 versus Anaheim - and 12 of his last 13.
Domingue has made more appearances than expected this season because of the injury to Vasilevskiy. Of late, he's hardly made any appearances at all.
Yet, many starts, infrequent starts, it's all the same to Domingue. He's able to deliver a consistent performance each time he's between the pipes.
"We saw it when Vasy was out for that extended time with the injury, Louis came in and played 12 in a row and won 11 of them," Lightning captain Steven Stamkos said. "We have the luxury of having a goaltender that can step in regardless if he hasn't played in the last six, seven games or if he's going to go on an extended run. He's proved to be a great goalie when he's gone in there and he's won us a lot of hockey games and tonight was a night where we relied on him and he was there for us."

2. THE FIRST OF MANY
It only took Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak 31 games to score his first NHL game, but the wait felt a lot longer considering how many quality scoring chances the rookie produced.
Cernak became the second-to-last Bolt to score - Danick Martel is the lone roster player without a goal - when his second period shot from the slot beat future Hall of Fame goalie Henrik Lundqvist to give Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead. On a 4-on-2 rush, Ryan Callahan carried the puck into the offensive zone then put on the breaks to open up some space. Callahan spotted Cernak trailing the play and zipped a pass into the slot. Cernak took his time and snapped a shot past the glove of Lundqvist to set off a raucous celebration on the Lightning bench. Callahan grabbed the puck out of the net to give to Cernak.
"He's had a lot of chances this year. He's played great," Stamkos said. "He's maintained his focus and his confidence, so it was great to see him rewarded. Great play off the rush by Cally. Nice to see it go in. The bench was pretty pumped up."
When Cernak was recalled from AHL Syracuse in mid-November due to injuries to the Bolts blueline, nobody could have predicted the impact he would have on this Lightning team. Cernak's stay in the NHL was thought to be temporary, but he's earned a permanent spot. His size and overpowering strength have been a welcome addition to the defensive corps. He's teamed up with Ryan McDonagh to form maybe the Lightning's best shutdown pair. His skating, once overlooked, has been stellar. And with each passing game, his confidence to contribute offensively has grown.
Saturday, he was rewarded with his first NHL goal.
I expect goal No. 2 will take a little less time.
"it's been a long time coming," Domingue said. "I thought many times he had shots that we thought would go in. For a guy like that, I think once he scores his first goal, there's going to be many more after that. We're pretty happy for him."

3. SECOND PERIOD STRETCH
The Rangers had the Lightning chasing the puck to start the game. New York dominated the third period and hemmed the Bolts in their own zone for nearly the duration.
But for a stretch of about 15 minutes toward the end of the first period and into the second, Tampa Bay found its game.
And it would be all the Lightning needed to leave Madison Square Garden with another win and two points.
After Yanni Gourde netted the opening goal for the Bolts about seven minutes into the contest, Cernak extended the Lightning lead to 2-0 nearly five minutes into the second period with his first career goal. Four minutes later, a beautiful passing sequence from Nikita Kucherov to Victor Hedman to Steven Stamkos got Stamkos the puck all alone in the right circle, and the captain buried a shot to the short side of Lundqvist's net to put the Bolts in front 3-0.
At that point, the Lightning were cruising, and another win seemed inevitable.
"We were kind of holding on there in the beginning," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "Louis made some big saves for us. We didn't give up a bunch of chances in the game. We gave up a bunch of zone time but when we did, Louis was there. We talked about what we had to do in the second, and for about a 12 to 15-minute run there, that's where we turned the game around."
But once the Lightning got a comfortable lead, that's when the game turned decidedly uncomfortable. Mats Zuccarello got the Rangers on the board with less than four minutes to go in the second period. In the third, Kevin Hayes scored on the power play at 6:49, and the Lightning suddenly had work to do to close out the victory.
"When you win a lot of games throughout the season, you're going to win in different ways and you just have to be comfortable in winning different ways," Stamkos said. "We knew we had a two-goal lead going into the third. We did hang on. That's the way it's going to be coming down the stretch and in the playoffs. You're going to have leads in the third whether at home or on the road and you've got to find a way to win those. We've relied on our depth a lot this year, and that's what happens."