Burns: 3 Things we learned from the first loss of the season

Tampa Bay Lightning head coach Jon Cooper called his team's 5-2 loss Saturday in Columbus, the Bolts' first defeat of the season, as bad a game as they've played since before the four-month pause last season.

Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev called his game probably the worst of his career.
The Bolts didn't have Blake Coleman for the entire game because of the coaches' decision. Erik Cernak suffered an injury in the first period and didn't return. Mitchell Stephens sustained a significant injury in the third and might not be back for a while.
All things considered, probably a minor miracle the Lightning only lost by three goals and were within striking distance for much of the game until Zach Werenski provided some cushion with his accurate shot from the left circle six minutes into the third to make it 4-2 and Eric Robinson added an empty-net goal to seal the win for the Blue Jackets.
The Lightning will travel back to Tampa Saturday night, their upcoming road games at Carolina in doubt with the Hurricanes' COVID-19 concerns, the Bolts announcing they're expecting Tuesday's game to be postponed.
The Bolts aren't excited about the continuous interruptions in the schedule, but perhaps the extra practice time can help them work through some of the issues that plagued them Saturday in Columbus.

1. SHORTHANDED BOLTS
Even before the Lightning took the ice in Columbus, they learned they'd be without one of their leading contributors as Blake Coleman was benched.
Jon Cooper said Coleman missed a team meeting before the game, and his rule has always been the player sits the next game as punishment.
"Blake is an A-plus kid, and he, I don't know if it was alarm clock issues or what happened, but he was late for a meeting," Cooper explained after the loss. "We have some pretty steadfast rules that we've had in place ever since I've been here. Nobody feels worse than that poor kid because he's given everything he's had for us, and that's not his style. But he completely understood, and he'll be back in practice Monday."
Coleman had scored in back-to-back games entering Saturday's tilt against the Blue Jackets.
Early in the first period, Erik Cernak was driven hard into the boards from behind by Columbus captain Nick Foligno. Moments later, Cernak appeared to lose an edge and helicoptered onto the ice before banging into the back wall.
He didn't play again, his afternoon over after skating just five shifts and 3:24 time on ice, forcing the Lightning to go with five defensemen for most of the game, one of whom was Cal Foote, skating in just his second career NHL game.
And further compounding Tampa Bay's luck Saturday, Mitchell Stephens was pulled down from behind by David Savard while getting their legs tangled in the third period. Stephens had trouble getting up and couldn't put any weight on his right leg while being helped off the ice by Lightning head athletic trainer Tom Mulligan and Victor Hedman. Stephens didn't play again.
After the game, Cooper said the news wasn't good for Stephens, better for Cernak.
"Stephens doesn't look like he's coming back anytime soon, but again speculation," Cooper said. "Cernak we'll have to evaluate here over the next couple days. But, yeah, Stevie might be out for a bit."
Down two key players for much of the game and a third in the later stages, the Lightning looked out of sorts as a result.

2. SLOPPY EFFORT ALL AROUND
Jon Cooper said his team's performance Saturday in Columbus was the worst he could remember in quite a while.
"I haven't seen us play that poorly since before the pause, the first pause," he said. "We weren't in sync at all. Nobody really gave us much in the game, egregious turnovers, again, something that was not a trademark of ours anywhere in our playoff run."
Cooper pointed to the third, fourth and fifth Columbus goals as examples of how sloppy play directly led to the puck ending up in the back of the Tampa Bay's net.
On Columbus' third goal, Pat Maroon tried to start a rush up the ice but had his pocked picked at the center line. After the puck was dumped deep into the Lightning zone, Kevin Stenlund found Vladislav Gavrikov all alone in the high slot, and Gavrikov wristed a shot over the glove of Andrei Vasilevskiy to extend the Blue Jackets' lead to 3-1.
The fourth goal was the dagger as the Lightning got back to within a score late in the first period after converting on the power play then both teams went the length of the second without scoring. In the third, the Bolts again lost the puck in the neutral zone, and the Blue Jackets continued to apply pressure to Vasilevskiy's net, the puck eventually ending up on Zach Werenski's stick in the left circle for the defenseman to fire home.
And with Vasilevskiy pulled late for the extra attacker, Steven Stamkos had a centering pass in the offensive zone intercepted by Riley Nash, who dished off to his left for Eric Robinson to skate to the center line and deposit in the empty net.
"If you're not managing the puck, it's going to be a problem for you," Cooper said. "Couldn't score our way out of it tonight, and that's what you get. Give them credit I guess, they're probably happy over on their side, but we're not too pleased on our side and it's when you shoot yourself in the foot, that's when things at times don't go well for you and that's what happened tonight."
Sergachev said the loss was as simple as the Lightning continually turning the puck over, and the Blue Jackets capitalizing on those mistakes.
"We had a game plan, we just didn't execute it," he said. "We have a game plan for breakouts, for neutral zone, for O zone. We didn't do enough of that, and that's what happens. It's the NHL. Every game should be played as your last game, and that's the only way you can win games."

3. SCHEDULE UNCERTAINTY
Before Saturday's matinee, the Lightning announced they would return home to Tampa following the game in Columbus with the expectation their game in Carolina Tuesday would be postponed.
The NHL hasn't officially rescheduled the game, but Jon Cooper said the League has been really good about communicating probabilities, and with Carolina's facility still not open and now six Hurricanes on the COVID protocol list, the likelihood is high the Lightning will see at least a third game this season postponed.
Thursday's game in Carolina, which was supposed to be the conclusion of a four-game road trip for the Bolts, is in doubt too.
"As of now we're going," Cooper responded when asked if his team would be making the trip to Carolina next week. "But ask me that question tomorrow, and I don't know if I'll give you the same answer."
The starting, stopping, pauses and rescheduled games aren't ideal for a Lightning team trying to get into the rhythm of a new season. The Bolts have shown an ability to stay focused despite not knowing when their next game might be. After having home games against Dallas postponed because of a COVID outbreak in the Stars training camp, the Lightning used the extra time to rest and practice before the trip to Columbus.
Now it appears they might get more practice time, which might not be a bad thing following the sub-par performance Saturday.
"You just have to adapt," Alex Killorn said. "The one thing we've been telling ourselves is the season, you can't look to the future because it's so uncertain what's going to be happening. Is it difficult that we have a week off, play two games, have a week off? Maybe a little bit, but I think we have to use this time to get better. I think whatever happens, if we're going to practice the whole week or if we have games in Carolina, we have to be prepared regardless of the situation."
The team that can stay flexible and remain sharp despite disruptions in the schedule will likely find itself in a good position to make the playoffs. This Lightning group has shown a resiliency most teams don't have, particularly with the way they were able to navigate 65 days between bubbles in Toronto and Edmonton to lift the Stanley Cup.
"It's bad that we can't play a normal schedule, but it is what it is and it's part of our job now," Sergachev said.