Burns: Three Things we learned from a bounce-back win in Ottawa

The Tampa Bay Lightning were sloppy at times in their road trip finale at Ottawa, maybe even a little sleepy during the afternoon matinee.
But they never trailed in Ottawa and pulled away in the third period for a 5-3 victory over the Senators at Canadian Tire Centre to extend their season-long point streak to five games (4-0-1).

Victor Hedman started the scoring with his first goal of the season on a power play 4:27 into the contest to give the Lightning an early advantage.
Jan Rutta put the Bolts back in front 2-1 at 10:06 of the second with his first goal of the season.
And Steven Stamkos gave the Lightning the lead for good 3-2 at 7:32 of the third period on a rebound tally.
Ondrej Palat and Anthony Cirelli scored in the final two minutes to secure the win.
The Lightning have been excellent on the road so far this season, recording points in five of their six road contests and improving to 4-1-1 away from home following Saturday's win.
Seven of Tampa Bay's next eight games will be played at AMALIE Arena, including what will be their toughest stretch of the schedule to date with three-straight games against foes from their 2021 Stanley Cup Playoff run, starting with Tuesday's contest against Carolina and following with matchups versus Florida on Saturday and the New York Islanders Monday, November 15.
Here's how the Lightning were able to bounce back from a tough overtime loss in Toronto to win two days later in Ottawa.

1. BRIAN ELLIOTT OWNS OTTAWA
Brian Elliott got the starting nod in the Lightning net Saturday afternoon in Ottawa, going up against the team that drafted him in the ninth round of the 2003 NHL Draft (291st overall) and gave him his first career start in 2007.
Elliott spent parts of his first four NHL seasons in Ottawa before moving on.
He hasn't been kind to the franchise that gave him his start in the League, however.
Elliott has never lost in regulation to the Senators, a mark that continued Saturday following a 24-of-27 save performance in the 5-3 victory. The 36-year-old netminder is now 7-0-2 all-time against Ottawa and recorded his first win as a member of the Lightning in his second start with the team.
"It felt good getting back in there and coming into a rink that I know pretty well throughout the years," Elliott said. "It was good to kind of get some shots under my belt early, and then we settled in and played a really good game. I thought we did a lot of things we talked about the last couple of days. It was good to be a part of that."
Ottawa controlled much of the opening period of the game, outshooting the Lightning 13-4 and keeping the Bolts hemmed in their own zone for long stretches.
But Tampa Bay went into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead, due in large part to Elliott's heroics in net.
"Elliott, when we needed him in the first period, I thought Ottawa was strong and had a bunch of chances and he made a bunch of saves on pucks I don't think he saw but was in the right spot, so clearly for us to get out of that first period up 1-0 was a bonus was because of Elliott," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "We picked our game up in the last two periods, but you need your guy to hang in there for us when we weren't playing well. Give Ottawa credit, they were all over us, but he stood strong for us."
The second period was much better for the Lightning but tougher on Elliott. Tampa Bay outshot Ottawa 18-5 in the middle frame. Of the five shots the Senators put on Elliott's net, however, two of them were Grade-A scoring chances that resulted from Lightning turnovers in their own end Ottawa scored on.
In a lot of ways, that can be more difficult for a goalie, not facing a shot for a long period of time then having to shut down a prime scoring chance when one does arise.
Tampa Bay and Ottawa were tied 2-2 going into the final period.
"That's your job as a goalie," Elliott said. "It's just trying to stay sharp. We beat ourselves a little bit in that second period with a couple turnovers that kind of turned into that. You live and learn, especially in the last minute of a period you want to come away unscathed. It's something that we've talked about and we'll continue to talk about."
The Bolts continued their strong push in the third period, and a veteran team was able to retake the lead and create some distance versus the upstart Senators. And Elliott was there to keep them in it throughout, despite making only his second start of the season and his first in 12 days.
"I always say this about goaltenders that aren't starters, the job of a backup goaltender is tough because you're always practicing but nothing can replicate games," Cooper said. "When you get in those situations, I think that's where we've had success with (Curtis) McElhinney who was outstanding and now Elliott and some of these veteran guys who know how to prepare. Mentally, they're strong enough to know what to expect. You give them enough time to know when they're going to have a start so they can prepare that way. I think that's why it's tougher for younger guys to be backups because they're just not used to the grind of the NHL. These guys as veteran guys prepare themselves and he's another one that does a great job just as McElhinney did."

2. POWER PLAY SHOWING SIGNS OF LIFE
Tampa Bay's power play has been a work in progress ever since Nikita Kucherov was sidelined in the third game of the season with a lower-body injury that required surgery.
Kucherov will be out until anywhere from late December to early January.
The power play went five-consecutive games from that contest in Washington when Kucherov went down through a 5-1 win October 26 in Pittsburgh without scoring.
But since, the Lightning have started to find a little success.
They've netted a power-play goal in three of the last four games, including Victor Hedman's first period tally that gave the Lightning the opening score for the fourth-consecutive game - remember, they allowed the opening goal in the first seven contests - in Saturday's 5-3 victory in Ottawa.
The power play isn't fixed by any means. There's still a lot of indecision among the unit. Without Kucherov creating magic on the half-wall, the Lightning seem stagnant at times figuring out what they want to do. Steven Stamkos' one-timer from the left circle is still a dangerous weapon, but teams know it's coming and can key on stopping it without the threat of Kucherov on the other side.
That's why seeing Hedman with a shooting mentality on the power play and finding the back of the net was a major bonus for the Lightning. Players and coaches have said repeatedly in the past the power play is more effective when Hedman is shooting, especially early, because it makes opposing penalty kills have to respect his shot from the point and opens things up for everybody else.
Hedman's goal Saturday came a few strides inside the blue line, with Stamkos sending a pass into his wheelhouse for the Swedish defenseman to power home.
"Obviously a great start to the game to get a power-play goal right away," Hedman said. "We had some good looks on our group, but the other group had a good look there in the second period, had some good chances. We're trying to find our groove and obviously contribute and score goals. Missing one of the best players in the world is going to leave a hole. We've got to do what we can without him."
Again, the power play isn't fixed by any means. The Lightning are still tinkering with some of their personnel. Alex Barre-Boulet played again on the top unit and set up around the goal line area with Brayden Point in Kucherov's spot in the right circle. The second unit had some adjustments today too with Ryan McDonagh taking over for the suspended Mikhail Sergachev.
But the power play is starting to find some success, and hopefully that gives the group confidence as it continues to navigate life without Kucherov.

3. A MATHIEU JOSEPH APPRECIATION POST
Mathieu Joseph received a shorthanded breakaway chance when an Ottawa skater fell down trying to keep a puck in at the blue line, giving Joseph and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare a free, unopposed run to the Senators goal.
Joseph took a shot early on his breakaway chance, trying to catch Sens goalie Matt Murray through the five hole. Murray, however, made the save, and Joseph failed to capitalize on yet another shorthanded opportunity.
The mounting misses have to be frustrating for Joseph. He and Bellemare have developed instant chemistry as the Bolts' top penalty killing forward duo. Bellemare's calmness on the puck and Joseph's speed have created a number of the breakaway chances like we saw in Ottawa. Joseph just hasn't been able to cash in.
It's about the only weakness in his game right now, though. And soon enough, those opportunities will fall for the 24-year-old forward.
"He's had a lot of good looks," Victor Hedman said. "Pucks are going to go in for him eventually. It's just his work ethic. He's always in the right spot. He plays big minutes on the PK. Five-on-five, he's up and down the lineup, but it doesn't really matter. He goes out there and does his thing. It's fun to watch. We look for guys to keep taking next steps, and Jo is obviously one of them. Good things are going to come down the stretch."
Joseph might have been Tampa Bay's best player over the two-game road trip in Canada.
He was all over the place during the overtime loss to Toronto, Joseph seemingly in the middle of every positive play the Lightning made offensively. And he carried that over into the Ottawa game, his confidence seemingly building with each time he hits the ice this season.
Joseph helped set up Tampa Bay's final go-ahead goal, stealing a puck at center ice, driving the play into the offensive zone and leaving a pass for a trailing Alex Killorn, whose initial shot was saved by Murray but Stamkos was there to clean up the rebound for a 3-2 Lightning advantage.
He nearly had his own goal earlier in the game too as he slammed home the rebound from the edge of the crease in the second period right before his shorthanded chance, but the goal was waived off immediately for goaltender interference, the officials determining Steven Stamkos pushed a defender into Murray, a call that was upheld after being challenged by the Lightning coaching staff.
"You want your players to drive play," Cooper said. "On the penalty kill, he's been fantastic, him and Bellemare. They've been a really good duo for us. He is getting a ton of chances. I know the frustration is mounting. Would we like to add to those shorthanded goal totals? There's no question, but at some point, they're going to go for him. They have in the past, at some point they well in the future. But for me it's his 5-on-5 play. You can't be a liability out there, and there was a time there was some growth that needed to come in his game. This year, he seems to be much more cognizant of the defensive zone and his role and so now you couple that responsibility with the speed and the things he can bring to the game, he's really evolving. His ice time has shown."
Joseph logged a career-high 18:07 time on ice Saturday. Since October 23, he's averaging 16:13 per game. He returned to a second-line role against Ottawa, skating with Killorn and Stamkos.
If he continues to drive play like he has been of late while playing responsibly in his own zone, expect to see his role and ice time continue to increase.
And expect to see some of those shorthanded opportunities find the back of the net.