Krenn: Three Things we learned from a Game 5 loss

This one got away from the Bolts.
The Tampa Bay Lightning grabbed a 2-0 lead early in Game 5 of their series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but eventually fell by a score of 4-3 and will head back to Tampa ahead of a must-win Game 6 on Thursday night.

It was about as perfect of a start as you could have drawn up for the Bolts, who were able to kill off an early too many men on the ice penalty before Steven Stamkos grabbed a loose puck in the high slot and ripped a wrist shot past Jack Campbell just 5:19 into the game.
Thirty-one seconds after Stamkos's second goal of the series, TJ Brodie was whistled for hooking and gave the Lightning their first power play chance of the night. It took Tampa Bay 21 seconds of power-play time for Victor Hedman to fire a slap shot from the point that found its way past Campbell and gave the Bolts a 2-0 lead with 13:49 remaining in the opening period.
The Lightning outshot the Maple Leafs 14-4 in the first period, an ideal start to a pivotal road game in the playoffs, but in a series of special teams, it was an unnecessary penalty that sent Tampa Bay to the penalty kill and allowed John Tavares to score a power-play goal and make it a 2-1 game with 16:25 remaining in the second period.
The Bolts were outshot 14-9 in the second frame and Andrei Vasilevskiy made a few incredible saves to maintain the lead and allow Tampa Bay to head into the third period with a one-goal lead. From there, things started to unravel.
The Lightning didn't look quite like themselves in the third period. The crowd was back into it and Toronto was pushing hard to try to grab the momentum. After not having a power play for the entirety of the second period, Tampa Bay went to the man advantage just 2:15 into the final frame when David Kampf was called for hooking, but the power-play chance would only last 10 seconds for the Bolts after a high-sticking penalty was assessed to Stamkos at the 2:25 mark.
With the game being played at four-on-four for the following 1:50, things began to turn. Morgan Rielly tied the game at the 3:01 mark of the third period and William Nylander gave Toronto the lead 1:13 later, both goals being scored at four-on-four. Just like that, the Lightning were trailing 3-2.
With the Leafs having what felt like all the momentum and the crowd buzzing, the Bolts needed a response. They got it from one of their veteran leaders, Ryan McDonagh, who stepped into a slap shot from the slot and blasted the puck into the top left corner past Campbell to tie the game. It was one heck of a shot from McDonagh, who finished the game with three blocked shots and is now just 10 blocks away from passing Dan Girardi as the NHL's all-time playoff leader in shot blocks.
With the game tied and 11:43 remaining, it felt like the Lightning had regained some life with the goal by McDonagh. However, it wouldn't be enough after the Maple Leafs were able to get a two-on-one into the Lightning zone with their two most dangerous players in Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner. The two players entered the Bolts zone with Marner carrying the puck and firing it off the pad of Vasilevskiy for Matthews to grab the rebound and score his third goal of the postseason with 6:06 remaining.
Tampa Bay worked to tie the game, including pulling Andrei Vasilevskiy for a sixth attacker, but were unable find the equalizer.
It was an odd loss for the Lightning, who were in a great position after leading 2-0 through the first 20 minutes. Tonight marked the first time this series that there was a lead change during the game and the team that scored first didn't walk away with the victory. Now, the Bolts have their backs against the wall and will have to win two consecutive games to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Here's what we learned from a heartbreaking loss to Toronto.

1. THE STANDARD HAS BEEN SET
How much time has been spent throughout the course of this series talking about special teams?
Once again, it was a night filled with penalties and special teams play. The Lightning went one-for-five on the power play, while Toronto finished one-for-six, but it was the Leafs who managed to score twice during the four-on-four, which got the crowd back in the game and really turned the game on its head for Tampa Bay.
"Special teams, you consider four-on-four special teams in a sense," explained Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. "Tonight, we lost that battle again. Some games we're winning it. Some games we're not.
"Tonight, I thought just too many mistakes. Once again, they ended up in the back of our net.
"It's unfortunate because that game was there for the taking for us and we just let it slip through our fingers and it's on us. That's basically the most simplified way I can put it."
The officiating has probably been the most discussed aspect of this series to this point. There have been so many penalties called, yet some obvious ones missed.
"The standard's been set this postseason, at least in our series anyways, that they're calling a lot," said Stamkos. "If that's the standard, then that's how it's going to be.
"The standard has been set. There's so many penalties. There's not a lot of five-on-five flow and even the two goals four-on-four there.
"I mean, for whatever reason, it's different this year, but it's the same way for both teams."
As Stamkos said, it's been the same way for both teams. It's been a parade to the penalty box for both teams throughout the series. This series simply hasn't been called like we've seen the playoffs called in the past.
"It's been odd that there's been so much," said Cooper. "Whether it's five-on-four, five-on-three, four-on-four, I've never seen that in the playoffs the way it is.
"And please do not think this is an excuse. It's not, by any means. It's just different than what we're used to.
"Special teams are part of the game. Any situation you're put in, you've got to win that situation and we didn't tonight."

2. ONE GAME AT A TIME
As has been previously mentioned, the playoffs are a wild ride. It's all about the balance.
You can't get too high. You can't get too low.
You have to take it day-by-day.
The Lightning have been fantastic at turning the page after a loss in the playoffs, winning 16 consecutive games following a loss since 2020. Tonight stings, but it's over. There's nothing Tampa Bay can do now to change the result.
"We're here to win a series," Cooper explained. "We lost a game tonight. Like I said, we let this one slip away.
"That's on us.
"But we haven't let this series slip away. We let a game slip away. So that's how you look at it."
There are two games left on the table for Tampa Bay. They will have to win both of them if they want to advance. Can the Lightning win two games in a row? Absolutely.
But first, they will have to take care of business at home on Thursday night. They can't look too far ahead. As mentioned before, it's day-by-day.
"We're not looking too far ahead here," McDonagh explained. "We're just looking forward to playing at AMALIE in front of our fans, getting momentum going right off the start, and trying to execute our gameplan."
The Lightning know what's at stake now. It's win or go home for the summer. Staying alive starts with preparation for Game 6.
"We've got to be better," Hedman explained. "That's the bottom line.
"We'll learn from this, go back home, regroup, and get ready for Game 6."

3. TIME TO DIG DEEP
There's no time for losing now.
With two games to go, it's time for Tampa Bay to really dig deep with their biggest challenge of the season staring them in the face.
"We just trust each other," McDonagh said. "We believe in our group. We believe in our plan and we want it.
"We want to win. We want to keep having success here. Just put our minds to it here, work as a group, and it'll go our way."
The last time the Lightning had their backs against the wall like this was in Game 7 of last year's Stanley Cup Semifinal against the New York Islanders. The Bolts walked away with a 1-0 win with Vasilevskiy earning the shutout.
"In our run here, we've had one elimination game," Cooper said. "What was the tell-tale sign of that elimination game? We didn't give up any goals.
"I'm not saying you have to do that again, but that's going to be a mindset of ours that, at times tonight, I think got away from us."
We all know Cooper's philosophy of defending first. It all starts in your own defensive zone. Defend, take care of your own zone, and the offense will come from there.
Even after failing to score on a five-on-three opportunity, the Lightning still had a 2-0 lead. All they had to do was keep the puck out of their own net. Unfortunately for the Bolts, they were unable to do that on Tuesday night.
"You're not going to score every time," Cooper explained. "Did we have some good looks on the five-on-three? We did. Would it have been great to get that next one? Sure, it would have.
"But I've said this time and time again. When you get a lead like that, keep them out of your net.
"We didn't need any more goals. We just had to keep them out. We didn't do that."
Over the past several years, Tampa Bay has thrived in big games. They'll have to bring their best game on Thursday in Tampa and then, if they force a Game 7, in Toronto on Saturday.
The Lightning are a veteran group. They know what it takes. Now it's about going out there and doing it.
"We're going to regroup here," said Stamkos. "We knew it was going to be a tough series. Those guys are good over there.
"But we have a group that has responded well to these types of situations for a long period of time. We know what to expect heading home.
"We'll be ready."