Lightning need better start against Stars in Game 2 of Stanley Cup Final

The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2019-20 season by former NHL coaches and assistants who turn their critical gaze to the game and explain it through the lens of a teacher. Rob Zettler and Rob Cookson will take turns providing insight throughout the Stanley Cup Final.
In this edition, Zettler, former assistant with the San Jose Sharks, breaks down Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, looking at it from the Tampa Bay Lightning's point of view after a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars.

Throughout Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final I watched the zone entries for both teams and I kept thinking the same thing.
When the Stars enter the zone, they get over the blue line and chip the puck in, make the Lightning go 200 feet the other way.
When the Lightning enter the zone, they're looking to make plays east-west. Though it didn't end up in anything positive in Game 1, I always felt it was dangerous because they have the skilled players to make it work.
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As soon as they get over the blue line their eyes light up because they can move the puck around, find the fourth guy, the trailing defenseman, make seam passes over sticks.
The Lightning made some of those plays Saturday, but they didn't end up in any goals.
If they keep doing it, they will score.
There was a lot that I liked about what the Lightning were trying to accomplish in the third period, a lot of which they need to do early in Game 2 at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Monday; (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS).
The Lightning looked like they were intentionally trying to shoot high on Stars goalie Anton Khudobin, who made 35 saves in Game 1, including 22 in the third period.

I don't think Khudobin saw the shot from Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov 10 minutes into the third that went off his shoulder or collarbone. It was almost like the sweater made the save.
He also had to make a quick and challenging glove save on defenseman Zach Bogosian's high shot from in tight.
Khudobin was doing everything in Game 1 that he did against the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final. He was stopping everything down low, making the pad saves. The lateral saves that looked hard and they are hard, he was getting across to them and shooting the pad out like he was doing against Vegas.
But the Lightning started shooting high in the third period. The shots didn't go in, but they looked a lot more dangerous, like their zone entries.
The other thing with Game 1 is how each team looked at the start; the Stars looked like they had energy and the Lightning looked like they were wading into the Stanley Cup Final instead of jumping in with both feet.

I am sure that playing Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final on Thursday and winning 2-1 in overtime against the New York Islanders was a factor for Tampa Bay as opposed to Dallas having four full days off since advancing to the Cup Final on Monday.
That's a big high to come off of and go right into the next series so quickly.
But the Lightning can take a lot of what they did in the third period as a positive going into Game 2. They didn't need to score a goal. It would have been nice, but it wasn't necessary for them to know what they can do against the Stars.
They are very hard to stop. Their skill will be very hard to stop, especially if they're able to hang on to the puck in the offensive zone and draw more penalties like they did in the third period. Their power play is dangerous, and it certainly will be as the series progresses.
What the Lightning must do a better job of is finding more second and third opportunities.
Dallas protects the home-plate area, the front of the net, so well but my guess moving forward is it will have to defend that area earlier in games.
The Stars won't have it as easy as they did in the first two periods again in this series. You won't have to wait until the third period to see more of the true Lightning in Game 2.