Burns: Three things we learned from going down in the series 2-1

The Tampa Bay Lightning got what they wanted out of the opening two games of the Eastern Conference Final in Pittsburgh.

The Lightning wrestled home-ice advantage away from the Penguins after winning Game 1 at Consol Energy Center. The Bolts nearly made it a 2-0 series lead in Game 2 before falling in overtime.

On Wednesday, Tampa Bay looked to consolidate that home-ice advantage by taking care of the Penguins at Amalie Arena.

Unfortunately, it’s back to the drawing board after a sub-par performance by the Bolts.

Buoyed by its home crowd, Tampa Bay had a jump in its step to start Game 3 and created a number of good scoring opportunities at the Penguins’ net. That momentum, however, waned as the period wore on, and by the second period, Pittsburgh had taken control. The Penguins kept the puck in the offensive zone throughout the period, especially over the second half, forcing Bolts goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy to play out of his mind to keep them off the board.

He nearly did too, but Pittsburgh took advantage of a poor turnover to score with 10 seconds left in the period and net the game’s opening goal.

From there, the flood gates opened as the Penguins built a 4-1 advantage and won 4-2, taking a two-games-to-one lead in the best-of-seven series.

The Lightning took Pittsburgh’s best shot on Wednesday and were left reeling. But the Bolts weren’t knocked to the canvas.

Not by a long shot.

Tampa Bay has shown too much playoff resiliency in the past to write them off this early.

The Bolts will look to get back on track in Game 4. We’ll break down how they can even the series back up on Friday in today’s 3 Things.

1. NOT ENOUGH SHOTS

Pittsburgh rookie goaltender Matt Murray is playing just his third season of professional hockey, two of those seasons coming at the American Hockey League level.

Murray was recalled twice from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this season, making his NHL debut on December 19 in a 2-1 loss to Carolina. He got four starts in his first recall to Pittsburgh and was brought back for a second stint at the beginning of March. He has remained with the Pens since, starting 13 games in total during the regular season and going 9-2-1.

Murray’s appearance in the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs is his first-ever NHL postseason experience.

The 21-year-old had never felt the pressure of an Eastern Conference Final until a week ago. The weight of an entire city’s expectations falls on his shoulders.

The gravity of the situation should be enough to induce a mistake or two from Murray.

Yet, Tampa Bay is letting him off the hook because they aren’t sending enough shots his way.

Through the first three games of the series, the Lightning are averaging just 23 shots …

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