Burns: Three things we learned from taking control in Pittsburgh

The Tampa Bay Lightning are one win away from a return trip to the Stanley Cup Final.

That statement might have seemed beyond the realm of possibility halfway through Game 5 as the Lightning trailed 2-0 and struggled to get shots on Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury during his playoff debut, but seasoned Bolts fans have learned to never count this squad out from any situation.

Tampa Bay scored twice in a 1:10 span in the second period to even the score. The Penguins pushed back in front with a late goal in the period – the second time in Game 5 they scored in the final minute of a period – but Nikita Kucherov answered with his second goal of the game with 3:16 left in regulation to send Game 5 to overtime.

Less than a minute into the extra session, Jason Garrison received the puck in the left circle and shot. In front of the net, Tyler Johnson turned his back toward Garrison as the defenseman shot, and the puck deflected off his body and into the net to cap the Bolts’ comeback.

“I saw Gary start to shoot it, and I thought it was going for my head again,” Johnson would tell reporters after the game. “So I turned around, and I got lucky. It just nicked me.”

The defending East champs can wrap up a second-consecutive Eastern Conference title with a win at Amalie Arena on Tuesday in Game 6.

So how were the Lightning able to rally yet again from trying circumstances? And should we be surprised anymore at what this team is able to accomplish?

We’ll take a closer look at Sunday’s dramatic Game 5 victory in today’s 3 Things.

1. NO PANIC

Sluggish starts have not been an issue for Tampa Bay for the majority of the ECF, and Game 5 was no exception. The Lightning played their game over the first 20 minutes and, despite only registering four shots on goal, felt they controlled play in the first period.

They had nothing to show for it, however. When the Bolts entered their locker room for the first intermission, they trailed 1-0 courtesy of a rebound goal by the Penguins’ Brian Dumoulin with 0.7 seconds remaining in the period.

The deficit doubled almost immediately coming out of the break, Patric Hornqvist finding the back of the net 1:30 into the second period for a 2-0 Pens advantage.

“I thought we played a pretty good first period,” Lightning right wing Ryan Callahan said. “Maybe our shots total didn’t show that, but I think we had 20 or 21 shots attempted in that first period. They blocked quite a handful of them. I thought we had a really good start, and then you give one up with 0.7 left and then you give one up in the first minute-and-a-half of the second, it’s tough but we find a way. We keep working, keep playing. We liked our game in the first period, so we just continued with that and ended up finding a way to win this game.”

Lesser teams might have folded at that point.

But the Lightning aren’t a lesser team.

They realized there was nothing fundamentally wrong with the way they were playing, they were just the recipients of a couple moments of misfortune. If their level of play continued throughout the game, things would even themselves out.

I get to watch them 100-plus times a year,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “So, it’s a lot of fun to be their coach. I’m not saying they don’t give you ulcers, but they just, there’s a quiet calm about …

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