Burns: Three Things we learned from a comeback in Montreal

The Tampa Bay Lightning didn't play their best game Tuesday night in Montreal.
Far from it, in fact.
They were sluggish at the start. A depleted Canadiens team was determined in their rematch of last season's Stanley Cup Final. The Habs took a 2-1 lead 7:08 into the second period on a Mike Hoffman blast, and it appeared that lead would hold as they took it deep into the third.
But in the closing minutes, Lightning struck, Corey Perry tying the game on an extra-attacker goal with 2:09 remaining.
And then it struck again, Ondrej Palat netting the game-winner with 38 seconds remaining, completing a stunning rally for the Bolts in a 3-2 victory in Montreal, their fourth-straight win - a season long for a win streak - and fifth-consecutive game with a point.

"I guess good teams find a way to win, and we found a way to win tonight," said Lightning forward Patrick Maroon, who scored the game-opening goal 10:31 into the contest for his second-straight game with a goal.
The game-tying and game-winning goals for the Bolts were scored 1:31 apart.
"It wasn't a perfect game, but we have two points on the road," Palat said. "I'll take it."
The Lightning are 3-0-0 on their five-game road trip. They'll face a stiff challenge in their next contest Thursday when they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena, where they lost 2-1 in overtime earlier this season.
Montreal provided an unexpectedly stern test too for the Bolts on Tuesday.
Here's how the Lightning passed.

1. THE FINAL MINUTES
It took a while for the Lightning to find their game, but it reappeared in the third period when they were finally able to possess the puck for long stretches in the offensive zone and create some decent scoring chances.
Problem was, it seemed it might be a case of too little, too late.
Montreal was defending well like it did throughout the night and goalie Jake Allen, who's had success against the Lightning in the past, was giving them fits once again.
With 2:40 left in the contest and still trailing 2-1, the Lightning pulled goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy in favor of the extra attacker. Montreal nearly sealed the game moments later, a stretch pass for an open Jonathan Drouin missing the former Bolt by a foot or so, the puck going behind the net where the Lightning were able to regain possession.
"It's been a weird year," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "I don't think in my coaching career I've had to pull the goalie as much as we pulled this year. We've scored a bunch of 6-on-5 goals. We had a bunch of empty-net goals. They had a chance on the 6-on-5 and a puck just is out of reach. So, they kind of put themselves in position and it just didn't go in. And fortunately for us we were able to come back."
The Lightning got the puck back in the offensive zone and got set up with the extra attacker. Steven Stamkos received a pass along the left wall. He spotted Corey Perry on the back post and threaded a pass through a host of bodies to get it to him. The puck took a deflection off a Montreal stick, but it still got to Perry, who was able to redirect the pass with his leg past Allen.
"It was a hell of a pass by Stammer," Pat Maroon said. "Obviously, we know he's a goal scorer. He's an elite goal scorer in this league, but there's a reason why he's an elite player. He's got good vision. You can't really relax on those kind of players."
With the game now tied, it seemed the Lightning had salvaged a point from what had been a mediocre performance.
But the Lightning went ahead and took both points, denying Montreal of anything when it probably deserved to gain something from the contest.
In the final minute, Anthony Cirelli banked a pass off the boards into the neutral zone for Alex Killorn with speed. Killorn carried the puck into the offensive zone, surveyed his options and passed to the front of the net for Ondrej Palat, who outraced two Canadiens to get on the other end and send the game-winner past Allen.
Palat netted his fourth game-winning goal of the season, most on the Lightning.
"Killorn made a great play, it was kind of a 2-on-1 and I scored," Palat said. "I thought we did a good job last 10 minutes."

2. BOGOSIAN PROVIDES A SPARK
With the Lightning sluggish through the first 30 minutes of the game and trailing 2-1, Zach Bogosian provided the spark they needed to get back to their game.
He did so by sticking up for a teammate.
Anthony Cirelli carried the puck into the offensive zone and cut back toward the wall. As he did so, Alexander Romanov stuck his foot out a bit as Cirelli went by, tripping the Lightning forward skate-on-skate.
Bogosian saw this and immediately went after Romanov to make him answer for the questionable play. Both players dropped the gloves. The bout was short, but the message had been sent.
Bogosian would have to sit out 17 minutes as he was assessed a five-minute major for fighting, a two-minute instigator and a 10-minute misconduct. Although he wasn't on the ice all that much in Montreal as a result, he still managed to have a major impact on the game, especially when the Lightning were in a funk.
"I thought Bogo kind of changed the momentum there after the hit on Cirelli," Pat Maroon said. "I think it kind of gave us some life there. The last eight minutes of the second period there, we got back to our game and shorted the third. We played a lot of offense in the third period."
From the point of Bogosian's fight with Romanov, the game changed. The Canadiens weren't nearly as dangerous as they had been through the first 35 minutes or so of the game. And the Lightning were starting to possess the puck for stretches in the offensive zone, something they weren't able to do much of in the first half of the contest.
"I think we just played our game," Palat said. "At the end of the second, we started shooting the puck and creating a little bit more offense and being on the puck. We got better as the game went on."

3. PERRY HEARS THE BOOS
Pat Maroon said he was shocked to hear Montreal Canadiens supporters booing Corey Perry during Tuesday night's contest.
Perry played on the Canadiens last season and was an important piece in helping them reach the Stanley Cup Final.
But that didn't seem to matter to the Habs faithful. All they saw was a player that used to be on their team now on the opposition, and they let Perry hear it.
"I think the boos were probably unexpected for what he did for this club, not only for the locker room but during the playoffs and the regular season," Maroon said.
Whether or not the hostile reaction to his Montreal return fueled Perry is unknown as he wasn't one of the players available to media following the game. But the way he played Tuesday's game certainly suggested he was put off by the negative response.
Perry led the Lightning for shots with four. He was dangerous around the net all night. He created scoring chances with his skill and resourcefulness. Earlier in the game, he took a puck down the right wing, cut to the net, fended off Montreal defenseman Ben Chiarot on his back, then spun around in the low slot and fired off a shot Allen had to make a great save on to keep out.
Perry wouldn't be denied later in the contest, however. With the Lightning working desperately to try to tie the game, Perry was on the receiving end of a Steven Stamkos sauced pass. The puck hit a Montreal stick and then ricocheted off Perry's leg into the back of the net, the game now level 2-2 at 17:51 of the third period.
"He's got an aura about him," Cooper said. "So, when he walks in the room, he's got a pedigree so people perk up a little bit when he's around the room. To me, Corey Perry just makes sense. Everything he says makes sense. There's no fluff to him. There's no BS. He tells it how it is in a way that, 'You know what, you're right. This is what we should be doing.' That's somebody that's been around the league and has won a little bit in his time and why winning follows that guy around."
Perry netted his third goal over the last two games. He has points in seven of the last nine contests. All six of his goals have come in the last eight games.
Remember when he had so much trouble scoring early in the season? Perry registered just one point in the first 16 games.
Now, you can't keep the veteran forward off the scoresheet.
"He's been on a tear here lately, and it's been fun to watch," Maroon said.