Burns: 3 Things we learned from an epic 5OT victory

The Tampa Bay Lightning played over eight periods of hockey and competed in the fourth-longest game in NHL history in their series-opening, five-overtime, 3-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Despite playing nearly three full games on Tuesday, they'll only get credit for one win.

But, oh, what a win it was.

Brayden Point scored the game-winning goal at 10:27 of the fifth overtime, ending a contest that lasted 150:27 in length and kept establishing new NHL records as the overtimes continued to pile up.

Tampa Bay had 88 shots on net, the most ever in a NHL game, regular season or playoffs, according to the League record book which began tracking the stat in 1959-60. The Lightning played their longest game in franchise history, moving well beyond the three overtimes they played against New Jersey in Game 5 of a 2003 Eastern Conference Semifinal.

Tampa Bay's contest against Columbus lasted so long, Game 1 of the Boston Bruins-Carolina Hurricanes game, which was supposed to start at 8 p.m., had to be pushed back to 11 a.m. Wednesday because the Bolts and Blue Jackets were still on the ice.

"I'll give you a funny story, we were close to the Boston coaches room, when we went into overtime, I peeked, their door was open and I said, 'Well, it's either going to end early or they go long,'" Cooper recalled. "That's pretty much how overtime is. And sure enough, I think it was before the fifth overtime, they were packing up their bags and said, 'You're right, Coop. It's going long.'"

It took longer than they expected, but the Lightning outlasted Columbus in Game 1, ending a six-game skid in best-of-seven series games, that stretch including last year's four-game sweep at the hands of the Blue Jackets.

The Lightning finally got that first win over Columbus out of the way.

Now they can set about winning a series.

"It was a good step for us but let us not forget we played two games but it only counts as one," Cooper said. "These are best-of-sevens, so there's a long way to go in this series. But for us to get one just the way we did it, it'll give us confidence moving forward that you're being rewarded for all the work and the discipline and the mental fortitude going forward."

1. THE GAME-WINNER
By the time the second overtime turned to the third, and then the fourth, and finally the fifth, it became clear neither goaltender was going to give an inch.

Columbus netminder Joonas Korpisalo set a NHL record for saves in a game, stopping an incredible 85 shots. Andrei Vasilevskiy wasn't too far off his pace, the Bolts goalie making 61-of-63 saves to just nudge Nikolai Khabibulin's 60-save effort in a 3OT Game 6 of the Lightning's first playoff series win in the 2003 First Round against Washington from the top of the Lightning record book for most playoff saves.

More than likely, the game-winning goal was going to come off a fluky play, hopefully more so a skilled play than someone's mistake, an error that would likely haunt that player for the rest of their career.

Fortunately, that didn't happen.

But the game-ender was one that was produced from an odd bounce that ended up in a fortuitous position for the Lightning.

Nikita Kucherov took an initial shot on the scoring play, a one-timer from the top of the right circle that was blocked by the foot of David Savard.

Ryan McDonagh got to the rebound and slipped the puck back to Kucherov for another one-timer, this one missing wildly and ricocheting off the shoulder of Vladislav Gavrikov.

The second rebound came out to Brayden Point at the top of the circles. With the tiniest bit of time to shoot, something that was a precious commodity as the game wore on, Point slung a wrist shot at the net that beat Korpisalo over the right shoulder.

"I just see a rolling puck come to me, and I just throw one on net," Point said. "I'm not even really aiming. Just fling one there and lucky enough it finds a corner."

Point's winner set off a raucous Lightning celebration against the wall, Point jumping and pumping his fist in the air simultaneously, the Bolts spilling off the bench to dogpile him against the wall, the group jumping up and down in unison in their excitement.
"At that point, we're all exhausted," Yanni Gourde said. "We're all hoping for a goal. When we saw that shot go in, that was a lot of emotion. It was pretty fun to be a part of it."

The goal came right after the mid-period scrape of the ice. Columbus had just iced the puck. The Blue Jackets had three defensemen on the ice and couldn't change. They got an extra-long breather with the ice scrape, but they had an uneven personnel unit on the ice, and the Lightning were able to take advantage.

"It was three periods in row, they iced the puck at the shovel break, which gives them a break, but they can't change," Cooper said. "And they had three D on the ice. So we tried to find something to expose that."

That's when Kucherov just started flinging pucks on net and one of the rebounds eventually ended up on the stick of Point, and his shot ended the fourth-longest game in NHL history.

"It cups on his stick and has to be an excellent shot to beat either one of the goalies tonight," Cooper said. "And that's what happened and pretty euphoric time for us."

2. STICKING TO THE PROGRAM
In the Lightning locker room between each overtime session, Cooper had one major point he emphasized to his team.

"Don't sacrifice defense for offense," Cooper recalled. "I must have said that 100 times."

Through each of the five overtimes, the Lightning's attention to detail never dipped. They stayed above their man. They got pucks deep. The blocked shots and closed off passing lanes and made sure nearly every Columbus attempt came from distance.

"Doing all the things that aren't flashy, that's basically what it is," Cooper said. "It's not the most fun way to play, but it's the winning way to play, especially if you want to get through games like that.

"The game becomes a little bit of who blinks first."

Past playoff teams under Cooper might not have been able to play such disciplined, structured hockey for over 150 minutes. Someone might get mentally tired, try to make a hero play that isn't there that leads to a good scoring chance for the other team.

Remarkably, the Lightning rarely did that over the five overtime periods versus Columbus. And when they did, like when Kucherov made an ill-advised pass at the blue line on a power play in the fifth overtime that led to a break the other way, the Lightning were able to cover for their mistake, in this case, Victor Hedman chasing down Cam Atkinson before he could get a shot off, reaching around him with his long stick to knock the puck away and keep the game going.

The Lightning kept grinding, and grinding, and grinding.

And had faith in their game plan that eventually they would be rewarded.

"If there's anything that this team has grown, it was just sticking to the program," Cooper said. "And it's so hard to do when there's so much mental stress. Like your body is seizing up. I'm sure guys are cramping and all the things that are happening and you have to somehow mentally keep your focus. So we focused on just little things."

A mentally weak team would have taken a play off and would have gotten burned for it.

The Lightning, by playing five overtimes and not deviating from their structure or their game plan, proved they have the toughness to sustain, no matter how tiring the circumstances.

"There's no way to prepare for a game that goes that long," Point said. "I thought we did a good job of just competing and keeping our feet moving. So did they. They played fantastic as well. And it was a good game. I thought it was a close game. But I don't think you're focusing on the end result, you're just focusing on how you're playing and what you need to do on that next shift."

The Lightning kept focusing on the next shift, and eventually Point made his shift the last shift.

3. HEDMAN THE HORSE
To most observers, Victor Hedman probably wasn't going to be ready for Game 1 of the Tampa Bay-Columbus First Round series.

The Lightning superstar defenseman and Norris Trophy finalist was injured in the final round robin game against Philadelphia three nights earlier after getting his feet tangled underneath him. When the mild-mannered Hedman slammed his stick five times against the arena railing on his way down the locker room tunnel, snapping it in half, most Bolts fans figured Hedman knew he might be out for an extended period and was letting that frustration out.

Cooper told media Monday before Tampa Bay's practice session he didn't have an update on Hedman, furthering speculation.

But when the teams came out onto the ice for Game 1 warmups, there was Hedman, skating as freely and effortlessly as he ever has.

Hedman gave the Lightning a scare, but when the puck was dropped on the Bolts' opening round series, he was ready.

"It looked ugly on video when we saw it, but he found a way to get back in there and compete," Cooper said. "We were checking on him all the time to see if he was okay, and he just kept saying, 'Keep putting me out there.' And we did. It's crazy that he almost played a full game in two, it's crazy."

Hedman finished with an incredible 57:38 of time on ice, more than anyone on the Lightning and more than he would typically play over two games.

That he was as much of a difference maker in the 57th minute as he was in the first says a lot about the peak physical shape the Swedish defenseman keeps himself in as well as the diligence he displayed being ready for Game 1 against the Blue Jackets.

"I was a little nervous when it happened last game, but at the end of the day it's playoffs and it's going to take a lot for someone to sit out," Hedman said. "It felt better, and I was ready to go. Never in my mind did I think today was going to be eight periods, but it actually felt pretty good and super excited and excited for the next one."

Hedman provided the second assist on Tampa Bay's opening goal, an important answer for the Lightning after falling behind 2:39 into the contest on Pierre-Luc Dubois' power-play goal. Hedman sent a puck on net from the point that rebounded out to Kucherov, who quick-fired on goal with Point there to jam the puck through Korpisalo.

"He's one of the best defensemen in the world," Barclay Goodrow said. "If he's in your lineup, he makes a world of difference. He had a great game tonight. He was amazing. For the amount of minutes he plays, he makes things look easy out there."

Having Hedman back for Game 1 was a big boost for the Lightning. And seeing him skate nearly 60 minutes without any trouble should give Bolts fans a sigh of relief he'll be fine for the remainder of the series.