Burns: 3 Things we learned from coming within one win of the Stanley Cup

The Tampa Bay Lightning are one win away from repeating as Stanley Cup champions.
The Lightning took a 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final after going to the Bell Centre in Montreal and doubling up the Canadiens 6-3 in Game 3 Friday night to grab a stranglehold on the best-of-seven series.
The Bolts will have four opportunities to go back-to-back and lift the Stanley Cup for a second-straight year. The first comes Monday in Game 4 at Montreal.

Tampa Bay has never lost a playoff series when up three-games-to-none, going 3-0 in the previous three instances. In two, the Lightning have completed the sweep. Only one time were the Lightning extended beyond four games, that coming in a 2015 Eastern Conference Semifinal series against Montreal, the Canadiens winning Game 4 at AMALIE Arena and Game 5 in Montreal before the Lightning closed out the series on home ice.
The Lightning have been business-like in their approach to the 2021 Cup Final. They've never trailed in the series and are one of four teams since the NHL's expansion era (from 1967-68) to go up 3-0 in a series without ever falling behind, joining 2012 Los Angeles, 1977 Montreal and 1969 Montreal. Despite the series shifting to Montreal for Game 3 and facing a desperate Canadiens team, Tampa Bay was locked in from the start, scoring the opening two goals in the first 3:27 to grab control.
The Canadiens pushed back, as expected.
The Lightning pushed back harder.
Tyler Johnson scored a pair of goals, the Lightning got two more from the blue line and the Bolts were never really in danger of losing Game 3 when they got off to their hot start.
They're now just one win away from becoming the first team to win two-straight Cups since Pittsburgh in 2016 and 2017 and the second this century.
They're one win away from being "special," as head coach Jon Cooper has implored his team to embrace throughout this playoff run.
"We're not there yet," Victor Hedman said. "We put ourselves in a good position obviously, but the fourth one is the hardest one to get. We're going to do whatever it takes to win the next game…We've got more work to do, and we're not satisfied until we're done."

1. THE BOLTS SMELLED BLOOD
Early in Game 3, the Lightning already owning a 2-0 lead in the Cup Final after decisive 5-1 and 3-1 victories at home to start the series, NBC color commentator Eddie Olczyk said it looked like the Lightning wanted to win the Cup tonight.
Tampa Bay scored twice before the first media timeout, twice before even four minutes had elapsed to take complete command of Game 3 and the series.
Just 1:52 into the contest, the Lightning struck first, scoring the opening goal like they've done 17 times through 21 games this postseason, winning 15 of them when they do so. Jan Rutta, who already had two shots in the first 100 seconds of the game, got the puck again on the right point and aimed a shot at the far upper corner that was too precise for Montreal goalie Carey Price to stop, putting the Bolts in front 1-0.
Rutta became the first player in NHL history to score a regular season or playoff goal in the month of July.
He wouldn't be the last.
And it wouldn't take long for him to have company.
A little over a minute after Rutta put the Lightning in front 1-0, Eric Staal played a puck over the glass from his own end for a delay of game penalty to send Tampa Bay on the power play.
The Lightning wasted little time making the Canadiens pay for the mistake.
The puck worked its way over to Victor Hedman center point, who had a clear lane to shoot and took it. So often this postseason, he's deferred to Steven Stamkos in the left circle and Nikita Kucherov in the right because of their world-class ability to score or create goals.
But Hedman had a shoot-first mentality on this power play, and his rip was slowed by Price but not stopped, the puck trickling over the line to put Tampa Bay ahead 2-0 just 3:27 into the contest.
For a Montreal team that was already reeling having played a much better Game 2 but still coming up empty despite the Lightning not bringing their 'A' game, falling behind 2-0 so quickly was extremely demoralizing.
"It was huge," Hedman said of the first two goals. "We wanted to have a fast start. We knew they were going to come out. We got a good start. Got a power play and scored right away. Tremendous start, and then I think they kind of took over in the first. But we came out with the lead. It was a good start. I thought we set the tone."

2. JOHNNY B. GOODE
The 2020-21 season was one filled with a number of professional challenges for Lightning forward Tyler Johnson.
One of the core pieces of the current Lightning team, Johnson was thought to have played his last game for Tampa Bay in Game 6 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Final, what with the Lightning's salary cap issues heading into the offseason and the need to shed contracts like Johnson's.
Almost daily, there was a new rumor of where Johnson might land or speculation the Lightning were trying to rid of him.
Nikita Kucherov's hip surgery and subsequent need to be placed on LTIR for the entirety of the regular season alleviated some of those cap concerns, enough so that losing one (or even two) of Johnson, Alex Killorn, Ondrej Palat and Yanni Gourde, thought to be a foregone conclusion going into the offseason, was no longer necessary.
But for the Lightning to remain under the salary cap and continue to navigate that line of being cap compliant throughout the season, they had to do some unorthodox things. Like waiving Johnson and Luke Schenn before the start of the season, meaning both veterans would miss the season opener January 13 versus Chicago, a night the Lightning would unveil their championship banner.
Johnson and Schenn returned to the Lightning for the next game. And Johnson played every other game of the regular season, missing only the opener. Still, it had to be a tough pill to swallow for a Lightning veteran who's done so much for the organization. Johnson is still the only player to score a hat trick in a playoff game (Game 2 of the 2015 Eastern Conference Final versus the Rangers). And had he not gotten hurt toward the end of the Rangers series that postseason, limiting his effectiveness in the Stanley Cup Final versus Chicago, there's a good chance he wins the Conn Smythe Trophy and the Lightning are talking about being on the cusp of winning their fourth Stanley Cup instead of third right now.
Johnson never let the rumors, uncertainty and setbacks take away his focus. He continued to be a professional and a great teammate on and off the ice.
"There's a reason Tyler Johnson's trophy case is fairly full, and it's because he's an ultimate team player," Cooper said. "He's selfless. There was a time in this organization when we needed to take another step, and Tyler Johnson was one of the leaders in that. He's just carried that on for years now. As teams change and they evolve and the salary cap, there's issues, guys are coming up but there was one thing we never lost faith in Tyler Johnson. He never lost faith in himself. Roles change and you have to adapt, and nobody's done it better than Tyler. I couldn't be more happy for somebody, and I know that his teammates were for his performance tonight and being rewarded for everything he's gone through. I'm extremely happy for the win. I might be a little happier for Tyler Johnson."
Johnson scored two goals, important goals, to pace the Lightning victory.
With Tampa Bay up 3-1 in the second period after Nikita Kucherov converted a 2-on-0 with Ondrej Palat to re-establish its two-goal lead 1:40 in, Johnson pushed the advantage to 4-1 less than two minutes later.
Mathieu Joseph, playing a second-straight game in place of an injured Alex Killorn, got the puck on a 2-on-1 with Johnson and shot from the left wing. The rebound shot out, caroming off a body in front, right to Johnson to backhand into the net.
The Lightning scored the opening two goals of the game 3:27 into the first period.
They needed just 3:33 of the second period to score two more.
"Jo made a great play on the first one," Johnson said. "Actually, everyone on the ice on a breakout started that whole thing. We played well there."
Nick Suzuki scored at 18:04 of the second period to give Montreal a bit of life at 4-2 heading into the third.
Johnson took it away with his second goal with 4:41 remaining.
Joseph forechecked relentlessly to force a Montreal turnover, Johnson stealing the puck at the blue line and carrying it into the zone with speed. His initial shot from the high slot was stopped by Price, but not held onto. Johnson pounced on the rebound, sending it into the back of the net to make it 5-2 Lightning.
That was essentially the end of the road for Montreal in Game 3.
"He's been playing well for us and today had a hell of a game," Kucherov said of Johnson. "Two huge goals for us. He's that type of player that likes to play under pressure. He's been huge for us."
With Killorn out, Johnson moved up to the wing on the second line, but Cooper liked Johnson better at center and brought him back down to the fourth line in Game 3, sending Ross Colton up to skate with Anthony Cirelli and Steven Stamkos.
The move worked. Colton fit in well with Cirelli and Stamkos with his determination and shoot-first mentality. The rookie has yet to look out of place anywhere he's been sent this season. And Johnson was able to create more from his natural position.
"The biggest thing for me was getting him back in the middle," Cooper said. "That's where he has his success. Put him on the wing the other night, his minutes were going to go up, but I just didn't feel he's going to be the same Tyler Johnson as when he's playing center. He understands his minutes are going to go down if he's playing where he is, but success will follow. We've gone through ups and downs together, but I think there's some trust there because I trust him. When you've been with somebody for a decade, it doesn't feel like it. It's crazy to say that out loud. It's been a little success with our team and sometimes when you're the head coach you get some praise, but it's really on the players and it's guys like Tyler Johnson that have really took our team to a new level and now in a little bit of a different role he's still having a positive impact. Good guys get rewarded, and he's being rewarded."

3. DEFENSEMEN GETTING OFFENSIVE
Tampa Bay defensemen were maligned earlier this postseason, not because their play defensively had taken a hit but because they had failed to find the back of the net.
Through the first 12 games of the postseason, which included all of the First Round versus Florida and Second Round against Carolina, the Lightning didn't get a single goal from a defenseman.
It really didn't matter though as the Lightning won both series rather handily as forwards like Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Steven Stamkos were doing all the heavy lifting.
When the stat was brought to the Bolts' attention prior to Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Semifinal versus New York Islanders, it was almost like they made it their mission to put it to bed, Jan Rutta and Victor Hedman coming out later that night and finding the back of the net to break the skid.
And since then, Bolts blueliners have continued to contribute heavily to the attack.
None more so than in Game 3 at Montreal, however.
Rutta scored the opening goal 1:52 into the contest followed by Hedman's power-play goal at 3:27.
"Roots, hell of a shot, moving screen in front," Hedman said. "And then on the power play, same thing, good screen and you've got to shoot the puck to have a chance for it to go in."
After Montreal cut the lead to 2-1 late in the first, Erik Cernak caught Montreal in a change early in the second, sending a puck up ahead for Ondrej Palat to ignite a 2-on-0, Palat dishing off to his right for Kucherov to backhand in and re-establish the Bolts' two-goal lead.
On Tampa Bay's fourth goal, David Savard tallied the second assist, giving all six defensemen who have played at least one point in the Stanley Cup Final.
"It's huge for us, and I think it's been a big identity of our team, especially the last couple years in that when we play defense, it's all five games, and when we play offense, it's all five guys," Johnson said. "We have a lot of guys back there that really can shoot the puck. They're smart. They get into open areas and are really able to find everything. As a forward, it's nice when we have that skill back there when we can kind of rely on a little bit and makes the game a lot easier for us."
Friday, four of the six defensemen got on the scoresheet, combining for two goals and three assists. They were a major driver of the offense in a game where Tampa Bay exploded for six goals.
"We've really liked the way our D have played," Cooper said. "Would you like to see them be rewarded a little more for their offense? For sure, but they're defending, they're breaking pucks out, they're making the right reads and a big part of why we had success tonight."