Burns: 3 Things we learned from ending the brief skid

The Tampa Bay Lightning ended a two-game losing skid following a 4-3 victory over the Nashville Predators Saturday night at AMALIE Arena.
The Lightning exploded for four goals in the second period to take a 4-1 lead and control of the game then held on down the stretch as the Predators mounted a late comeback for a nerve-wracking final couple of minutes.

Four different Bolts scored goals for the Lightning, including Cal Foote, who netted the first of his NHL career in just his fourth game.
The Lightning remain perfect at home this season, moving to 3-0-0. Tampa Bay is 4-1-1 overall in 2020-21.
The Bolts and Preds conclude their two-game series Monday at AMALIE Arena, the second of four-straight games at home for Tampa Bay.
Here's how the Lightning started the homestand off on a positive note versus the Predators.

1. OPEN THE FLOODGATES
Tampa Bay entered Saturday's game having gone five-straight periods and a little bit of overtime without scoring a goal, a rarity for a team that's been among the NHL goal leaders for the last few seasons.
That scoring drought extended to six periods when the Lightning found themselves trailing 1-0 after 20 minutes against Nashville.
But once the Lightning found the back of the net in the second period, it didn't take them long to score a second.
And a third.
And a fourth.
Tyler Johnson broke the slump 3:33 into the second period on a power play, a rebound bouncing off to the side of the net for him to push home with Predators goalie Pekka Rinne out of position. That tied the game 1-1 and ended a stretch where the Lightning hadn't scored for 124:59 going back to the first period of last Saturday's 5-2 loss in Columbus.
Johnson scored his first goal of the season and his 29th career power-play marker.
"It's nice when you get those bounces," Johnson said. "I think Gourdo was able to just kind of put that over there to an empty net, so it's always nice when you get those. It's one of those things that you've just got to keep on working for them and eventually they come. So it's nice to get off the bat and hopefully we can just build off and go forward."
A little over three minutes later, Cal Foote blistered a one-timer from the left circle to score his first NHL goal and give the Lightning a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Victor Hedman added to the second period scoring frenzy at 8:05 with his wrist shot from the high slot that eluded Rinne, Alex Killorn in front of the net providing a screen to aid Hedman.
"When we're having success, we're shooting the puck, and we didn't shoot the puck in the first period," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "In some of these, in the first period against Carolina was the exact same thing. We're just leaving plays out there. And the other thing is, we're just not taking eyes away, so when you're letting goalies see pucks, they make saves. But I did think we were rewarded in the second period for our play."
Steven Stamkos capped the onslaught by doing his best Cal Foote imitation, housing a one-timer from the left circle on the power play to give the Bolts what, at the time, was a comfortable 4-1 lead.
Stamkos' goal was his 300th career power-play point, pulling him into a tie with Martin St. Louis as Tampa Bay's all-time power-play scoring leader.
"I think throughout the season you go through (scoring droughts) every once in a while where we thought we generated some pretty good chances in the other games but we wanted to do a little bit more," Johnson said. "In that second period, I think we were able to get a couple there, a couple bounces went our way and that's just kind of what happens."

2. PUTTING YOUR BEST FOOTE FORWARD
Cal Foote will forever remember January 30, 2021 and facing Nashville Predators goalie Pekka Rinne.
It's the date he scored his first career NHL goal and the opponent he did it against.
Foote has checked off a few firsts early in the 2020-21 season. He made his NHL debut Opening Night January 13 when Luke Schenn was unavailable due to salary cap/taxi squad maneuvering.
Four games later, he was able to beat Rinne with a one-timer from the left circle for his first goal and point in the NHL.
"Unbelievable," Foote said when asked what the moment meant to him. "You dream your whole life about scoring your first one, so I'll definitely remember that."
Foote's goal was a carbon copy of Steven Stamkos' patented one-timer from the left circle. Mikhail Sergachev slid a pass toward him from the point, and Foote drove a shot that beat Rinne at the near post.
"To be honest, when he shot, like it was zipping around and he shot that and went in the net and at the time I was like, 'Oh man, what a hell of a shot,'" Cooper recalled. "And I looked and was like, 'Geez, it was Footer.' You're following the game and stuff's going on. Extremely happy for him. I've been really fortunate to be able to watch a lot of guys score their first NHL goal. You're never going to forget it. It's too bad there weren't 19,000 people screaming when he did do it, but what an accomplishment."
Foote said one of Nashville's skaters broke his stick on the play, so he was able to take advantage of a scrambling Predators' defense.
"I had a little extra room, but I'm usually not that close to the net," he said. "I just wanted to get that on net and luckily it found it's way short side."
With Erik Cernak unable to play because of an upper-body injury, Foote has started three-straight games and is taking advantage of his opportunity. He played just 8:44 against Nashville, mainly because he doesn't figure in the Lightning's special teams units and Saturday's game featured 12 combined power plays. But he said the key for him is to stay positive, play simple and not get away from your role trying to make a big splash.
As for imitating Stamkos to score the first of his career?
"I watch him every day in practice do that, so I guess I'm just trying to learn from him," he said.

3. POWER PLAY FINDS A RHYTHM
Following Saturday's morning skate, Alex Killorn said the Lightning power play was struggling to find its groove because of the stop-start nature of the Bolts' season to date. Tampa Bay has had three of its first seven games postponed because of opponents' COVID-19 concerns, and the Lightning have found themselves off for stretches of five days or so without a game, keeping them from getting into the mode of playing every other day.
The power play suffered the most, Killorn said, because of the lack of reps against opponents. The Lightning haven't been awarded many power plays in the games they have played either, Jon Cooper pointing out they had the fewest power-play opportunities in the league entering Saturday's game.
Tampa Bay got plenty of chances with the man-advantage against Nashville, the Predators whistled for 10 total penalties, providing the Lightning with seven power plays during the game.
And the Bolts found their rhythm, too, scoring twice on the power play and threatening to pump in even more.
"We haven't had a chance to have a ton of work on the PP against other opponents, so it was good to get some reps," Cooper said. "They zipped it around pretty good. I think their confidence grew as the game went on."
Although they didn't score on it, Tampa Bay's first power play set the tone for the rest of the evening. The Lightning had three or four Grade-A opportunities but weren't able to cash in, Pekka Rinne fantastic in the first period to keep the Bolts off the scoreboard.
Tyler Johnson's power play goal in the second period got the Lightning offense going. And it provided the power play with a spark too.
"We started to just kind of create some shots, create some opportunities off of that, broke them down a little bit," Johnson said. "That's what we've talked about as a PP is getting those looks after shots, and that's kind of what we did today."
Stamkos added a power-play goal later in the second period, capping a four-goal period for the Bolts. In all, the power play went 2-for-7 and struck multiple times for the second time this season (also: Jan. 13 vs. Chicago).
"I liked a lot of things that went on," Cooper said. "I think it was good that second group hadn't been out there a ton, so it was nice for them to score and Johnny get his first of year."