Burns: Three Things we learned from beating the Panthers

Tampa Bay extended its season-long point streak to seven games after knocking off the Florida Panthers 3-2 in overtime at AMALIE Arena Saturday night.
The Lightning are 5-0-2 over their last seven games. They've taken at least a point from eight of their last nine contests, going 5-1-3 since October 23.

The Bolts went to overtime for the third time in the last four games but were able to get two points Saturday night after failing to do so in the previous two. Both teams had chances in the extra session. Victor Hedman missed on a breakaway opportunity. Seconds later, Andrei Vasilevskiy shut down Aaron Ekblad's potential game-winner with a gloved robbery of the Cats defenseman.
Soon after, Ondrej Palat stole the puck from former teammate Carter Verhaeghe near the goal line, spotted a wide-open Brayden Point alone at the opposite blue line and threaded a pass right onto his stick to ignite a breakaway Point was able to convert for the game-winner.
Point now has eight overtime goals in his career, tied for third most in Lightning history behind only Martin St. Louis (10) and Steven Stamkos (9).
Tampa Bay has played the top two teams in the NHL standings in each of the last two games. Both went to overtime. The Lightning got a point against the Carolina Hurricanes. And they took two from the Panthers.
Three out of four points from two division leaders is a good way to start a lengthy stretch of games at home.
Here's how the Bolts were able to grab two against the Panthers.

1. POINT HAS THE CLUTCH GENE
It seems the higher the stakes, the more likely Brayden Point will make a play to help his team prevail.
Saturday's game against Florida was just regular season game No. 13 of an 82-game schedule. Sure, it's important to beat the in-state rival, but it's not critical.
Not at this time of year anyway.
But Point was seething from an incident earlier in the game when he got tangled up with Patric Hornqvist behind the play. The two were preventing each other from getting untangled until Point got fed up and dropped the gloves, both skaters furiously throwing punches, Point seemingly catching Hornqvist off guard with how ferociously he fought.
"They just happen. It's hockey," Point said about the fight after the game. "Sometimes, tempers flare. I know mine was, I don't know if his was as much. I just asked him to go, and he goes. We throw a couple, and that's it."
The two were seen laughing the incident off while chatting it up from their respective penalty boxes. But Point played angry the rest of the night. And that seemed to give him and the Lightning a lift.
"Pointer's an emotional player," Victor Hedman said. "The (madder) he is, the better he plays. He's not going to back down from anyone."
Should be no surprise then it was Point who would score the game-winner, ending a four-game regular season losing skid to the Panthers.
After the two teams traded great scoring chances only to be denied, Point camped out at the blue line expecting his teammates to win the puck in the defensive zone. Ondrej Palat stripped Carter Verhaeghe at the goal line, came around behind the goal and spotted Point all alone at the opposite blue line.
"I was kind of coming late off a change, so they had beat me up ice," Point explained. "Kind of risky, but you're kind of hoping he's going to make a play. He does and finds me. It's just one of those plays where it just works out."
Palat's stretch pass hit Point on the tape. He turned up ice with all kinds of time and space, made a move in tight on Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and lifted a backhander over him to send the AMALIE Arena crowd into a frenzy.
"I was trying to read the goalie, where he's at in the net and make a move and commit to it," Point said.
Hedman had a chance to end the game earlier on a breakaway. He made a great move at the net to pull Bobrovsky out but couldn't get his backhand chance at the far post to go.
Point made sure his attempt would secure both points for the Bolts.
Hedman was asked what it was like to see Point with that much time and space on a breakaway.
"It's better than having me," the defenseman joked. "I tried to go to the backhand, but it didn't really work. Give that to the specialist. Positions like that, more often than not it's going to end up in the back of the net. Great move by him and big two points for us."

2. VASILEVSKIY CONTINUES TO AMAZE
It seems at least once every game, Andrei Vasilevskiy makes a save that requires the media to ask his teammates and head coach Jon Cooper about it in the post-game media sessions.
It's gotten to be a bit of a game. How many different ways can you ask someone how amazing a save was?
But the question is warranted because, well, Vasilevskiy just continues to make them.
His stop of Aaron Ekblad in the overtime session when the teams were trading chances was the play of the game.
"It was a big momentum swing," Hedman said. "We've seen him do that before. Doesn't make it any less impressive. Huge saves for us and big goal a couple seconds later."
On the play, Jonathan Huberdeau had the puck and was skating into the left circle toward the net. Ekblad came streaking down the right side toward the back post undetected by the Lightning. Huberdeau fed him with a perfect pass. Ekblad got off a good shot, but Vasilevskiy was able to read the play, slide over and block the shot away with his glove.
"That was incredible," Point admitted. "Three-on-two, they make a sauce pass, Ekblad puts it upstairs, and he's able to come across with the glove. I don't know, you can't do much more. The goalie makes a great save. Vasy makes those seem routine, but they're definitely not. Saved the game for us, and it ends up we get the two points because of it."
Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said he thought in real time Ekblad wasn't able to elevate the puck and that's why Vasilevskiy was able to make the incredible save look so effortless.
But after watching the play again after the game, he realized just how difficult of a stop it was.
"That's why you want your guy," Cooper said. "We've just had the luxury of watching him for a long time."
With the overtime victory, Vasilevskiy extended his unbeaten in regulation run to seven games, going 4-0-3 since October 23. He's given up two or fewer goals in six-consecutive starts.

3. BOGO IMPRESSES IN RETURN
Lightning defenseman Zach Bogosian hadn't played since Opening Night on October 12 when he suffered a lower-body injury blocking a shot in the first period.
Bogosian's initial timetable was a return in four to six weeks. Four weeks and a couple days after sustaining the injury, Bogosian was able to get back on the ice for Saturday's contest against Florida, and none too soon considering Erik Cernak is now week-to-week with an upper-body injury he picked up in Tuesday's Carolina game.
Bogosian helped to steady the Bolts' back end with Cernak out, sliding right into his spot alongside Ryan McDonagh as the shut down pairing. Bogosian skated over 18 minutes, assisted on Victor Hedman's second-period goal that gave the Lightning a 2-0 lead and skated well against a Florida team that will challenge even the fleetest-of-foot defenseman.
"Bogo hasn't played in a while, but I thought he played great," Hedman said. "Stayed patient in his game and made the easy plays and played a lot of minutes."
The Lightning got Mikhail Sergachev back on Saturday after he served a two-game suspension stemming from an illegal check to the head he laid on Mitch Marner November 4 in Toronto. Sergachev was solid in his return, playing nearly 23-and-a-half minutes.
"They're steady guys, and you know what you're going to get from them: work hard, block shots, make plays, make the right plays," Point said about Bogosian and Sergachev. "Definitely nice to have those guys back. They do calm things down back there."
Boris Katchouk also played in his first game since October 25 coming off a lower-body injury and made an impact in his return. Katchouk notched the primary assist on Hedman's goal for his first career NHL point in his fifth game. And his line along with Ross Colton and Taylor Raddysh was one of the Bolts' best throughout the contest.
"That line was excellent," Cooper said. "They competed. They were on pucks."