Burns: Three things we learned from an OT win heading into the break

Tampa Bay didn't want to head into the All-Star break on a negative playing their final game Tuesday against the San Jose Sharks before extended time off.
Victor Hedman made sure they wouldn't.

The Lightning defenseman scored 2:45 into overtime, flicking a shot from the high slot that knuckled over the glove of Sharks goalie James Reimer to secure the Bolts' 30th win of the season, Tampa Bay one of five teams to reach the 30-win mark by the All-Star break.
The Lightning move to 30-10-6 (66 pts.) on the season. They completed their three-game homestand with a 2-0-1 record.
"I really liked the way we played in that third period," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. "We get a nice break in overtime there, but I thought we earned it."
Tampa Bay never trailed in the contest but twice had a one-goal lead erased by the Sharks, who forced overtime on Logan Couture's power-play goal 1:12 into the third period to tie the game 2-2.
The Lightning have now won five in a row over the Sharks by a combined score of 26-7. The Bolts have swept the season series from the Sharks in two-consecutive season and three of the last four, the 2020-21 season not included due to no interdivisional play.
Tampa Bay's non All-Stars will get six full days off before the team practices again Tuesday, February 8 in preparation for rescheduled games against the Colorado Avalanche (Feb. 10), Arizona Coyotes (Feb. 11) and New Jersey Devils (Feb. 15).
Here's why they should feel good about themselves during the pause following another hard-fought victory in a season filled with them.

1. EXTRA TIME IS OUR TIME
Tampa Bay has competed in more games beyond regulation than nearly every other team in the NHL, the Lightning playing more than 60 minutes for the 15th time this season Tuesday night, tied for second in the League for most overtime/shootout contests.
The Lightning have also won more of those overtime games than nearly every other NHL team.
Tuesday's win was another in a long line of overtime successes for the Bolts this season. Tampa Bay improved to 7-2 in overtime contests following the 3-2 win over the Sharks, tied with Detroit for the most overtime wins this season. The Lightning's plus-five win-loss differential in overtime games is tops in the League.
"I think we have a lot of skill up front and on our back end," Anthony Cirelli said, explaining why the Lightning have had so much success in overtime. "With the open end, it allows our skill guys to make plays and you see Pointer, Pally, Stammer up the ice, and Heddy, he gets the winner there. And I think a huge part is Vasy back there. He's making unbelievable saves for us. Obviously, they're going to get some chances 3-on-3 and he's always there to bail us out and give us a chance to win."
Tampa Bay dominated the overtime session against the Sharks. Before Hedman's game-winner Brayden Point had a golden opportunity on a rush chance but couldn't get the puck to settle on his stick properly and sent a shot wide of the target.
Moments later, Hedman saw his opportunity to end the game. He led a three-on-two rush into the offensive zone, waited, took the open space in front of him and put a puck on net that found a way past Reimer.
"We play overtime like we play the rest of the game, we stay patient, wait for our chances and then we capitalized," Hedman said. "That's been kind of the motto going into the 3-on-3: stay patient, don't force anything and just try to tire the other team out and be there when you get the chance."

2. HEDING THE WAY
Near the end of the regulation, Bally Sports Sun color commentator Brian Engblom predicted on air Victor Hedman would make an impact on the game in a way that could potentially win the game for the Lightning.
Engblom was spot on with his assessment.
Hedman was the catalyst for the Lightning's 3-2 overtime victory, making the play defensively to start the scoring play and scoring the game-winning goal without any help.
At least, not from any of his teammates.
Midway through the overtime session, the Sharks' Alexander Barabanov tried to enter the offensive zone along the wall, but Hedman cut him off before he could cross the blue line and stole the puck to start back the other way.
With a 3-on-2 numbers advantage, Hedman carved his way through the neutral zone, cutting to the middle of the ice once he entered the O-zone to survey his options. With Cirelli skating in front of him to the net and Steven Stamkos off on his right wing, Hedman called his own number and wristed a shot on net that seemed to have eyes the way it eluded the glove of James Reimer.
Hedman thought his shot took a fortunate deflection off a Sharks skate or blade to redirect it just enough past Reimer.
Replay, however, seemed to show Hedman's shot just caught Reimer off guard as he was likely distracted because Stamkos was barreling down on his back post.
"Tried to find Stammer back door but someone reached in and got a stick on it and got a fortunate bounce going post in," Hedman said, explaining what he saw on the game-winner. "I was a little frustrated there at the end of the third when I went bar down and kind of stayed out. It was nice to see that one go in."
Hedman scored his eighth career overtime goal, the most all-time for a Bolts defenseman and just two away from matching Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos for the most among all players in Lightning history.
Hedman is also tied for fifth among NHL defensemen all-time for overtime goals, trailing only Brent Burns (15), Scott Niedermayer (13), Mike Green (9) and Seth Jones (9).
"I liked the way we played overtime," Cooper said. "We were kind of on them. We pressured. Actually, they pressured us well. It was probably, if somebody was going to turn it over, there's where the break was. Good rush. Probably got a little fortunate on it, but (Hedman) put himself in a position to make that play. If it doesn't get tipped, Stammer probably has it on the back door, so it was a nice play all around."

3. ENTERING THE BREAK ON A HIGH
Tampa Bay won't play again for nine days as the NHL hosts its annual All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas on Friday and Saturday, Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman and Andrei Vasilevskiy heading to the desert to represent the Bolts.
After that, the Lightning's schedule is pretty sporadic. They'll make up the three games they had postponed due to COVID concerns, wrapping up that trio of contests February 15 in New Jersey. Then they'll have another five days completely off before returning to practice February 21. The Bolts have a home contest against Edmonton coming out of their second mini-break on February 23 before traveling to Nashville for the Stadium Series game against the Predators at Nissan Stadium on the 26th.
Tampa Bay will play just six games in February and only two at home. The Lightning are off to a good start in the month following their overtime win over the Sharks.
"Last year we were almost done at this point," Hedman said, referring to the 56-game regular season schedule in 2020-21. "So for us to be going into the break, we feel good about ourselves. Big two points to finish it off. I think this is a well-deserved and well-earned break for us. Kind of broken up into two, but guys that are out, give them a chance to inch closer to coming back too. This is big for us to only have five games in this month left, so that's good news for our team."
The Lightning have played more hockey than any other team over the past two seasons having won back-to-back Stanley Cups. The chance to get an extended break in the middle of the season, even if it is broken up by the rescheduled games, should allow them to rest and reset for the two-month grind down the stretch of the regular season in March and April before, hopefully, the playoffs.
"It's nice to get a little time off," Cooper said. "We've played a lot of hockey. These guys deserve it. Even the Christmas break we were the last team to play and the first one to start, so these guys haven't had barely any time off. It's kind of tough the way they rescheduled these games for us right in the middle of everything. But we'll take it."
The Lightning hope to be completely healthy when they return to game action. Zach Bogosian was expected to miss two to three weeks from an injury he sustained January 15. And Erik Cernak is nursing a lower-body injury that's sidelined him seven games.
Add to that the return of Nikita Kucherov, who should be removed from the NHL's COVID protocol list by then. Kucherov practiced Tuesday morning but hadn't been cleared to play according to Cooper and sat out a third-straight game.
"We'll take these six, seven days, whatever it is and try and regroup, heal some bones," Cooper said. "We can't forget that the three games coming back count in the standings, so we have to be ready for that and then go back on another break. So, a little different for us, but definitely welcomed."