Krenn: Three Things we learned from a lopsided loss in Game 2

For the second-straight series, the Tampa Bay Lightning are heading home to AMALIE Arena trailing 2-0 in a best-of-seven after a 7-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in Game 2.

It was a nightmare game from start to finish for Tampa Bay, who trailed 3-0 after the first period before giving up two more goals in both the second and third frames.
"You guys all saw what happened tonight," said Lightning captain Steven Stamkos. "That's totally unacceptable, especially at this time of the year.
"It's something that we need to look at, watch, and realize what we did wrong."
The final score was bad, but it could have been much worse. There were multiple saves on breakaways, 2-on-1's, and deflections from Andrei Vasilevskiy, who was thrown into a fire on Saturday night.
"We left him out to dry tonight," said Stamkos. "He's been our backbone for years and years and years.
"We owe it to him to have a better game next game. It could've been more.
"He made some unbelievable saves. By no means is this on him tonight."
It all started just 1:01 into the contest when Ryan McDonagh got sent off for roughing. The Avalanche capitalized with seven seconds left with the man advantage and the Bolts were forced to chase the game immediately.
These kind of blowout games happen every now and again. You just hope they don't happen in the Stanley Cup Final.
Now, the Bolts will head back to Tampa and hope to flip the script in Game 3 on Monday night. There's a lot of work to be done, but this group can never be counted out.
Here's three things we learned on Saturday night.

1. THE FIRST TEN
Ball Arena in Denver is a loud environment.
When teams play in an environment like that, the goal is to just get through the first 10 minutes and weather the storm. Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper knew that going into Saturday night.
"I expect us to be way the heck better in the first 10 minutes than we were the other night," said Cooper prior to Game 2. "I think the rest of the game will take care of itself.
"We have to weather that energy and excitement that's in the building for them and we should be OK."
With the energy from their home crowd, the Avalanche have started the first two games of the series with speed, tenacity, and purpose. The Lightning simply have not.
"The game got away from us early and we have shown a propensity to push back for years," Cooper said. "Tonight, we didn't.
"If this becomes a common theme this series, it'll probably be a short one, but I never doubt the guys in the room."
The Bolts have won games on the road this postseason, but the starts have been a struggle over the first two games of this series.
Saturday's loss started with the early penalty and giving Colorado a chance on the power play less than two minutes into the game. The crowd was buzzing and going up a man just fed into that energy. Once the Lightning failed to completely kill the penalty, the roof nearly blew off the building.
From there, the Avalanche had every bit of the momentum.
"It was tough taking the penalty," Cooper explained. "We kill it off. They score with a couple seconds left.
"Did we handle that as well as we could have? Probably not.
"Obviously, you guys watched the game. It was all downhill after that."
The Bolts will look to start better on Monday night in front of their own fans in Tampa and hopefully build some momentum off that moving forward. The first 10 simply have to be better.

2. A LOSS IS A LOSS
"Whether it's 1-0, 7-0, or 10-0, it's a loss in the playoffs and you've got to move on," said Stamkos. "You've got to man up as a team and as a person.
"Our team has got to do that.
"Let's get back home in front of our fans and let's see what we're made of."
Stamkos is right. It doesn't matter if you lose by seven or lose by 20. At the end of the day, the result is the same and that's the Lightning being down 2-0 in the series.
"If you lose 7-0 or you lose 4-3 in overtime, you still lose the game," said Cooper. "You've got to find a way to win the game.
"Now, we've got another chance in a different venue and hopefully we can come back and learn from what happened tonight and put a better step forward."
While the result is the same in terms of the series, getting blanked and giving up seven has to feel a little bit different than a 2-1 loss. This is where experience can come into play.
It's been a theme all postseason. Take it day by day. Don't sit around and sulk after a loss. Don't get too high after a win.
The Bolts have done a great job managing the mental aspect of a long playoff run. Their confidence has remained intact, but this may be the biggest test yet.
"Everyone in that room is still confident that we can pull this out," said Lightning forward Nick Paul. "We made it a little harder for ourselves, but that's fine.
"We can step up to the plate. We can answer."
As the leader of the team, Stamkos has done a tremendous job leading Tampa Bay through a lot of adversity this postseason. After losing by seven, Stamkos answered all the questions thrown at him and didn't make a single excuse.
"As players, we realize tonight is a tough one, but we're not defeated in our locker room," Said Stamkos. "We have a chance to come home in front of our fans, which we haven't done yet in this series, and make it a series.
"Let's man up and let's turn the page.
"Let's go home and see what happens next game. That's all you can do at this moment.
"Is that a tough loss? Absolutely. But in the playoffs, it just says two-zip on the series."

3. TURN THE PAGE
Have a short memory. You have no other choice in the postseason.
In this situation, it's the only option the Lightning have. Game 2 is in the past. They have to move on.
"Disappointed with the way the game went tonight, there's no question, but I'm not questioning our team," said Cooper. "They're ballers in there. Turn the page. Move on to Game 3.
"Listen, we lost by a lot tonight, so you're better off just throwing this one away and regrouping for the next one."
It was certainly a night to forget. Only two Tampa Bay skaters finished the game without a negative plus/minus rating, Paul and Mikhail Sergachev.
Paul also laid down and blocked one shot while throwing nine hits to lead the Lightning.
"Every person just has to look themself in the mirror and win every battle next game," said Paul. "Next game is huge.
"We've got to go home. We've got to swallow this one. We've got to put it behind us.
"We're confident in each other. We just look at it as down two.
"It's a series. It's not over tonight.
"We're going to go back home, come together as a group, and figure things out. We're going to be a much better team next game."
It was an embarrassing night for the back-to-back champs, but you don't get to the Stanley Cup Final unless you belong there.
The Lightning earned their way to this stage. Saturday night was tough, but the Bolts have to remember that they are in the Final for a reason and that's because they are the best team in the Eastern Conference.
Coming home to a building where they've played excellent all postseason, Tampa Bay needs to be the one to dictate play on Monday night to get back in this series.
"You tip your cap to the execution they had, but at the same time, there's a fine line between having respect for your opponent and too much respect for your opponent," Stamkos said. "We need to realize that we got here for a reason. Let's get back to our game.
"You win and lose as a team. It takes a great team to get to the position that we're at.
"It takes a great team to realize the mistakes that we've made.
"I have full confidence in the group that when we get back to home ice, we'll have a much better effort."