Krenn: Three Things we learned from blanking Buffalo

The Tampa Bay Lightning are back in third place in the Atlantic Division after a resounding 5-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday. After losing four consecutive games for the first time since February of 2020, a big win was a much-needed relief for Tampa Bay, whose magic number to clinch a spot in the postseason is down to two.

Starting on time has been a continued point of emphasis for the Lightning this season and they did just that with Corey Perry opening the scoring 9:21 into the first period. Zach Bogosian made a nice play, pinching up the boards and forcing a Buffalo turnover, before Perry fired home his 17th goal of the season through the five hole of Craig Anderson.
Riding the momentum from Perry's game-opening tally, the Lightning quickly capitalized again just 17 seconds later with Ondrej Palat scoring his 16th goal of the year. The goal marked the sixth time Tampa Bay has recorded two goals in a span of 20 seconds or fewer this season.
Perry snapped a 16-game drought without a goal while Palat's tally marked his first in 28 contests.
"It's nice to score again," Palat said. "It's a good feeling, but like I said, I was just trying to work hard and play like I do every game and do the little things right. I knew there was going to be some day that I was going to score, so I'm glad it was today."
Tampa Bay netted back-to-back goals again in the second period with Brandon Hagel and Nikita Kucherov bringing the score to 4-0 after scoring 3:16 apart. Kucherov's 15th goal of the season came on a nice pass from defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who made his return to the lineup after missing the previous eight games with an upper-body injury.
"I know Kuch likes to hang out on that back side," McDonagh said. "I just tried to get it over to him and he had a great finish."
Tampa Bay added their fifth and final goal off the stick of Ross Colton at the 2:09 mark of the third period. Steven Stamkos picked up the primary assist, marking his 80th point of the season.
The Bolts' captain has now recorded six career 80-point seasons, tying Martin St. Louis for the most in franchise history. With 946 career points (471G, 475A), Stamkos is just eight points away from surpassing St. Louis as the Lightning's all-time scoring leader.
Brian Elliott got the start in goal for the Bolts and made 28 saves for his 43rd career shutout and first as a member of the Lightning. He has shut out Buffalo five times in his career, his most shutouts against any NHL franchise.
The Lightning players and staff felt that they took a step in the right direction in Friday's 2-1 overtime loss to Boston. After today's win, it seems they were correct.
"We were very positive after that Boston game, even if we lost," Palat said. "It was a step in the right direction and today I thought we played a good hockey game. We need to keep going."
Here's what we learned from Sunday's shutout victory:

1. MORE FROM MOOSE
It was another strong performance from Brian Elliott on Sunday as he recorded his first shutout as a member of the Lightning, stopping all 28 shots he faced from the Sabres. Following today's performance, the veteran netminder has now recorded at least one shutout in 11 consecutive NHL seasons. Over his last five appearances, Elliott has stopped 148 of 157 shots for a .943 save percentage with a 1.76 goals against average.
"Obviously, we know what we have in Vasy, an unbelievable goalie, but you can throw Moose out there and he's going to give you a great chance to win," McDonagh said. "He's got a great attitude. There's a reason why he's played this long in the league. Teams continue to want him and teams continue to utilize him. We're very fortunate to have him this year and he's been huge for us every time he's been between the pipes."
Serving as the number two goalie behind Andrei Vasilevskiy, who won the Vezina Trophy in 2018-19 and has been nominated for the award in each of the last four seasons, will almost certainly equate to long waits between game action. Elliott has been up for the challenge and will likely see more time between the pipes down the stretch with the playoffs right around the corner.
"Don't hold me to any of this, but what do we have 10 games left," Lightning head coach Jon Cooper asked. "We can go six and four, or something like that. I think that'd be good for us and give Vasy some rest down the stretch here."
One game that Elliott seems likely to start in is Tampa Bay's April 19th matchup with Detroit, a team that Elliott has already started against twice this season. He earned wins in each of the two games, totaling 48 saves on 50 shots against for a .960 save percentage.
Elliott has also been strong on the road for the Lightning since the start of the new year. The Newmarket, Ontario native has won three out of four road games in 2022 while stopping 114 of 122 shots against for a .934 save percentage.
"He's a great goalie, great guy," said Palat. "Like I said, number two goalie is always a tough position. You're not playing a lot, but when he's playing, he's always on and he's been unbelievable for us. Today he was great."

2. MAC IS BACK
After missing the last eight contests with the aforementioned upper-body injury, having Ryan McDonagh back in the lineup provided a big boost for the Lightning on Sunday.
"He's a stabilizer back there," Cooper said. "It was nice to have him back in the lineup and then play with the lead. It feels like we haven't played with the lead in some time so that was nice."
No player wants to miss out on games, especially during a stretch run with the postseason coming on fast. As a veteran player in the NHL, McDonagh understood that there is a process and mindset that is vital to recovery.
"It's always a tough part of the game - being out, mentally just sticking with it, and trying to keep yourself ready," McDonagh explained. "Thankfully I was able to get a couple of practices in with the guys and feel confident enough to get back in the lineup. You just want to get your game going again, feel confident, and just help the team anyway you can."
McDonagh certainly helped Tampa Bay in his return, logging 19:09 of ice time, assisting on Kucherov's goal, blocking one shot, and recording a plus-one rating. A staple in the Lightning's defensive core, the St. Paul, Minnesota native knows what it is going to take for the Bolts to make another deep run in the playoffs. While the team's slump was not ideal, veterans like McDonagh are valuable in understanding what it takes to get past those bumps in the road.
"Things change quick, that's why you've got to stick with your habits and make sure you have a good attitude," said McDonagh. "Obviously frustration can set in when you don't get the results and the wins don't come, but if there's anything this group knows how to do, it's stick with it and try to find a winning formula and winning recipe.
"We know our coaching staff's going to do everything they can to get ourselves in a position to succeed, so it's up to us to continue to find that right attitude and right intensity game in and game out here."

3. IT TAKES EVERYONE
The Lightning got contributions up and down the lineup on Sunday, with 12 of 18 skaters recording a point and 17 of 18 skaters finishing the game with a plus/minus rating of plus-one or better. All four lines produced a goal for the Bolts in the win.
"It's a good night when all four lines score," Cooper said. "If you can get contributions all through the lineup it helps your cause.
"We didn't have to depend on special teams. We only took one penalty tonight and that's what we need to do. We need to not be taking penalties and we haven't done that the last couple games. It's helping us out. It was nice to see everyone contributing tonight."
Cooper and the Tampa Bay staff have consistently preached that if you prioritize taking care of business in your own defensive zone, the offense will come. That sentiment held true on Sunday with the Lightning holding down the fort in their own end to earn the team's third shutout of the year. That formula for success is one that has been at the forefront for the Bolts over the past several years and will undoubtedly be a point of emphasis heading into the postseason.
"To be honest, if we want to make some noise in the spring, it all comes back to how we play in our own end," Cooper said. "I know we didn't get two points out of the Bruins game, but we only gave up one goal in regulation. I thought we had a pretty darn good third period.
"It didn't go our way that night, but we carried it into tonight. Aside from probably that last five minutes of the second period where we got a little sloppy with where we were putting pucks, I like what we did tonight.
Buffalo's a team that's been giving other teams in this league fits. They've been on a little bit of a run here for a while, so for us to take them out the way we did, we're pretty pleased with that."