Krenn: Three Things we learned from clinching a playoff spot

The Tampa Bay Lightning have officially clinched a playoff berth in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 4-3 overtime win over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night. After ending a dominant first period with a 2-0 lead courtesy of goals from Ross Colton and Alex Killorn, the Bolts conceded three straight goals in the second period and trailed 3-2 all the way until the final 13 seconds of regulation. With Brian Elliott pulled for a sixth attacker, Nikita Kucherov fired a wrist shot through a crowd that found its way past Anthony Stolarz with 12.3 seconds remaining to tie the game at three.

After falling behind 3-2, Elliott entered the game in relief of Andrei Vasilevskiy. Following the goaltender change, the Lightning thought they had tied the game off the stick of Killorn, but the goal was quickly overturned with Anaheim successfully challenging for Tampa Bay being offside. After Kucherov tied the game in the final minute of the third period, Killorn thought he had scored the overtime winner, as did the entire crowd at AMALIE Arena, but after further review, the Tampa Bay forward was ruled offside and had another goal taken away.
"Kind of tough, but getting the win, it doesn't really matter looking back," Killorn said. "The second one, I wasn't sure. I was trying to kind of time it and I didn't know because I had to catch the pass, but I didn't stay onside. Either way, we ended up winning, so it doesn't matter."
It did not take long for the Bolts to grab the win following the disallowed goal and while Killorn may not have scored the game-winner, he did pick up the primary assist with a slick pass to Anthony Cirelli, who ended the game with his 16th goal of the season.
It was a chaotic comeback for a Tampa Bay team that has now made the postseason for the fifth-straight season.
The Lightning got help on Thursday night from the Pittsburgh Penguins, who defeated the New York Islanders 6-3, which clinched a spot in the playoffs for Tampa Bay. However, the final horn on that game sounded just as overtime was about to begin at AMALIE Arena. Whether the Lightning knew of that score or not, it was a good confidence builder to take matters into their own hands and win the game outright.
Now the Bolts have eight games left in the regular season. They can use those final contests for fine-tuning and refocusing with the postseason right around the corner. Did the Lightning need to win tonight's game? Technically, they did not.
With that being said, a come-from-behind win after a late goal to force overtime feels a lot more satisfactory than backing into a playoff berth with another team doing the dirty work. It was a gutsy win for a team that failed to get that game-tying goal in their previous contest against Dallas. There will be a lot of one-goal games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Winning those close games in the regular season is a great start.
Here's what we learned from Thursday's big comeback win:

1. THE GRIND NEVER STOPS
Most NHL hockey players will never win the Stanley Cup. The Lightning have won it in two straight years. Climbing that mountain and reaching the top is something that may allow complacency to creep into the minds of the players, but not with this team. The Bolts need just two more points in their final eight games to have another 100-point season. With all the success this group has had over the past several years, does it still feel just as good having this much success in the regular season?
"Yeah, you take pride in that, there's no doubt," said Lightning head coach Jon Cooper. "It's a tough league to win in. Every year, to somehow find a way to punch your ticket - a ton of credit goes to the players.
"It's hard, especially when we've won a couple Cups and there's ample opportunity for guys to take a breath and say, 'Okay,' but they haven't. They keep pushing forward. Good for those guys every year to say, 'We have a chance to win the Stanley Cup. We understand we have to get in the playoffs first,' and they do that. Good on them."
Deep runs in the playoffs never come easy. The Lightning have played in a lot of hockey games over the past several years and have plenty of bumps and bruises to show for it. No team has played in more games over the past two seasons than Tampa Bay, but the desire to win is still there. The want and need for that feeling of victory and triumph remains strong.
In a game where the Lightning were throwing the kitchen sink at the Ducks in the final 10 minutes, Tampa Bay never quit. Regardless of the situation and circumstances, there remains a constant belief that a win is within reach.
"Just that belief that you can win any game, I saw glimpses of that tonight," said Cooper. "We scored more than enough goals to win tonight. Unfortunately, a few of them got called back.
"It was how they did it in the end, so I'm proud of the guys."
The Lightning were faced with a tough situation tonight. After the third-straight goal, some teams may lose confidence or lay down and falter. No matter the score, the Bolts have proved that they will battle until the end.
"We didn't quit on ourselves and we didn't change the way we play when we went down like that," said Tampa Bay defenseman Ryan McDonagh. "We always talk - the tying goal might come in the first minute or the last minute. Tonight, it was the last minute."

2. MOOSE STOOD TALL
After Anaheim scored their third-straight goal, Cooper made the decision to pull Vasilevskiy and insert Elliott, who got his first shutout with the Bolts last Sunday against the Buffalo Sabres. Thursday marked the first time Vasilevskiy was pulled from a game since 2018, but it was more about shifting momentum for the team than the performance of the former Vezina Trophy winner. Two of the three goals from the Ducks came off deflections in front of the crease. Putting Elliott in between the pipes may have been used as an opportunity for the Bolts to take a breather for a minute or two and refocus for the second half of the game.
"It's tough," Killorn said. "It's not always on him.
"What are you going to do on those deflections? The puck changes direction right before it hits him. Those are difficult, but sometimes just, more for the team's sake, you do that to kind of change momentum.
"I think, especially a guy like Vasy, whenever he gets pulled, it sends a message, for sure."
McDonagh felt similar to Killorn when it came to the play of Vasilevskiy, noting that the five guys in front of the goaltender were more at fault than number 88.
"Well, I mean, it was really not on him," McDonagh said. "You leave guys open in front and let them have deflections, those are ones that are pretty much unstoppable for a goalie. It got away from us for a bit and they made us pay.
"We just tried to stay with it and regroup there going into the third. We had a good mindset going in there. We didn't change our game and we found a way."
That moment of regrouping may have been more difficult if Tampa Bay had a different backup goaltender taking over between the pipes. With Elliott, the team can still feel confident in their netminder. Elliott has not allowed a single goal over his last two appearances. He recorded a 28-save shutout against Buffalo and stopped all 13 shots he saw on Thursday, including two breakaways from Anaheim stars Troy Terry and Trevor Zegras.
"That's the pro that he is," Cooper said. "I'm not sure he got completely tested until Terry gets the breakaway and now we need a save. If he makes it 4-2, it's going to be tough for us, and Moose makes a big save there.
"Then, he gets Zegras in overtime. Those are two big-time saves and that's what you need from your goaltender. We get that from our guys. They seem to make a big save when you need it, and Moose did that tonight."
While Vasilevskiy will almost certainly carry the entire load once the postseason begins, it is always a reassuring feeling knowing that the backup goaltender can be called upon and counted on regularly. Over his last eight contests, Elliott has stopped 204 of 217 shots against for a .940 save percentage.
"Obviously, Moose really played a great game stepping in there and facing some clutch breakaways like that," McDonagh said. "All around, everybody kind of chipped in in their own way and it feels good to have that 'X' next to our name."

3. KUCH IS CLUTCH
There have been a lot of star athletes in all professional sports over the years that fold under pressure. Whether it is not performing in the playoffs or avoiding the big moments, not all highly talented athletes handle pressure with ease. That can not be said about Nikita Kucherov.
The former Hart and Art Ross Trophy winner seems to get better as the moments get bigger. When Tampa Bay needed a goal tonight in the final minute of the game, it was Kucherov who answered the bell with his 16th tally of the season.
"He's obviously a focal point of our team as far as the offense goes," McDonagh said. "No question, when he's feeling it, you can tell.
"You just try to get the puck in his hands and make the right reads out there. Obviously, he knows he wants to be a game changer for us at times and make those impact plays. No doubt, that was huge tonight.
"He obviously sees the game very well. He finds guys that are open and, obviously, that time he took it upon himself and created a shooting lane and found the back of the net. Hopefully he continues to gain confidence."
Over a point-per-game player for his entire NHL career, Kucherov embraces the big moments. In 113 career playoff games, he has recorded 127 points with 44 goals and 83 assists. Over the past two postseasons for Tampa Bay, Kucherov has skated in 48 games, scoring 15 goals and adding a whopping 51 assists for 66 points with a plus-21 rating and 31 power-play points.
"I'm a big believer in the more you shoot, the better chance you get to score," Cooper said. "That's not for everybody, but for guys who are used to putting the puck in the net, that's what happens."
On Thursday night, Kucherov's four shots on goal were tied for the team lead, while his eight shot attempts led all Tampa Bay skaters. With 47 points in just 39 games this season, the Lightning will be relying on Kucherov to show up big in the playoffs once again in May.
"I loved at the end, those two shots he took," said Killorn. "That's showing a lot of confidence. Either one of them could have went in. The one he shoots that goes in was a great shot.
"He's so important to our team. When he has confidence and he's playing well, he's up there with the best in the world."