Tampa Bay dropped Game 1 of its opening-round series against Pittsburgh Wednesday night, but not because the Lightning got off to a slow start.

Tampa Bay dominated most of the first period, when it ran up a 14-10 edge in shots and an even larger advantage in quality scoring chances.

"They came out well and threw a lot of pucks on net, which we weren't quite prepared for," Pittsburgh centre Jordan Staal said Friday. "We need to do a better job of boxing them out, and stuff like that.

"But it's part of hockey. There are swings in games, and we came out in the second, had a better period, and had a better game."

True enough, but without some exceptional work by Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, especially during the first 20 minutes, the outcome might not have been a 3-0 Penguins' victory.

"If [Fleury] was not ready in the first, it could have been 2-0 or 3-0 real quick," Penguins centre Max Talbot said. "We played OK in the second and third, but we're going to have to have a better first period if we want to get the win [Friday night]."

Not surprisingly, Tampa Bay will be looking to replicate its outstanding start when the teams meet in Game 2 at Consol Energy Center (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 6:30 p.m. ET).

"We were able to keep the lines rolling over," Lightning defenceman Eric Brewer said. "Shifts were short, guys stayed high. We have a fast team and we like to play fast."

Of course, the same is true of the team Tampa Bay is facing.

"Pittsburgh's kind of the same way, where they want to get pucks deep with speed and get in on the forecheck early, create some havoc," Lightning left winger Ryan Malone said. "And we're trying to do the same thing. You roll the lines short and hard, and try to get the momentum going."

Lightning coach Guy Boucher has suggested that he's likely to reconfigure some of his forward lines for Game 2, but said Friday morning that he will "most probably not" make any lineup changes, although "I still have one decision to make."

Game-day workout

Tampa Bay had an optional game-day skate but Pittsburgh, as usual, went through its normal game-day workout.

The Penguins almost never call off a morning skate unless they played the night before, and that's no coincidence.

Indeed, coach Dan Bylsma said Friday that he's more, not less, inclined to have them once the post-season arrives.

"I actually favor them more in the playoffs than in the regular season," he said. "I think the rest in between games, a full day of rest, a full day of not being on the ice, is better than trying to get rest the morning of a game.

"Considering how in-depth a morning skate it, it's not too strenuous. I've thought a lot of about it. Experience, for me, is what plays into it, for our decision. Going out and getting loose at a morning skate is probably important after a full day's rest."

Not too subtle message

Boucher took advantage of a late-morning session with reporters to remind all concerned that Pittsburgh had six power plays in Game 1, while the Lightning got just one chance with the extra man.

"I don't think last game was a 6-1 game at all," he said.

The prevailing sentiment was that Boucher's intended audience were referees Tim Peel and Chris Rooney, who will work Game 2, but Bylsma didn't think that was his intention.

And he doesn't think it would be effective, regardless.

"I'm not sure if talking to the media has an effect on the referees," he said.

Malone, though, suggested that there are things players can do to get penalties when there's been an infraction.

"You just want to let the refs know if you're being held or being obstructed," he said. "If you look around the league and the playoff games last night, guys were - you don't want to use 'embellish' - but letting the refs know what was going on.

"They're going to call it tight, especially early in the playoffs. They don't want anything to get too ugly. For the most part, you got to keep your legs moving. If we got the puck, they're going to take penalties on us."

Holding serve

Pittsburgh will be looking to hold serve in Game 2, putting the Lightning in a position where it will have to win Games 3 and 4 in Tampa just to reduce the series to a best-of-three.

And while Bylsma said he is glad to have opened the series at Consol Energy Center - and to have  Game 7, if necessary, there - he said home-ice advantage is not as significant as some make it out to be.

"I'll always take it, but I feel like at times (the value of) it is overstated," he said. "We're comfortable winning games on the road, too.

"It's not as much of a factor as it was years and years ago. I think we think we're going to have [to] win a game on the road to win, even if we're the home team.

"We're not so uncomfortable thinking we're going to go into Tampa Bay and think we're going to win a game as well, because it's something we've done."

Numbers and notes

This is the eighth time in the past 11 series Pittsburgh has had home ice, and the Penguins are trying to take a 2-0 lead for the sixth time in those eight...The home team has won all five games between the Lightning and Penguins since the start of the regular season...Tampa Bay is 2-4 in the playoffs when losing Game 1, and 1-1 when losing Games 1 and 2 on the road...Pittsburgh has an all-time record of 31-19 in Game 2s, 22-6 when it is played at home...Tampa Bay's all-time record in Game 2 is 5-3-1, including a 3-1 mark on the road. The lone loss was in overtime...Pittsburgh right winger Alex Kovalev, who scored the game-winning goal in the series-opener, needs one point for 100 in his playoff career...Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury's next playoff shutout will be his sixth, tying Tom Barrasso's team record.