Ferrablog

The Lightning drop another on the road today, this time 3-0 to the Islanders. As an Islander fan as well, the good news here is that the Isles are that much closer to nailing down the last playoff spot. And with the Lightning losing for the fourth time in five games, the chance that they end up #1 in the East and play the Isles in the first round of the playoffs looks less likely as well, good for both my psyche and perhaps the Lightning's, considering how much they've struggled with them this season.

Unfortunately, should the Lightning finish #2, they'd now be looking at the Devils, who dropped to #7 after losing to Montreal last night. Given that there isn't a lot of daylight between the top 7 teams in the East, drawing the Devils with their defensive style and playoff experience isn't exactly the ideal scenario. As hot as Montreal has been, I'd still rather see the Lightning play them. One thing in the Lightning's favor for closing out the season, though: after Tuesday's game at Toronto, the Bolts play their final five games of the regular season at home, and since they'll be hosting the first two playoffs games at home as well, they won't be back on the road for over three weeks.

As for today's game, they were just plain listless, not surprising considering having played less than 24 hours before, and for the third time since Thursday night. First time shut out since the January 2 game against Columbus, after which they went on their incredible two-plus-month streak.