Ferrablog

The Lightning are now up 3 games to 1 on the Islanders, thanks to another 3-0 win tonight in Game 4 of their opening round playoff series. Khabibulin stoned the Isles again, although except for some late first and early second period sustained pressure, he had an easier time of it than in Games 1 and 3. Nevertheless, it's his third shutout of the series already, and he has to be considered the early frontrunner for the Conn Smythe Trophy.

The first two Lightning goals were sweet. Marty St. Louis, who led the NHL in shorthanded goals this year, notched his first of the playoffs, stealing the puck from Kenny Jonsson at the Islander blue line, turning him inside out, and then going 5-hole on Rick DiPietro. A truly outstanding individual effort. The second goal came on a well-executed 2-on-1 late in the second, when Brad Richards slid a perfect pass to Ruslan Fedotenko, who one-timed a shot past the out-of-position DiPietro. Freddy Modin added the last goal off a 3-on-2, with a blistering slapshot that DiPietro fanned on with his glove.

The defense in front of Habby was outstanding again, and thanks to Nolan Pratt, who filled in for the injured Jasson Cullimore, it didn't miss a beat. The Isles got chippy late in the game, due to obvious frustration, with Steve Webb and Trent Hunter taking cheap shot penalties. Islander coach Steve Stirling decided to play Webb most of the last ten minutes, definitely trying to send a sign. The most amusing part of the night was the disgruntled Islander home crowd, who relentlessly booed and threw playoff rally towels onto the ice as their team dropped two home games by a combined score of 6-0.

The Lightning can wrap it up Friday night in Tampa. I wonder what the odds are that it ends up 3-0.