Injured Lightning wing Cory Stillman said he suffered "just a bruise" on his left hip when he missed a check and hit the boards during his first shift in Game 4.
Stillman, second on the team with 80 points during the regular season, sat out the rest of the game but said Thursday he is good enough to play in tonight's Game 5 at the St. Pete Times Forum.
Whether he gets in remains to be seen. All coach John Tortorella said about the injuries to Stillman and defenseman Jassen Cullimore was that both players, neither of whom skated Thursday, are "day to day."
Wing Ben Clymer and center Martin Cibak, healthy scratches in the series, would be the likely candidates to dress if Stillman could not play.
. . . while Cullimore says nothing
Asked to discuss what the team is calling an upper-body injury, Cullimore said, "No," and walked stone-faced to the dressing room. Cullimore, who sat out Game 4, was hurt about six minutes into Game 3 on a clean check from New York's Roman Hamrlik.
Cullimore hit the boards with his right shoulder, the same one that was was bruised in late February and caused Cullimore, the Lightning's best overall defenseman, to miss three games.
Nolan Pratt played well in Cullimore's place in Game 4 and made a heads-up play in the slot to get his stick on a puck and disrupt Alexei Yashin's scoring chance.
"We just keep going," Tortorella said. "There's not time to dissect all this stuff. You're going to be playing a game in another 24 hours. You have to keep going with your approach and go to work."
And Habby says it's business as usual
Nikolai Khabibulin's three shutouts in one series tied a record held by 10 goalies. But only Clint Benedict of the 1926 Montreal Maroons and Jean-Sebastien Giguere of the 2003 Ducks did it in as few as four games.
Asked to explain his playoff-leading 0.75 goals-against average and .983 save percentage, the Lightning goalie said, "I can't really explain it. I mean, I'm feeling pretty good right now. When I'm playing, it just happens. I'm just following the play. I'm not really thinking out there."
Khabibulin is anticipating the play so well and is in such good position because of it, he has made difficult saves look easy. He also has reinforced his reputation as one of the league's best going side to side.
Khabibulin also has been able to keep keen focus for 60 minutes, something he has said eluded him at times during the regular season. Asked if he was doing anything to help that situation, he said, "Not that I know of. I don't think I'm trying to do anything different. I don't know how to explain it."
The streak
With four 3-0 games, the series is the first since the 2002 East quarterfinal between the Flyers and Senators to start with four shutouts, and the first to start with four shutouts of identical scores.
The only other series with four identical scores in the first four games was the 1993 division final when the Canadiens swept the Sabres with four 4-3 wins. No series has started with five games with identical scores.
I love New York
Rooting against the Islanders comes easily for Ira Guttentag, and not just because he is the Lightning's team physician. Born in Elmont, in the same county as the Nassau Coliseum, Guttentag was a diehard Rangers fan.
Of the Islanders, he said, "I hated them."
Asked if the Islanders' first Stanley Cup was the worst moment of his life, Guttentag said, "The other way to look at it was the best day of my life was when Mark Messier guaranteed the win (in Game 6 of the 1994 East final against the Devils)."
Guttentag, 42, said he caught a little bit of Lightning fever when he started his Tampa practice in 1993. But how did a nice boy from Long Island not root for the Islanders?
"I grew up with the Knicks and the Rangers," Guttentag said. "And with hockey, I was a fan before the Islanders came into play, and I guess I didn't want to give up my ties to the Rangers."
Second-round tickets
Tickets for the East semifinals will go on sale when, and if, the Lightning defeats the Islanders in the quarterfinals. Ticket prices start at $39.25. As usual, 200 $8 seats will be available at 9 a.m. on game days.
