"He was born on Oct. 12, 1969.

"It's just a number," said 41-year-old Dwayne Roloson, the new Lightning goalkeeper. "It's stamped. That's your birthday. It's irrelevant."

It has taken only four games, but Roloson already has put a stamp on this ever burgeoning Lightning season.

He has silenced Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals twice in eight days.

Need anything else?

Last week, in his Lightning debut after being picked up from the Islanders on New Year's Day, Roloson pitched a 1-0 shutout against the Cpas, a thriller, stopping 34 shots. Wednesday at the Forum, Roloson was at it again, not nearly as busy (23 shots) or spectacular (he wasn't even voted No. 1 star of the game) but still squeaky clean as the Bolts, to a man, won 3-0 to grab hold of the Southeast Division by two points and push Lightning-Washington closer to a real rivalry.

This battle is joined.

And this goaltender is all in.

"My teammates deserve all the credit tonight," Roloson said. "The defense to the forwards, they played unreal tonight. I was able to see probably about 90 percent of the shots tonight. They played phenomenal."

He had a clear view.

But just as clearly, three suddenly seems like a crowd in net for the Lightning, Roloson and Dan Ellis and Mike Smith.

Really, two seems like a crowd right now.

Counting Dwayne Roloson's birthday candles doesn't bother him a bit.

He's still burning bright.

Three wins in four Lightning starts (just one goal across all three) is just the kind of number the Bolts had in mind when they picked up Roloson. The club wanted to make a move that said it was going for it, here and now."