Martin St. Louis is a household name in hockey. The same can't be said for Marek Svatos. Nevertheless, both helped their teams take commanding leads in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

St. Louis, the NHL scoring champion, netted a short-handed goal in the first period and later added an assist as the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New York Islanders 3-0 Wednesday night and grabbed a 3-1 advantage in the best-of-seven series.

Svatos, a Colorado rookie who played only four regular-season games, scored 5:18 into double overtime, lifting the Avalanche to a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars that gave them a similar 3-1 series lead.

"I was just trying to get a shot on net and it went in," Svatos said. "It's the greatest feeling in my hockey career."

St. Louis' NHL tenure has been much longer and very productive. His big goal Wednesday helped take the partisan Islanders crowd out of the game early and was every bit as uplifting for the flashy forward.

"This was a must-win for them," St. Louis said of the Islanders, who didn't score a goal in two home playoff games. "We knew they were going to empty the tank, and we have to empty the tank ourselves and more."

What also appears to be quickly running out is the New Jersey Devils' claim to the Stanley Cup. The defending champions also lost 3-0 at home Wednesday to the Philadelphia Flyers and are now mired in a 3-1 deficit.

In today's games, Boston can advance to the second round with a home win over Montreal in Game 5, and San Jose can eliminate St. Louis at the Shark Tank by beating the Blues for the fourth time in five games. The two remaining series which resume Thursday - Nashville-Detroit and Calgary-Vancouver - are knotted at two games apiece.

At Ottawa, Daniel Alfredsson scored in the first period to end the Senators' two-game drought against Ed Belfour, and Marian Hossa netted the go-ahead goal.Ottawa ended Belfour's shutout streak at 157 minutes, 45 seconds when Alfredsson tied the game with 35.6 seconds remaining in the first period. Todd White and Chris Phillips added third-period goals.Already without injured center Joe Nieuwendyk, the Maple Leafs lost captain Mats Sundin early in the third period.

At East Rutherford, N.J., Robert Esche made 35 saves for his first career playoff shutout.Defenseman Kim Johnsson scored in the first period, and Alexei Zhamnov and Keith Primeau added third-period goals.