Had it been a longer time control he would have easily won with mate a scant few moves away. However, he took too much time building up his advantage and in blitz time is resource just like having extra material or weakening your opponent's position.
In fact, if your opponent is under say 10 seconds remaining, then a common ICC strategy is to make random premoves with the intent of rattling the player short of time. I think it is fair to execute this sleezy practice as a form of punishing a player who has not managed his time properly.
Reading your article about internet blitz reminds me a conflict I witnessed at a blitz tournament in Albuquerque,New Mexico. The father of one of the players got into it with the the parent I think over some subtle interpretation of blitz rules versus OTB rules. Jeff Sallade was going to write about it on his chess blog, but apparently decided not to in order to keep things civil. William Barefield knows more about it I think and it is probably best not to over publicize what many consider petty trifles although when you are the one playing it may really seem like a big deal!!
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