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Boyle's overtime goal gives Lightning comeback win over Flames

Mar 11, 2007 - 7:51 AM CALGARY, Alberta (Ticker) -- Defenseman Dan Boyle got a chance to play the role of hero for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Boyle scored a power-play goal 2:59 into overtime as the Lightning rallied to post a 3-2 victory over the Calgary Flames.

Vincent Lecavalier had a goal and an assist for the Lightning (39-27-4), who pulled even in points with the Atlanta Thrashers (36-24-10) for first place in the Southeast Division.

Tampa Bay improved to 3-2-0 on its six-game road trip, which concludes in Toronto on Tuesday.

Lecavalier tied the game at 2-2 just over 6 1/2 minutes into the third period with his league-leading 46th goal. The All-Star center, who trails Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby (100) by seven points in the scoring race, skated toward the net and redirected Nick Tarnasky's pass past goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff.

"When you score that second goal to take the lead, you don't want the other team to score right away, but we got an opportunity," Lecavalier said. "Tarnasky made a great pass to me and I shot the puck in."

"I saw Vinny going to the net and I just figured I'd throw it anywhere around him and it's probably going to go in," Tarnasky said. "He has pretty good hands."

Tampa Bay received a two-man advantage in overtime when Daymond Langkow and defenseman Roman Hamrlik - both former first-round picks of the Lightning - received hooking and high-sticking penalties, respectively, at 1:48. With 49 seconds remaining on the 5-on-3, Boyle redirected Lecavalier's feed by Kiprusoff from the left side of the crease for his 15th goal of the season.

"We've had a lot of 5-on-3s this year where we didn't score," Lecavalier said. "I think we played it very well. It was a nice goal by Boyle. He knocked the puck out of the air, I think. It's a very big victory for us."

Tarnasky had a goal and an assist and Marc Denis made 25 saves for Tampa Bay, which made its first visit to Calgary since Game Six of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.

Tarnasky gave the Lightning a 1-0 lead at 18:25 of the first period, when his shot from the slot deflected off defenseman Dion Phaneuf and past Kiprusoff.

Craig Conroy and Jeff Friesen scored for the Flames (36-22-10), who climbed nine points ahead of the ninth-place Colorado Avalanche (34-29-5) in the Western Conference.

Conroy gave the Flames a 2-1 lead on a controversial goal at 4:28 of the third. The center banked a shot from behind the end line that Denis smothered with his blocker, which slid over the line. The tally initially was waved off, but video review overturned the call.

"(Conroy) shot it at the net," Calgary left wing Alex Tanguay said. "I don't know how it went in, but it's good that it went in. It's the first time we got a call our way."

"(The referees) told me on the video replays they couldn't actually see the puck," Denis said. "They thought it was underneath my blocker, which it probably was. They saw my blocker back in the net."

Friesen forged a 1-1 tie when he fired a wrist shot from the right faceoff dot over Denis' glove with 6:04 remaining in the second.

"Obviously, we didn't win, so we didn't get what we wanted," Friesen said. "A lot of times we overemphasize that we're going to outshoot a team, 60-10. That's not going to happen in this league. We've got to stay positive in the room here and not always dwell on the negative things."