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Boyle's overtime tally helps Lightning end slide

Mar 1, 2008 - 6:20 AM TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- Defenseman Dan Boyle scored 2:02 into overtime and set up two other goals and Vincent Lecavalier added two assists as the Tampa Bay Lightning ended a five-game winless streak with a 3-2 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday night.

Defenseman Alexandre Picard and Michel Ouellet tallied in regulation and Mike Smith made 23 saves for the Lightning, who went 0-4-1 in their previous five contests.

The win was the 234th of John Tortorella's career, tying him with Bob Johnson for the most NHL victories by an American-born coach.

"We've got a lineup that's in transition," Tortorella said. "We've got a lot of different faces, they're trying, and that's all we're looking for here."

Former Tampa Bay defenseman Pavel Kubina took a holding-the-stick penalty just 30 seconds into the extra session, and the Lightning capitalized on the ensuing power play.

After receiving a centering pass from Lecavalier, Boyle's initial shot was blocked by a defender in front. But he quickly snapped another shot past goaltender Vesa Toskala.

"The first shot, their defenseman blocked it," Boyle said. "It came back to me, and it was a quick play. I knew I had a lot of room. I just tried to put it upstairs and, obviously, was very thankful it went in."

It was Boyle's 66th goal since joining Tampa Bay in 2001, giving him the franchise record for most by a defenseman previously held by Kubina.

"I thought Danny played better tonight," Tortorella said. "He's been fighting it, but he played on both sides of the puck, and his goal will help him and help his confidence because he has struggled. He's trying, though. He's trying like (heck)."

The Lightning carried a 2-0 lead into the third period, but the Maple Leafs rallied to tie it on goals by Alex Steen and Jason Blake.

"We've been fighting back for a while," Toronto coach Paul Maurice said. "You're hoping for the good things to keep coming. It was not probably a perfectly played game by both coaching standpoints, but our guys fought hard and competed and played their best period when we were down and got an important point."

Steen started the comeback just 27 seconds into the period with his 12th of the season, backhanding in his wraparound attempt.

"I got caught out of position a little bit," Smith said. "I went down early and had to battle to try and get it back. But they should never score from there."

Blake evened the game with 8:31 left, when he received a long outlet pass from defenseman Ian White for a breakaway. The 34-year-old chipped a shot over a diving Smith for his 12th goal of the campaign.

Last season, Blake scored a career-high 40 goals with the New York Islanders.

"The first period, I thought we started off well," Steen said. "Then obviously the second wasn't our strongest part, but we came back strong in the third, tied it up and had a chance to win it again and came up short."

Ouellet opened the scoring at 8:51 of the first period as his wrist shot from the left faceoff circle beat Toskala to the glove side.

Picard, who was acquired Monday along with a conditional pick in the 2009 draft from the Philadelphia Flyers for Vaclav Prospal, scored his first goal of the season with 7:47 left in the second.

After Boyle's shot from the high slot went wide and bounced off the end boards, Picard poked the puck past Toskala to give Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead.

Toskala turned aside 24 shots for Toronto, which had a three-game winning streak snapped.

"Tampa Bay is really skilled individually," Toskala said. "(A) 4-on-3 (in overtime) is really difficult to defend, and you just have to try to stay out of the (penalty) box."

Smith got his first win since being obtained from Dallas on Tuesday.

"It's a big relief," Smith said. "I've been here for three days and it feels like a long time coming. It's obviously nice to get one and to win like that, what an exciting game to be a part of."