Season's emotions bubble over during Boyle's bout

Dan Boyle's fight Friday with Devils left wing Zach Parise was about slew footing; using one's foot to kick an opponent's feet out from under him.

By Damian Cristodero, Times Staff Writer
Published March 11, 2008

ADVERTISEMENT [Getty Images] Brian Gionta, left, of the Devils talks with Zach Parise after Parise's fight with Lightning defense-man Dan Boyle during Friday's game, a 2-1 overtime loss for Tampa Bay.

TAMPA - Dan Boyle's fight Friday with Devils left wing Zach Parise was about slew footing; using one's foot to kick an opponent's feet out from under him.

Boyle, the Lightning's star defenseman, said the illegal and dangerous move is a "pet peeve." So when he said Parise tried it and referees missed it, it was time for Boyle to throw down for the first time this season and only the fifth time in his NHL career.

Boyle said Monday that blowing a fuse - he got two additional minutes for instigating and a 10-minute misconduct - was easy given the state of Tampa Bay's season; last in the East entering Monday and with losses in 10 of 11 games.

"Certainly, frustration was part of it," he said. "If the games were meaningful, I'd like to think a light bulb would have gone off and I wouldn't have taken the extra penalty."

It was another blip in a lost season with 13 games left, including tonight's against the Islanders at the St. Pete Times Forum.

Disheartening, Boyle called it, upsetting, "at times embarrassing."

And something to remember.

"Hopefully we go home this summer and we feel it," he said. "I don't want to say go home and forget about it. I want us to feel how it just stinks to lose."

Boyle has played just 24 games because of two surgeries on his left wrist. He has four goals and 16 points, not bad, but is minus-15 for the season and has two assists in his past five games.

Add a new six-year, $40-million contract, and there are reasons to feel pressure. But Boyle, 31, said the deal is not on his mind.

"I think, overall, it's the whole season that is weighing in on a lot of us," he said. "It's just been frustrating as a team, individually and all around us."

Coach John Tortorella said he understands the angst, Boyle's "rust" from the surgeries and how an instinctual player can put himself in a hole by thinking too much about his game.

"He cares," Tortorella said. "But he can try to save himself a little bit here and help us be a little bit successful the next few weeks. That's the way you have to approach every day. Not, 'Oh, woe is me,' but 'How do we fix this?' How do we win a game and try to get some sort of taste back in winning?"

"I just never want to be in this position again," Boyle said. "Hockey is a major part of our life. It seems to affect just going home at night, and doing things away from the rink is not fun.

"Hopefully, we go home this summer and come back hungry."

[Last modified March 10, 2008, 23:40:34]