TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- Brad Boyes scored 26 seconds into
overtime, lifting the St. Louis Blues to a 4-3 victory over the
Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday.
Keith Tkachuk, Andy McDonald and David Backes also scored for
the Blues, who have won four of five and find themselves within
two points of Edmonton, Dallas and Anaheim for the eighth and
final spot in the Western Conference playoff picture.
"It was great to see Boyes score that goal in overtime," Tkachuk
said. "It was just a relief after they tied it up."
All-Star Martin St. Louis, Matt Pettinger and rookie Steven
Stamkos tallied for Tampa Bay, which is 2-6-2 in its last 10
games.
"You're just looking for certain guys to keep working,"
Lightning coach Rick Tocchet said. "There are a lot of jobs on
the line. It was kind of a boring game. It didn't look like
there was much passion.
"To play this game, you have to play for something. I think
Murphy has played really well for us the last five games. He's
been our best defensemen. He has played really well. You have to
give him a lot of credit."
Boyes secured the win early in the extra session, accepting a
pass from defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo and firing a snap shot
from the high slot that sailed by Karri Ramo for his 26th goal
of the season.
"Tonight our guys that are offensive leaders were offensive guys
and that's what we need for us to be good continually down the
stretch," Boyes said. "As of late, we've had other guys chip in
and you can't keep relying on guys that do the job defensively
to keep scoring.
"We're just playing solid all around and tonight was a good
night for our line. Just controlling the puck and getting more
chances and hustling. I think that was a big positive for us."
Tkachuk opened the scoring at 5:43 of the second period and
McDonald doubled the advantage less than four minutes later with
a wrist shot.
Tampa Bay halved the deficit at 3:28 of the third with a
power-play goal by St. Louis, but Backes restored the two-goal
lead with a tip-in of rookie T.J. Oshie's attempt just under
three minutes later.
"I think this is the worst game I've played so far on this
team," Ramo said. "Our talk during the second intermission was
that we needed to play a lot better and we were a lot better in
the third.
"We came back alive, but it was a roller coaster. We need to do
it for three periods. A point is a point. We battled back hard
and it showed that we're still battling. We were down 2-0 and
3-1, but we didn't quit and battled back."
Chris Mason, who had surrendered one goal in each of his
previous five games before fizzling in a 5-0 setback to the
Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday, coughed up the advantage shortly
thereafter.
Pettinger netted his third tally of the season with 7:50 left
and Stamkos forged a tie with 16 seconds remaining in regulation
by unleashing a slap shot from above the left faceoff circle.
Mason made 20 saves, while Ramo finished with 32.