Before anyone gets all nutty about what appeared to be Lightning defenseman Dan Boyle giving up on the play leading up to Tomas Fleischmann's overtime goal in Thursday's 4-3 loss to the Capitals, consider that Boyle was bleeding from a four- or five-inch cut to his throat after he was slashed by the skate blade of Washington's Mike Green.

As it turned out, it wasn't terribly serious. Boyle did not need stitches but his voice was gravely because of what he said was a bruise in his throat. Team spokesman Bill Wickett and the damage could have been worse had not the skate clipped Boyle's sternum, which protected him from more problems.

"It scared the (bleep) out of me,'' Boyle said later. "All I knew is at that moment I was sliced open.''

The play occurred at the end of Green's rink-long rush. As Green churned toward the net he was pushed by Tampa Bay's Shane O'Brien. Boyle, who was knocked down by Washington's Brooks Laich, slid into Green just as Green's left leg elbowed up, exposing his skate blade.

Boyle said he likely will say a little prayer of thanks. But as he said, "What a miserable year. What more can happen?''

You know the details. Boyle missed 45 games because of two surgeries on his left wrist after a skate fell out of his locker after a preseason game against the Capitals, and on Wednesday he had to leave practice when he was kicked in the head by the skate of heels-over-head teammate Andreas Karlsson. And considering the Richard Zednik situation, well, the whole thing could have been much worse.

"I was pretty sacred for my life, really,'' Boyle said.

FYI: If you saw coach John Tortorella going bonkers on the bench after the Capitals goal that tied the score 3-3 with 4:48 left in the third period, it was because he, and the Lightning players, did not believe Green gave as much effort as he should have to touch the puck on the icing that brought the puck back to the Lightning zone for a faceoff that led to Alexander Semin's goal.

Capitals Bruce Bourdreau disputed that notion.

"He played 30 minutes,'' Boudreau said. "He was tired. He went back as hard as he could. He was on the ice for 2 1/2 minutes.''

We can forgive Boudreau for sticking up for his player. But the fact is, Green played only 23:53 in the game and the shift that led to that icing was only 43 seconds.