Boynton's check paid handsomely

By Nancy Marrapese-Burrell, Globe Staff, 3/21/2004

The titanic hit came at the 6:49 mark of the second period. The Bruins and Lightning were tied, 3-3, yesterday with Boston having rallied from a three-goal deficit. Defenseman Nick Boynton, no stranger to physical play, saw a chance to take out Tampa Bay left wing Dimitry Afanasenkov with a clean open-ice check, and he took it.

Afanasenkov was shaken up but unhurt. However, the Lightning took issue with Boynton, and former Bruins center Tim Taylor went after him. The two traded shoves, and when all was said and done, Boynton got two minutes for roughing and Taylor received a double minor for roughing.

The Bruins went on the power play, and center Joe Thornton scored Boston's fourth goal to give his team its first lead. The Jumbotron showed the check several times, prompting the FleetCenter crowd to erupt in applause.

"Maybe it was big," understated Boynton. "We scored on the power play that the guy took, so that makes the difference right there. It's not so much the hit as maybe how they reacted after it. I liked it but I don't know if anyone else does. I saw it on video and I thought it was a pretty clean hit."

He said he didn't really blame the Lightning for coming to a teammate's aid; he's done it himself on occasion, explaining that because things happen so quickly, you're not always able to see the initial hit and evaluate it. You just react.

"Maybe [Taylor] had his back turned and didn't see it and just heard the crowd and that's that," said Boynton. "I've done that plenty of times where I didn't see what happened but you hear people screaming and you just do what you do, you stick up for your teammates."