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By CARTER GADDIS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 29, 2008

Updated: 01/29/2008 01:27 am

TAMPA - Dan Boyle sat at his locker Monday after Lightning practice, surrounded by reporters and cameras, skates still safely on his feet, and slowly unwound the tape he wore on his surgically repaired left wrist.

The jagged end of a scar poked out from under the tape, like a snake peeking out of its hole. The scar will always be there, a biting visual reminder of what, so far, has been a lost season.

As the questions came - questions about durability, about finding his legs again, about re-adjusting to the speed of the NHL game after an unwanted 11-week vacation - the 31-year-old defenseman verbally latched onto the one question it seemed he had most looked forward to answering.

"I do welcome pressure," Boyle said. "I'm one of the guys that plays a lot. I've been playing a lot since I've gotten here, and I welcome that pressure. I want to be a difference-maker out there.

"I'm going to take a lot of responsibility in trying to turn this team around."

Well, someone must. As the Lightning return from the All-Star break with tonight's game against the Buffalo Sabres at the St. Pete Times Forum, they find themselves last in the Eastern Conference with 45 points, seven behind Southeast Division-leading Carolina.

Despite an 8-4 loss to Ottawa on Thursday in Boyle's long-anticipated comeback, there still is a sense among the Lightning that the playoffs are not as far out of reach as they might seem for a team that has won only 20 of its first 50 games.

Perhaps the main reason the Lightning still believe is the presence over the final 32 games of Boyle, whose career-best 20 goals last season (and his two goals Thursday against the Senators) reveal only one small facet of his big game.

Coach John Tortorella never has minced words about Boyle's importance.

"As I've said all along, a lot's written about the three amigos here with Brad Richards, Marty St. Louis and Vinny Lecavalier; there's no one more important than Danny Boyle to our hockey team," Tortorella said. "And I think what we've gone through this year without him, I think you can buy it for a few games, but as it sets in and you don't have that type of player back there at your blue line, it's put us in a jam.

"He's a huge piece. He's the most important player to our team, because everything works off of him, off of transition, off of breaking traps, our power play, a lot of different things. And it's not a slight on the other three guys, but as far as the position he plays and how he plays it, he's probably our most important guy."

As the season has slipped into uncertainty during his absence, Boyle has watched his teammates struggle to close games out in the third period and he's cringed when something happened on the ice that, maybe, he might have prevented had that skate not fallen off its hook and sliced into his wrist this past September.

"It was tough to watch," Boyle said.

And as much as Boyle missed being out there on the ice, his teammates readily acknowledge they missed him more.

"Any team that would have a guy like that not play would miss him," Lecavalier said. "Obviously, one guy can't make the team, but he's a huge part. He plays 30 minutes. He carries the puck all the time. For him, it's easier to bring the puck from one end to their zone. That gives us more scoring opportunities."

Lightning center Chris Gratton, who experienced game preparation against the Lightning many times over the past two seasons as a member of the Florida Panthers, knows from an opponent's perspective what Boyle's presence means.

"It's a different team with him in the lineup," Gratton said. "He's almost like a fourth forward out there. When he gets in the offensive zone for the opposing team, that's tough to defend. When you've got a puck-rushing defenseman that can stay on the offense and spend offensive time, it makes it tough to defend."

Tortorella said he fully intends to use Boyle for his usual 30 or so minutes a game in the coming weeks. And Boyle, who played 24 minutes Thursday, said he expects to rebuild his game conditioning fairly quickly.

Which is important, because the Lightning need him - the best of him - now. Looming ahead is the Feb. 26 trade deadline, and a healthy Boyle, as an impending unrestricted free agent, would be a highly attractive target for contenders if Tampa Bay fails to build traction in the playoff race.

"Honestly, as long as we're in the hunt, I don't think we're going to disassemble the team," Boyle said. "That's why these next few weeks are so important. If we can win the majority of games, we should be right there, and then I don't think that it's anything to worry about. And if that time comes, which I hope it won't, we'll deal with it then."

Reporter Carter Gaddis can be reached at (813) 259-8291 or igaddis@tampatrib.com.

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