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COLUMBUS, Ohio - Tampa Bay Lightning centre Brian Boyle was happy with a 7-4 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night.He wasnt so pleased with how it all unfolded.That was not exactly a perfect game, by any means, he said.The Lightning played almost a perfect first period in coasting to a quick 4-0 lead. What followed wasnt flawless, however.Tyler Johnson scored twice and Ryan Callahan added a goal and two assists to lead the way as the Lightning won their fifth in a row and extended the Blue Jackets losing streak to eight games.Its the nature of team sports, said Evgeni Nabokov, who had 28 saves. Once you go (up) by so much, theres a tendency for the other team to get hungry and they dont want to get embarrassed.Columbus cut the lead to two goals early in the third period and had several good cracks at Nabokov to cut the advantage even further.The way we finished the last two periods was a little bit disappointing, defenceman Anton Stralman said. But at the end of the day we got the two points and thats what we came here to do.Stralman, Boyle and Cedric Paquette each had a goal, and J.T. Brown added a goal and an assist for the Lightning, who have outscored opponents 27-15 during their streak. Jonathan Drouin had two assists.They played last night and we came out strong, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. We built it up to 4-0. Thats what you have to do to win a hockey game, and thats what we did.The game seemed to be all but over a little more than 16 minutes in.Brown scored his first of the season, chipping in his own blocked redirect high into the net at 5:46.Just 21 seconds later, before Browns goal was completely announced, Drouins shot led to a big rebound off rookie goalie Anton Forsberg, with Paquette on the right wing to jam it in.The first period, they were skating and we were chasing, Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. We had a lot of mistakes.Then on the power play, Steven Stamkos hard wrist shot from the point was redirected by Callahan, with Stralman converting on another rebound. Brown then carried the puck up on a rush but was checked and slammed hard into the back boards. Brenden Morrow gathered the puck and whipped a quick pass to a trailing Boyle for the easy tap-in.We worked hard for our goals, Boyle said. It wasnt easy getting them. It feels easy when they come in bunches.The teams traded goals in a four-goal second period, with Scott Hartnell scoring two goals for the second consecutive night for the Blue Jackets. Then Ryan Johansen, who also had an assist, scored, and Nick Foligno added a goal early in the third period to make it 6-4.Suddenly a crowd of 14,892 came to life and the Blue Jackets dominated the period, peppering Nabokov with 17 shots while the Lightning struggled to get five.Nabokov stopped Cam Atkinson from point-blank range or the lead would have fallen to one goal with just over 14 minutes left in regulation.But the Blue Jackets, hampered by injuries to several of their top players, including front-line goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, couldnt get closer.Columbus had lost six in a row in regulation before earning a point in a 3-2 overtime loss at Carolina on Friday. The Lightning was already in their hotel in Ohios capital city, resting up, and it showed early.The longest losing streak in the Blue Jackets 14 seasons is nine games (0-7-2) from Dec. 10-26, 2009.Its getting to the point where its embarrassing us, Atkinson said. But we just have to stick together as a team. We know what were capable of doing.NOTES: Columbus D Jack Johnson served the second of his three-game suspension for a high hit against Carolinas Jiri Tlusty. ... The Lightning opened a three-game, four-day road swing that will also take them to Detroit (Sunday) and Chicago (Tuesday). ... James Wisniewski had two assists for Columbus.___Follow Rusty Miller on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/RustyMillerAP Cheap Bears Jerseys .C. United on Saturday night and boost the Unions playoff hopes. Nick DeLeon scored in the 36th minute for United (3-23-6), which had ample opportunities to build on its lead but went its 10th straight match without a victory. Authentic Tarik Cohen Jersey . -- Even as Chris Paul remained evasive about his future, he did what team leaders are expected to do. http://www.cheapbearsjerseysauthentic.co...-shaheen-jersey. Those cheers seemed more special this time because the captains run on Broadway could soon be over. The adoration surely sounded much nicer to Callahan than all the recent trade talk. Authentic Kevin Toliver II Jersey . Less than 24 hours after the Wolves lost at home to the Mavericks, 100-98, NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn announced Tuesday that Kevin Love was fouled on his right arm by Shawn Marion in the closing seconds and should have been awarded two free throws. Authentic Dion Sims Jersey . -- Jake Peavy arrived at Bostons spring training complex on Monday with a large white bandage covering his left index finger, the result of a weekend accident.SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Syracuses streak lives on -- barely. With their key players struggling, the top-ranked Orange used their defence to remain unbeaten, edging North Carolina State 56-55 on C.J. Fairs layup with 6.7 seconds left Saturday night. Rakeem Christmas started the winning sequence with a steal in the lane off a trap in the left corner, and Fair finished it with a layup in transition. "We got out of it by making a good play at the end," Orange coach Jim Boeheim said. "We were able to make some good plays finally at the end, and one big play." The start of the game was pushed back four hours because of a snowstorm that wreaked havoc along the eastern seaboard. N.C. State did not land in Syracuse until Saturday afternoon. The teams Twitter account announced the Wolfpacks arrival at 3:07 p.m., seven minutes later than the original scheduled tip-off. It turned out to be worth the wait, tight all the way through a frantic finish full of missed opportunities. "Theyre terrific," N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said. "Obviously, when you have a year like theyre having, when youre undefeated youre going to have some close ones, some not-so-close ones. We just tried to prepare for them as best we could and I thought our guys did a great job." Ralston Turner missed a 3 for N.C. State with 2:45 left with Syracuse clinging to a one-point lead, and then Fair was off on a hook driving across the lane. After N.C. States Anthony Barber hit the side of the backboard with a baseline jumper, Jerami Grant missed a spinning drive in the lane for Syracuse. Freshman point guard Tyler Ennis of Brampton, Ont., so cool and collected all year, then showed hes human, fouling Turner while shooting a 3, and he made all three free throws to give the Wolfpack a 55-53 lead with 62 seconds left. Fair sank 1 of 2 foul shots with 41.4 seconds remaining and N.C. States Desmond Lee then lost the ball out of bounds when he was double-teamed at midcourt. Ennis negated that turnover with a charge with 14.7 seconds left, but the Wolfpack couldnt close it out. Wolfpack star T.J. Warren was fouled in the back by Trevor Cooney and his shot went in, but the basket was waved off. The referees ruled the infraction occurred before the shot, forcing N.C. State to inbound the ball and setting up the winning trap in the corner. "That should have countedd," Gottfried said.dddddddddddd "That was a made basket to put us up three with T.J. going to the line to go up four. That changed things." Christmas had 14 points and set career highs with 12 rebounds and seven blocks as Syracuse earned its 10th single-digit win despite shooting 35.2 per cent. Grant had 12 points and 14 rebounds, and Fair scored 11 points on 5-of-16 shooting. "We keep our composure all the time," Christmas said. "We dont let anything get to us." After Fairs winning layup, Warren missed from the top of the key on one last try for N.C. State. Warren finished with 23 points, Kyle Washington had 14 and Turner 13 for the Wolfpack. Despite its torrid season, Syracuse (25-0, 12-0) is clinging to a half-game lead over Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Oranges start is the third-best in ACC history, behind only North Carolina State (27-0) in 1973 and North Carolina (32-0) in 1957. North Carolina State (16-9, 6-6) was looking for its seventh win over the nations No. 1 team. It got its last one just over a year ago, beating Duke 84-76. The Wolfpack, who had won five of six, shot 39 per cent (22 of 56) from the field. Syracuse was coming off a dramatic last-second victory at No. 25 Pittsburgh on Wednesday night. Ennis hit a 3-pointer from 35 feet as time expired to lift the Orange to a 58-56 road win. But the hostile Carrier Dome crowd of 31,572 didnt seem to faze the Wolfpack, who used Warrens big effort to hang right with Syracuse. He scored six straight points to start the second half and Washingtons hook in the lane gave N.C. State a 34-30 lead. Syracuse tied it at 34 on a slam by Christmas off an air ball by Fair from the right corner, and foul trouble on the Wolfpack hurt their chances. Grants follow off a miss by Christmas gave Syracuse its first lead of the second half at 40-39 with 9:19 left. There were seven ties and seven lead changes in the opening half, and the Wolfpack had the biggest advantage at 26-22 after a driving backdoor layup by Warren. A spinning drive through the lane and layup by Fair and a fast-break dunk by Cooney off a Wolfpack turnover in the closing 2:11 made it 26-26 at the break. It was Syracuses fourth crowd of more than 30,000 this season. Thats the most in any single season since Syracuse had six Carrier Dome crowds of more than 30,000 in 1990-91. ' ' '