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I went to a fight and a lacrosse game broke out.

In a testy and vicious affair, the Toronto Rock defeated the Boston Blazers 8-7  in overtime at Air Canada Centre on Friday night.

Garrett Billings scored the power-play winner at 6:37 of the extra frame when he found himself a small seam in front of the Boston net. He took a no-look, over the shoulder pass from Rock captain Colin Doyle and buried the ball over the left shoulder of Blazers goalie Anthony Cosmo.

“It changes the whole game when you have a distributor like (Doyle) out there,” Rock defender Stephen Hoar said. “They have to respect him so much it allows the other four guys on the floor to get open and he’s going to find them.”

Prior to the goal, Kyle Ross took a five-minute major for high sticking at 2:56 when he tried to separate Doyle’s head from his body.

As dramatic as the ending was, the fireworks began early in this one, just 4:39 into the opening period.

With Boston up 1-0, courtesy of a Daryl Veltman goal, Doyle squared off with Blazers’ defenceman Paul Dawson in a spirited tussle.

“We knew they were going to come out like that,” Rock coach Troy Cordingley said. “What we didn’t know was that they were going to jump our leader, our captain. It’s unacceptable and I’m glad our guys answered back.”

Prior to the re-start, every player on the rink, except the goalies, partnered up, resulting in mass player ejections and primal screams from the 11, 502 in attendance. Even the coaches started jawing back and forth, it was a wild and passionate scene.

“One of their tough guys (Dawson) goes after Doyle and we can’t have that,” Hoar said. “It turned into a bit of a brawl but it’s good to see the guys step up.”

In total there was 150 penalty minutes and eight game misconducts in the first period in contrast to 14 minutes in the second.

When the testosterone levels came back to earth, the teams got back to the other reason they were there: playing the game.

The Blazers took a 2-0 lead on a Mitch Belisle goal but the Rock finally responded courtesy of a Josh Wasson goal at 13:49 of the opening period.

Toronto Nationals goalie Brett Queener put Boston up 3-1 at 2:53 of the second but goals by Doyle, Kasey Beirnes and Stephan Leblanc gave Toronto a 4-3 lead at the half.

After allowing a goal on the first Boston shot of the second, Rock goalie Bob Watson turned away nine the rest of the period, allowing Toronto to mount its comeback.

“He (Watson) was stellar (tonight),” Cordingley said. “The older he gets the better he gets. I know a lot of people doubted if he could play. He’s doing a great job for us.”

After video review, Doyle got his second goal 50 seconds into the third to make it 5-3 and Mike Hominuck widened the lead to 6-3 at 4:09. Doyle ended the night with two goals and four assists and now leads the National Lacrosse League in scoring with 16 points after two games.

Gary Bining cut the lead to 6-4 eight minutes into the third and penalties to Hoar and Drew Petkoff, over two minutes later, gave Boston (0-2) a five-on-three.

The Rock displayed some resolve and allowed no shots during the two-man advantage.

“We’re doing a good job of getting into the shooting and passing lanes and we’re allowing our goalies to come out and play the shot properly,” Hoar said.

“It’s a team concept defence and it’s working right now and hopefully that can continue.”

Watson came up large seconds after the minors ended. Bining found himself alone on the doorstep but Watson robbed him with a sliding save. He stopped 36 to improve to 2-0 in the young season.

“Bob is playing awesome. He is standing on his head (right now),” Hoar said.

To their credit, the Blazers battled back with goals by Matt Lyons and Ryan Hotaling to even the game at 6-6 with over 12 minutes remaining.

Hominuck gave the Rock a 7-6 lead with 5:29 remaining, flying through the crease and flicking the ball into the top corner but Belisle tied it over two minutes later.

Toronto had the last possession but could do nothing with it, setting the stage for Billings in the extra session.