BUFFALO, N.Y. — When the final horn sounded on the Buffalo Sabres’ 8-7 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, you couldn’t hear it over the roar of the crowd.
Buffalo fans treated this Sunday night game against the Lightning like it was the biggest game in more than a decade. Because for the Sabres, it was. This building hasn’t hosted a playoff game since 2011. You can count the number of “meaningful” March games it has hosted on one hand. But Sunday, the Sabres had a chance to take sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division away from the Lightning.
So after a three-hour slugfest between the Sabres and Lightning that featured 15 goals, 102 penalty minutes, five fights, a dozen scrums and two blown multi-goal leads, the Sabres fans in attendance let out the type of emotion that a generation of fans hasn’t experienced.
“My ears are still ringing,” Sabres forward Jason Zucker said in the dressing room after the game.
Added Alex Tuch: “It gave me chills.”
And captain Rasmus Dahlin: “We could not have done this without the crowd we had. They kept us in the game the whole match. It was an unbelievable atmosphere. I think that was probably top I’ve experienced.”
This game got heated less than five minutes in, but it started last weekend. When the Sabres dominated the Lightning in a 6-2 win in Tampa, Fla., last week, the Lightning wanted to drag the Sabres into the mud. Tampa Bay racked up 28 penalty minutes in that game and wanted the game to get messy.
So the Sabres had an idea of what to expect coming into this matchup.
“You never know, right?” Zucker said. “Last game, there was, obviously, a little bit of that stuff going on in Tampa, so we had a feeling. But we feel good about our group, feel good that we can stand up for each other and play in any type of game.”
That type of game got going quickly. Lightning forwards Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli hit Tage Thompson from behind into the boards. That prompted every Sabre on the ice to jump in to defend Thompson, leading to Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh and Dahlin dropping the gloves. Dahlin came out on the wrong end, but the message was sent that the Sabres were comfortable playing that kind of game.
“I tried to stand for myself in the beginning, but it went how it did,” Dahlin said. “But, I mean, it’s a part of it. I know it. It was really good to have this experience going into something hopefully bigger and kind of learn from it. I’m out there to play the game of hockey, not do stupid stuff.”
The Lightning kept testing the Sabres, though. By the end of the first period, the teams had combined for 70 penalty minutes and just one goal, which came from Josh Doan on the power play. Sam Carrick and Scott Sabourin fought. So did Hagel and Peyton Krebs. And within the first six seconds of the second period, Michael Kesselring dropped the gloves with Erik Cernak and Beck Malenstyn fought Corey Perry. For a while, it seemed like every whistle produced a scrum and every Sabre got involved at some point.
“We’ve come a long ways, obviously,” Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. “I think the group has got real tight, and it showed tonight. They answered every call, they were there at every play.”
The Lightning’s Corey Perry and the Sabres’ Beck Malenstyn participated in one of the several fights between the two teams Sunday night. (Timothy T. Ludwig / Imagn ImagesO
The fighting was one thing, but Hagel took it to another level just over three minutes into the second period. After Dahlin cross-checked Hagel in front of the net, Hagel went after him, trying to fight. When Dahlin turned away, Hagel punched him three times in the back of the head. He kept swinging as Dahlin fell to the ice. Every Sabre on the ice, including goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, was there to jump in. Somehow, Hagel got only a double minor for roughing. The Sabres scored on the power play to take a 3-0 lead.
“Obviously not too happy with that,” Tuch said of Hagel’s behavior. “When you have a guy as good as Dahls, you know he’s going to get targeted a lot. Obviously, there’s a line sometimes, but I was proud of our group for not backing down. Every guy was in there after that one.”
The Lightning didn’t go away. They continued to play the nasty, physical style they’ve become known for, and found some offensive touch. After the Sabres went up 4-1 on a short-handed goal from Tuch, the Lightning scored five straight goals. The Sabres looked like they’d been worn out by extracurriculars in the first half of the game. When Nikita Kucherov scored 59 seconds into the third period to give the Lightning a 5-4 lead, the energy started getting zapped from the building. Then Brayden Point got credited with a goal when Byram unintentionally put the puck in the net when trying to clear it, increasing the Sabres ‘ deficit to 6-4.
“A lot of momentum swings both ways,” Zucker said. “Obviously, we were feeling really good early, and then we were down. You have to find a way to start playing hockey. That was the best part about it. We found a way to get back in the game and start playing hockey again and not let all the rough stuff get us off our game too much and take away from what we were trying to do, which was win the game ultimately.”
The Sabres got some life when Carrick scored his first goal as a Sabre to cut Tampa Bay’s lead to 6-5. But Hagel took that energy right back when he capitalized on a wide-open rebound left by Luukkonen left to make it 7-5. That it was Hagel, who had taken a cheap shot at Dahlin earlier in the game, added insult to injury.
“I think we got a chance right after they were up two, and then we were screaming on the bench, like, we have a chance if we just keep playing, one shot,” Dahlin said. “We stayed in with it the whole game. The bench was awesome. I mean, the team was unbelievable.”
Dahlin was the one who answered. He weaved through the offensive zone and snuck a perfect shot by Jonas Johansson to make it 7-6. The crowd came alive after that. And it got even louder when Zucker broke down the wing and got behind the Lightning for a backhand goal off the rush to tie the score at 7.
Fittingly, a penalty is what ultimately decided the game. Lightning forward Zemgus Girgensons, who played 10 seasons for the Sabres, took a slashing penalty that brought the game total to 100 penalty minutes. On the power play, Dahlin rang a shot off the post, and Doan picked up the rebound to make it 8-7.
The Lightning came into this game with the third-best penalty kill in the NHL, and the Sabres scored four power-play goals, including that game-winner.
“That’s sometimes part of the game that your power play needs to bail you out of games and be good for you to win hockey games,” Doan said.
The Sabres had to hang on for the last five minutes of the game, but as the final seconds ticked away, they got a taste of what a playoff atmosphere might look and sound like in Buffalo.
“It’s just finally — finally we’re here, and we’re doing good things,” Dahlin said. “So I don’t take this for granted at all. I’m so fired up. I’m so happy. I’m so happy for Buffalo as a city and all the fans, too. This means the world.”
Anyone who has been paying attention to the Sabres the last few months knows they are contenders. The playoffs look inevitable at this point as they’ve now won seven straight games coming out of the Olympic break. But a game like this one shows that when the temperature turns up in the postseason, they’re not going anywhere.
The Lightning thought this game might be a chance to push the Sabres around and give them something to think about heading into the playoffs. Instead, the Sabres’ response might have sparked a rivalry. The Lightning will be back in Buffalo on April 6. And there’s a chance they’ll meet in a playoff series at some point.
“If we’re being honest there, there’s a chance that we’re gonna see them down the road and that plays a part in it,” Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser said. “You want to show them that if that’s gonna happen, they’re not gonna have their way, and that’s just how the game works.”
Added Doan: “I think we kind of know what to expect now from them, and they know what to expect from us.”
Before the game, Lightning coach Jon Cooper downplayed the brewing rivalry between these teams. He acknowledged how great a story Buffalo’s revival is but wanted to focus on figuring out his own team. After Sunday, the rivalry is hard to ignore, and the Lightning are looking up at the Sabres in the division.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Tuch said of the Sabres’ turnaround.
That led to the rowdiest crowd Buffalo has had in years. Fans were chanting, “We hate Tampa!” throughout the game and left the building bringing back the old “Sabres on the warpath!” chant.
“That’s the crowd that we’ve been looking forward to and the crowd that this city deserves,” Doan said. “Obviously, it’s been a rocky road for the last couple of years, but we’re starting to find it and hopefully bring hockey back in Buffalo.”