BUFFALO, N.Y. \u2014 The Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning came into their Sunday matchup tied for first place in the Atlantic Division. Considering the Sabres haven\u2019t been to the playoffs since 2011, there\u2019s a strong case that this was the biggest game in Buffalo in more than a decade.<\/p>\n
The emotions matched the moment. As did the narrative arc of the game, which ended with the Sabres winning 8-7 after they led 4-1 and trailed 7-5.<\/p>\n
Last week, the Sabres beat the Lightning 6-2 in Tampa, Fla. As the score of that game became more lopsided, the Lightning tried to drag the Sabres into some post-whistle scrums.<\/p>\n
It took only five minutes of game action for the Lightning to try the same tactic Sunday. With the game scoreless, Brandon Hagel hit Tage Thompson from behind into the boards, and every Sabre on the ice jumped in to defend Thompson. Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin and Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh ended up fighting. It was a rare fight for Dahlin, who ended up on the losing end. The Sabres ended up on a five-on-three penalty because Hagel got called for boarding and Raddysh got a slashing penalty earlier in the play. The Sabres didn\u2019t convert on the power play.<\/p>\n
At 8:20 in the first period, Erik Cernak took an interference penalty that ended up as the most significant of the period, because Josh Doan scored on the power play to give the Sabres a 1-0 lead.<\/p>\n
Then, 8:54 into the game, Sam Carrick, who joined the Sabres at the trade deadline, fought Lightning fourth-liner Scott Sabourin. That turned the temperature up another notch. Just 19 seconds after play resumed, Peyton Krebs was battling for a rebound around Tampa\u2019s net, and another scrum broke out. Krebs ended up fighting Hagel, while Sabres defenseman Bowen Byram and Lightning defenseman Charle-Edouard D\u2019Astous went at it.<\/p>\n
SOME ROUGH STUFF BETWEEN THE SABRES AND BOLTS LEADS TO DARREN RADDYSH FEEDING RASMUS DAHLIN PUNCHES \ud83d\ude31\ud83e\udee8 pic.twitter.com\/3zTwdjJoKE<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) March 8, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n That sequence resulted in fighting majors for Krebs and Hagel and 10-minute misconducts for D\u2019Astous and Bryam.<\/p>\n That was the bulk of the penalty minutes in the first period, but the Sabres and Lightning weren\u2019t finished. Sabres defenseman Mattias Samuelsson and Nikita Kucherov exchanged slashing penalties. Then Buffalo\u2019s Michael Kesselring and Cernak got unsportsmanlike conduct penalties when they nearly fought, but the officials broke them up.<\/p>\n Buffalo\u2019s Noah Ostlund rounded out the first-period penalty minutes with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty late in the period when he took a shot after a high-sticking had been called.<\/p>\n Things picked up right where they left off at the start of the second period. Kesselring and Cernak fought right off the opening faceoff. Off the next faceoff, Sabres forward Beck Malenstyn and Lightning forward Corey Perry fought. Those two bouts brought the game\u2019s penalty minute total to 90. Then a Lightning minor penalty pushed the total to 92, and the Sabres converted on that power play to take a 2-0 lead.<\/p>\n The Lightning weren\u2019t done, either. Hagel, who was at the center of the two earlier brawls, took a double-minor for roughing when he punched Dahlin multiple times in the back of the head. Hagel was subsequently fined $5,000, the maximum amount, the NHL\u2019s Department of Player Safety said<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Sabres ended up getting another power-play goal when Alex Tuch deflected a Thompson shot to give the Sabres a 3-0 lead. Shortly after that, the crowd in Buffalo started a \u201cWe hate Tampa!\u201d chant.<\/p>\n This is not the first time this season the Lightning have been involved in a game like this. The Lightning and Panthers combined for 322 penalty minutes in a preseason game. Those teams combined for 137 penalty minutes Dec. 27 and then combined for 167 penalty minutes Feb. 5. In all three of those games, the Lightning ended up with the majority of the penalty minutes.<\/p>\n After two periods the Lightning had come back from a 4-1 hole to forge a 4-4 tie. The Lightning led 7-5 with nine minutes left before the Sabres scored three times, the last being Doan\u2019s second power-play goal, with 4:17 left. Only one penalty was called during third-period action (slashing on the Lightning\u2019s Zemgus Girgensons), but Tampa Bay\u2019s Anthony Cirelli was assessed a two-minute charging penalty at 20:00.<\/p>\n The final tally was 17 penalties and 57 minutes for the Lightning, 11 penalties and 45 minutes for the Sabres.<\/p>\n The Sabres made additions at the deadline with games like this in mind. Carrick has experience fighting. They also traded for Winnipeg Jets defensemen Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn, both of whom are known for sticking up for teammates. They are waiting on visas before they can play for the Sabres. The 6-foot-7 Stanley joined the broadcast at the start of the second period and made note of the fact that the Lightning and Sabres will play again in April.<\/p>\n \u201cI know there\u2019s still some hockey to be played, but I think (the Lightning) come back early April,\u201d he said. \u201cThat will be fun, too.\u201d<\/p>\n