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How a Sunday Night Sabres-Lightning Matchup Turned Into an Absolute Melee

This was a wild, wild game.
Tom Dierberger|
Officials deal with a pileup of players in the matchup between Buffalo and Tampa Bay on Sunday night.
Officials deal with a pileup of players in the matchup between Buffalo and Tampa Bay on Sunday night. | Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images

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Buffalo SabresTampa Bay Lightning

We’re still waiting for a hockey game to break out at KeyBank Center during what felt like an hours-long melee between the Sabres and Lightning on Sunday night.

The game was an absolute brawl.

Just a few minutes into the Sabres’ 8–7 win over the Lightning, Tampa Bay forwards Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel laid a big hit on Sabres center Tage Thompson right next to the boards. Thompson’s teammates didn’t like it—and a giant brawl broke out on the ice.

Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh squared up with Rasmus Dahlin and took him down.

But ladies and gentleman, they were just getting started.

About five minutes of game time later, it was Sam Carrick going head-to-head against Scott Sabourin near Tampa Bay’s net.

And then things really escalated. A scrap broke out behind Tampa Bay’s net with 10:47 remaining in the first period and lasted several minutes. As the referees tried to separate both teams, Lightning winger Brandon Hagel and Sabres center Peyton Krebs slipped away to start a one-on-one fight of their own.

When all was said and done, the penalty boxes looked like this:

Sabres-Lightning
The penalty boxes during the first period. | MSG Networks

That, however, was just the first period. The second period started with a bang, as two fights broke out in the opening seconds.

Bodies got piled up yet again just a few minutes later.

At the start of the third period, the Lightning had been whistled for 15 penalties for 53 total penalty minutes, while the Sabres had 11 penalties for 45 minutes. The final horn sounded on Sabres’ 8–7 win over the Lightning with 27 penalties for a combined 100 penalty minutes on the score sheet.

That’s right—a total of one hour and 40 minutes of time in the penalty box. (A reminder: NHL hockey games are only 60 minutes long.)

The actual hockey was pretty great, too. Buffalo jumped out to a 3–0 lead but found itself down 7–5 early in the third period. Goals by Rasmus Dahlin, Jason Zucker and Josh Doan in the final nine minutes gave the Sabres an 8–7 victory on an emotional, violent night at KeyBank Center.

A game which, of course, ended with one last brawl.

The Sabres are now 39-19-6 and jumped ahead of Tampa Bay for first place in the Atlantic Division with 84 points. The Lightning sit in second with 82 points, although they’ve played two fewer games than Buffalo.

Every penalty in Sabres-Lightning clash

First period

  • Lightning: Darren Raddysh, two minutes for slashing
  • Lightning: Brandon Hagel, two minutes for boarding
  • Lightning: Darren Raddysh, five minutes for fighting
  • Sabres: Rasmus Dahlin, five minutes for fighting
  • Lightning: Erik Cernak, two minutes for interference
  • Sabres: Sam Carrick, five minutes for fighting
  • Lightning: Scott Sabourin, five minutes for fighting
  • Lightning: Charle-Edouard D’Astous, two minutes for roughing
  • Sabres: Bowen Byram, two minutes for roughing
  • Lightning: Brandon Hagel, five minutes for fighting
  • Sabres: Peyton Krebs, five minutes for fighting
  • Sabres: Bowen Byram, 10 minutes for misconduct
  • Lightning: Charle-Edouard D’Astous, 10 minutes for misconduct
  • Sabres: Mattias Samuelsson, two minutes for slashing
  • Lightning: Nikita Kucherov, two minutes for slashing
  • Lightning: Erik Cernak, two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct
  • Sabres: Michael Kesselring, two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct
  • Sabres: Noah Ostlund, two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct

Second period

  • Sabres: Michael Kesselring, five minutes for fighting
  • Lightning: Erik Cernak, five minutes for fighting
  • Lightning: Corey Perry, five minutes for fighting
  • Sabres: Beck Malenstyn, five minutes for fighting
  • Lightning: Ryan McDonagh, two minutes for high sticking
  • Lightning: Brandon Hagel, two minutes for roughing
  • Lightning: Brandon Hagel, two minutes for roughing
  • Sabres: Owen Power, two minutes for high sticking

Third period

  • Lightning: Zemgus Girgensons, two minutes for slashing
  • Lightning: Anthony Cirelli, two minutes for charging

What a list.

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Tom Dierberger
TOM DIERBERGER

Tom Dierberger is a staff writer and editor on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in November 2023 after stints at FOX Sports, Bally Sports and NBC Sports. Dierberger has a bachelor's in communication from St. John's University. In his spare time, he can be seen throwing out his arm while playing fetch with his dog, Walter B. Boy.

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