GDT: Lightning @ Sabres, 6:00pm, March 8, 2026 (MSG, ESPN+, WGR-550)

[Doohickie]

14 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

I don't think it's cool.

I don't think it's relevant with respect to calling out his goonery.  Two separate subjects.

[quill]

20 hours ago, pastajoe said:

FYI: the game is being replayed today 3pm on MSG.

That was a good heads up for anyone who  couldn't watch it live, or for anyone who forgot to set the recording before the game started.

When my wife and I left for the game we were in such a hurry to get there that I forgot to set the recording before we left. After we got on the train, I tried to set the recording on my Spectrum app as soon as we got above ground, but I couldn't get it to set. Thank goodness MSG replays the game several times afterward. I recorded one of the replays, have already watched it again, and I will no doubt check it out every now and then for as long as Spectrum lets me keep something recorded. This was a historical game.

[dudacek]

9 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

I heard Dahlin saying he didn't respond because he wanted the PP. That way of thinking might be a mistake. Remember playoffs are 7 game wars of attrition sometimes. As for Hagel, he's also the guy who goes after Tkachuk right? He knows who to target. You can argue those players get to him and he loses it or you can argue he knows who and exactly what he's doing. Dahlin is our best player. Dahlin doesn't really fight back. Hence Dahlin gets targeted. I'd do the same thing if I was their coach or one of their players. They'd target Tage as well, but he's a little harder since he can fight and he's a giant so it's much harder. Trust me, come playoffs they will not only target Dahlin they will target Östlund and Quinn and anybody else they feel is vulnerable. Jarmo knows this. Why else do you think he made the moves he did?

Incorrect. I didn't like either part of it. 

I disagree with the second sentence of the bold. I think it's more like:

Dahlin is our best player. Dahlin gets under people's skin. Sabres don't have a deterrent. Hence Dahlin gets targeted.

Dahlin is a tough *****. Not in the sense of his fists, or his ability scare anybody, but in the sense that he will not be intimidated. Exhibit A was what happened after Hagel's antics: Sabres scored on the PP he drew, he scored the 7-6 goal and he set up the winner. 

[K-9]

11 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

I heard Dahlin saying he didn't respond because he wanted the PP. That way of thinking might be a mistake. Remember playoffs are 7 game wars of attrition sometimes. As for Hagel, he's also the guy who goes after Tkachuk right? He knows who to target. You can argue those players get to him and he loses it or you can argue he knows who and exactly what he's doing. Dahlin is our best player. Dahlin doesn't really fight back. Hence Dahlin gets targeted. I'd do the same thing if I was their coach or one of their players. They'd target Tage as well, but he's a little harder since he can fight and he's a giant so it's much harder. Trust me, come playoffs they will not only target Dahlin they will target Östlund and Quinn and anybody else they feel is vulnerable. Jarmo knows this. Why else do you think he made the moves he did?

Incorrect. I didn't like either part of it. 

Dahlin gets targeted because of his chippy play. And it was smart of him to draw the penalty on an easy mark like Hagel who, for all his talent on offense, is often an out of control player who can hurt his team by taking unnecessary penalties as we saw on Sunday. He didn’t target Dahlin because Dahlin can’t fight. He targeted Dahlin because he objected to Dahlin’s physical play in front of the net and then lost his cool and attacked Dahlin from behind. It was a cowardly play. 

I am not worried in the least about our ability to answer the bell in the playoffs. There’s a difference between not having guys who can fight vs having guys who aren’t afraid to stand up to it. And our team is filled with those guys currently. Lindy will have them ready, regardless. Tampa isn’t the only team in the equation with a coach who is planning, scouting, looking for chinks in the armor. Lindy has seen it all before and Cooper has no advantage in that regard. Not in the least. 

[Doohickie]

29 minutes ago, K-9 said:

He didn’t target Dahlin because Dahlin can’t fight. He targeted Dahlin because he objected to Dahlin’s physical play in front of the net and then lost his cool and attacked Dahlin from behind. It was a cowardly play. 

The other reason Dahlin gets targeted is that other teams want him off the ice.  If you sacrifice Hagel for 5 minutes to get Dahlin off for 5 minutes, that's a win.

[K-9]

2 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

The other reason Dahlin gets targeted is that other teams want him off the ice.  If you sacrifice Hagel for 5 minutes to get Dahlin off for 5 minutes, that's a win.

All the more reason for Dahlin to just walk away. Dahlin is smart and acutely aware of what teams have been doing to him for years now. I just want to be clear that Dahlin doesn’t get targeted because he can’t fight as has been previously put forth. 

[Dude]

1 hour ago, K-9 said:

Dahlin gets targeted because of his chippy play. And it was smart of him to draw the penalty on an easy mark like Hagel who, for all his talent on offense, is often an out of control player who can hurt his team by taking unnecessary penalties as we saw on Sunday. He didn’t target Dahlin because Dahlin can’t fight. He targeted Dahlin because he objected to Dahlin’s physical play in front of the net and then lost his cool and attacked Dahlin from behind. It was a cowardly play. 

I am not worried in the least about our ability to answer the bell in the playoffs. There’s a difference between not having guys who can fight vs having guys who aren’t afraid to stand up to it. And our team is filled with those guys currently. Lindy will have them ready, regardless. Tampa isn’t the only team in the equation with a coach who is planning, scouting, looking for chinks in the armor. Lindy has seen it all before and Cooper has no advantage in that regard. Not in the least. 

That's what the acquisition of the heavies at the deadline was.

[shrader]

4 hours ago, Doohickie said:

The other reason Dahlin gets targeted is that other teams want him off the ice.  If you sacrifice Hagel for 5 minutes to get Dahlin off for 5 minutes, that's a win.

Except they screwed that up and any time they took someone off for 5, their own guy went off for 7. 

[Demoted]

 

[PerreaultForever]

7 hours ago, dudacek said:

I disagree with the second sentence of the bold. I think it's more like:

Dahlin is our best player. Dahlin gets under people's skin. Sabres don't have a deterrent. Hence Dahlin gets targeted.

Dahlin is a tough *****. Not in the sense of his fists, or his ability scare anybody, but in the sense that he will not be intimidated. Exhibit A was what happened after Hagel's antics: Sabres scored on the PP he drew, he scored the 7-6 goal and he set up the winner. 

Oh he does get under people's skin but he also doesn't fight back. It's not like a Tkachuk getting under your skin. Action reaction. It's going to happen now that we are a serious team and thus we will also have to stand up frequently. 

[PerreaultForever]

5 hours ago, K-9 said:

Dahlin gets targeted because of his chippy play. And it was smart of him to draw the penalty on an easy mark like Hagel who, for all his talent on offense, is often an out of control player who can hurt his team by taking unnecessary penalties as we saw on Sunday. He didn’t target Dahlin because Dahlin can’t fight. He targeted Dahlin because he objected to Dahlin’s physical play in front of the net and then lost his cool and attacked Dahlin from behind. It was a cowardly play. 

I am not worried in the least about our ability to answer the bell in the playoffs. There’s a difference between not having guys who can fight vs having guys who aren’t afraid to stand up to it. And our team is filled with those guys currently. Lindy will have them ready, regardless. Tampa isn’t the only team in the equation with a coach who is planning, scouting, looking for chinks in the armor. Lindy has seen it all before and Cooper has no advantage in that regard. Not in the least. 

I agree in part but I do think Hagel targeted him and wasn't just annoyed by him. Hagel wouldn't target a bigger guy if that guy was able to fight back. You remember the way they took Östlund with one punch the previous game? The feeling was likely we can intimidate this team. They are young and soft. Then we can beat them in the playoffs. Sabres didn't roll over the way they maybe expected. 

I've always said players will stand up when they feel other players have their back and we have that now. We haven't had it for many many years. Adding the muscle from Winnipeg will only make that feeling grow and they will play bigger and bolder. It is a real thing now, not just a wish or hope. 

[bob_sauve28]

 

[PASabreFan]

There's the answer. It's always going to be 8-7.

[clink]

On 3/9/2026 at 8:05 AM, North Buffalo said:

Someone does need to teach Dahlin how to fight though... not saying I want him to, just sayin he needs to learn how to protect himself.

You'd think with the prevalence of fistacuffs that seems to be part of the NHL, MGMT would insist that ALL of these guys would be taught HOW to defend themselves, the proper way?

[DarthEbriate]

Hey! The NHL did a thing and posted the entire game. They could have edited out some of the fights - maybe, haven't watched it in full - but didn't get rid of Dahlin's initial scrum. So - hey - good job, NHL. Things you can learn from the NFL. Instant classics get shared.

 

Edit: Silly NHL. They did edit it down. No Carrick fight, no Kesselring/Cernak kerfuffle. Boo! Bad NHL, you didn't do a good.

 

 

Edited March 31 by DarthEbriate