Tuch and Cozens tangle with Senators in wild third period
The Buffalo Sabres will likely be battling the Ottawa Senators over the next few years for positioning in the Atlantic Division, and the two clubs got into it in an emotionally charged third period in the Sabres 6-4 victory in Kanata, ON on Tuesday.
Sens team captain Brady Tkachuk was the focal point of the extracurricular activities, coming back in the third period after appearing to get seriously injured following a collision with Sabres forward Peyton Krebs.
Tkachuk went high on a hit on Buffalo’s Alex Tuch late in the game, and when Tuch undercut the Sens forward, the two dropped the gloves.
Moments later, Sens forward Mathieu Joseph attempted to stir things up with Zemgus Girgensons and Kyle Okposo, which evolved into a skirmish between Dylan Cozens and Vladimir Tarasenko, resulting in the Sabres forward getting three minors for roughing and slashing, as well as a 10-minute misconduct.
"Emotions got high late. I thought our guys fought very hard for each other and that was awesome." Sabres head coach Don Granato said after the game. "I love the response, guys sticking up for each other, guys battling for each other. I had to calm quite a few guys down, which is a good thing."
The tangling between the two clubs almost came back to bite the Sabres, as Josh Norris scored on the resulting power play and Joseph scored to narrow the lead to 5-4 before Tage Thompson scored into the empty net.
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