Fight-filled third leads to 134 penalty minutes in Red Wings win over Sabres
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DETROIT (AP) — Buffalo's Alex Tuch and Detroit captain Michael Rasmussen were the first to drop the gloves in the fight-filled third period of the Red Wings' 7-3 victory Wednesday night.
They weren't even among the 11 players assessed 10-minute misconduct penalties in the final frame. Six were from Buffalo, the other five from Detroit.
The final tally from the third: 136 of the game's 150 penalty minutes, all but two of those either roughing, fighting or misconducts.
The scuffles, including a near-brawl with multiple simultaneous fights, overshadowed the fourth five-point night of Patrick Kane's 18-year career in the highest-scoring game of the season for the Red Wings, who stopped a six-game losing streak. Kane had two goals and three assists.
The Detroit lead was 6-3 when Tuch and Rasmussen faced off with eight minutes remaining. They posed with their fists raised for almost as long as the fight lasted, which was only a few seconds.
Less than a minute later, Detroit's J.T. Compher and Jordan Greenway of Buffalo got tangled up. After the whistle, their scrum was very brief — but bad enough that both went to locker room with game misconducts. Greenway gave officials an ear full on his way off the ice.
The other nine misconducts came at the 16:51 mark, punctuated by one of the referees announcing a roughing penalty for Detroit defenseman Simon Edvinsson before saying, “All the other guys are going to have a misconduct.” The list included Edvinsson.
Buffalo had just five players on the bench by game's end after Beck Malenstyn was sent off for roughing in the final minute along with Detroit's Moritz Seider.
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