NHL fans react when Brandon Hagel hits Rasmus Dahlin in wild Sabers-Lightning brawl

NHL fans reacted on social media when Brandon Hagel punched Rasmus Dahlin in a wild brawl between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres on Sunday. The two teams had one of the most turbulent games of the season, racking up 96 penalty minutes, multiple scrimmages at the line, and a total of 15 goals.

It all started early in the game when Lightning forward Brandon Hagel collided with Sabers captain Tage Thompson from behind, sparking a massive crowd that saw every skater on the ice drop their gloves.

Midway through the second period, Branden Hagel ambushed Rasmus Dahlin mid-play, grabbed him from behind and unleashed a series of punches to the back of the head as the Sabers star tried to skate away without dropping the gloves.

Dahlin clearly wasn’t interested in the fight and ended up on the ice while Brandon Hagel continued to flail, sparking widespread outrage. Hagel only drew a double minor due to roughness.

One fan responded on X (formerly Twitter):

“It should be suspended.”

Another entry:

“Punching someone in the back of the head repeatedly should be a comment. Period.”

Here are some other top reactions to X:

A third fan wrote: “There should have been a match penalty. He should be suspended for this.”

“Repeatedly punching someone with your gloves is soft,” one wrote.

“This is what Bertuzzi did and ended Morris’ career. This should be a commentary,” another commented.

Another added: “And Brandon Hagel wonders why his bell keeps ringing.”

Brandon Hagel and the Lightning fall to Rasmus Dalin Sabers in a 15-goal thriller

On Sunday, the Buffalo Sabers defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 8-7, at KeyBank Center. The Sabers improved to 39-19-6, moving up the Atlantic Division.

Josh Doan opened the scoring for the Sabers after putting them up 1-0 on the power play at 8:26 of the first period. Power play goals from Jason Zucker and Alex Tuch made it 3-0 for the host in the first five minutes of the second half.

Corey Perry scored for the Lightning to cut the lead to 3-1 at 7:55. Tuch scored his second goal to make it 4-1 at 11:07 before the Bolts scored three unanswered goals to tie the score at 4-4 thanks to hits by Nikita Kucherov, Zemgus Jergenssons and JJ Moser.

Kucherov scored his second goal to put the Bolts ahead 5-4 just 59 seconds into the final period. Brayden Point made it 6-4 at 5:46 before a Sam Carrick goal cut the deficit to 6-5 for Buffalo. Brandon Hagel then made it 7-5 for the Bolts at 9:48.

With less than 10 minutes remaining in the game, the Sabers came back with goals from Rasmus Dahlen, Jason Tucker, and Josh Doan, securing the victory for the team.