Rasmus Dahlin gave Lindy Ruff a swing point Tuesday, but the double-minor call that changed Game 4 is still getting hammered.
The Buffalo Sabres defenseman got clipped up high by Alexandre Carrier during Game 4 in Montreal, then showed officials a bleeding bottom lip that pushed the penalty to 4 minutes.
That was the moment the game tilted. Buffalo cashed in on the extended power play, tied it, and suddenly the night stopped being about a missed assignment or a bad bounce.
It became about whether Dahlin sold the damage.
ESPN play-by-play voice Sean McDonough didn't dance around it on the broadcast.
He openly questioned whether the cut was fresh and went a step further by suggesting Dahlin may have tried to reopen it.
That's the kind of accusation that sticks in a playoff series.
It moves fast from one replay to the next, then straight into the noise around a player's name.
Montreal had every reason to be furious because the Canadiens were in control before the call flipped the game script. Buffalo didn't waste the opening, and that made the sequence even louder.
"Espn announcer Sean McDonough accused Rasmus Dahlin of cheating after high sticking penalty."
-
The tying goal came on a strange bounce that beat Jakub Dobes, which only added to the frustration inside the building.
The Sabres finished the comeback and won 3-2 to even the series.
Rasmus Dahlin at center of cheating controversy after Sabres' Game 4 clash with Montreal
That's where this gets interesting for Ruff and the Sabres.
In the playoffs, teams will live with the outrage if the whistle goes their way and the power play delivers.
Dahlin is already the kind of player opponents hate dealing with.
He plays big minutes, drives the blue line, and never looks all that concerned with how the other bench feels.
Now he's carrying something extra into the next game. Not just the series pressure, but the label that came out of the booth in real time.
And once that label is out there, every slash, every face wash, every delayed reaction gets watched a little differently. Officials notice it. Fans notice it.
The bench notices it.
Buffalo won the night.
Dahlin may have won the moment. But the cost is that this play is now part of the series file, and Montreal won't forget it at puck drop.
Did Rasmus Dahlin sell the high stick to get the 4-minute penalty?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
The Edmonton Oilers have reportedly made their decision on a once-beloved member: Kris Knoblauch is gone
