Buffalo's Rasmus Dahlin Avoids Suspension For Filthy Hit On Flyers Trevor Zegras, But Was It The Right Call?

The NHL's Eastern Conference is a complete logjam right now, with every team in the conference still very much in the playoff race a week after Thanksgiving. This means we're going to see some intensity, and that's what we got on Thursday night between the Philadelphia Flyers and Buffalo Sabres.

However, Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin got a little carried away.

The Sabres opened the scoring, but fell victim to three Flyers goals — two on power plays — in under a minute.

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In the second period, the Flyers tacked on two more, and the Sabres scored one of their own to make the score 5-2, and that might be why Dahlin was a little heated.

Late in the period, Dahlin backchecked Flyers forward Trevor Zegras, who took a shot and peeled off into the corner. Dahlin drove him into the boards from behind, and all hell broke loose behind the Sabres' net.

Dahlin was handed a five-minute major, which was reviewed and upheld. This also meant he was assessed a game misconduct. Meanwhile, Zegras was okay and stayed in the game, which the Flyers won 5-2.

The first thing that's up for debate is whether or not that hit was worthy of a five-minute major, and I think the answer is yes… but only barely.

Zegras definitely had his numbers to him, and it was a hit from behind, but I think there's a compelling case for that to have been a two-minute minor.

Of course, as TNT analyst Brian Boucher noted on the broadcast for this game, had Dahlin stayed in the games, things could have gotten ugly.

The question on Thursday was whether or not that play would earn Dahlin some supplemental discipline from the league, but The Athletic's Kevin Kurz reported that this will not happen.

The Department of Player Safety has a reputation for coming to some head-scratching conclusions, but this one it got right.

The five-minute major and a game was a good enough punishment that a suspension would've been overkill.

However, you may want to mark December 18 on your calendar, because it's the next time the Flyers and Sabres meet up.

Something tells me the Broad Street Bullies won't forget about this one.