The National Hockey League (NHL) handed Florida Panthers forward Brad Marchand a $5,000 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct, the maximum allowed under the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement. The fine follows a heated incident with Buffalo Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin during Saturday’s matchup in Buffalo. The league’s Department of Player Safety confirmed the fine on Sunday, with the money going to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.
The altercation occurred midway through the second period of Game No. 76 of the 2025-26 season. With Buffalo leading 1-0, Dahlin cross-checked Marchand from behind, away from the puck, a play that went uncalled by the officials. Reacting in frustration, Marchand hauled Dahlin to the ice and delivered multiple punches. Buffalo center Tage Thompson intervened to separate the two players. Marchand was assessed two minor penalties, interference and roughing, while Thompson received a minor for roughing.
The interference penalty handed Buffalo a power play, which the Sabres capitalized on when right winger Josh Doan scored his second power-play goal of the game, extending the lead to 2-0. Owen Power later added a third goal, resulting in a 3-0 win for Buffalo and a shutout for Alex Lyon.
The incident escalated when Marchand carried Dahlin’s helmet into the penalty box. While serving his four-minute penalty, Marchand tore the straps off the helmet before tossing it onto the ice. Dahlin briefly had to use teammate Peyton Krebs’ helmet until his own could be repaired. Although the on-ice officials did not penalize Marchand for the helmet vandalism, the league did.
After the altercation, Dahlin addressed the situation calmly.
“Whoever gets the most angry is usually the one that gets the penalty,” he said, per Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic. “You have to stay calm in those moments. Usually he's really good at that, but I won a little battle today… He's a competitor. I've probably done something like that in the past, too, so stuff happens out there.”
Marchand, 37, is in the first season of a six-year, $31.5 million contract with Florida, which averages $5.25 million per year. Despite the fine, he avoids any suspension. Before the game, he had achieved three goals and three assists in seven contests this season.
The Panthers’ defeat continues a troubling trend for Florida, which has now lost four consecutive games after opening the season with three straight wins. The loss moved the defending Stanley Cup champions to a 3-4-0 record, leaving them winless on their current road trip.
Injuries to core players, including Aleksander Barkov and Matthew Tkachuk, have amplified the team’s challenges early in the season. Currently, Florida sits fifth in the Atlantic Division, narrowly ahead of Buffalo, who hold the sixth spot with a 2-3 record.
The Panthers will look to regroup in their next outing, a road game against the Boston Bruins on Tuesday, which will also be Marchand’s first return to TD Garden since joining Florida last season.
