Tuch answers the bell
A high hit from Jake McCabe on Bowen Byram during the second period drew a response from Alex Tuch, who immediately confronted the former Sabres defenseman. McCabe delivered a right hook while Tuch worked to remove his glove, but the message from Tuch stood.
“Just want to stand up for my teammate and make it known that we’re not going to get pushed around, you’re gonna have to answer,” Tuch said.
“Obviously I was the one doing the answering – wasn’t able to get my glove off and then kind of got into a nice right hook by McCabe there, but not afraid to do it. I know guys in here aren’t afraid to do it, stand up for one another. That’s the type of team we are, that’s how closely knit we are, and that’s what we’re going to do going forward.”
McCabe was not penalized for his hit on Byram and only received a five-minute fighting major from the play in total. Tuch received a fighting major along with both a two-minute minor and a 10-minute misconduct for instigating, leaving the Sabres without one of their key players for 17 minutes.
“I looked at it, I thought it was a headshot (on Byram),” Ruff said. “I really thought that there should’ve been no instigator because [McCabe] dropped his gloves even before Tuchy had dropped his. You watch it live, it’s hard. [We] get to slow it down. I know they took a hard look at it. It’s not an easy call. Not a play you like.”
Tuch and Byram got a bit of revenge late in the second period. With the Sabres trailing 2-1, Tuch crashed the Toronto net alongside Josh Doan, allowing Byram to bury the tying goal from high in the zone.