Chicago Blackhawks vs. Buffalo SabresDec 27, 2024

FinalFriday, Dec 27, 2024· KeyBank Center

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Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
CHI	0	1	1	2		CHI	2	8	7	17
BUF	4	0	2	6		BUF	11	11	13	35

: CHI 44BUF 63
: CHI 1.81BUF 3.99
PP goals: CHI 0BUF 0
Hits: CHI 35BUF 24
Blocks: CHI 9BUF 11
PIM: CHI 4BUF 4
: CHI 49%BUF 51%

Fantasy takeaways

Generated from the play-by-play, shifts and season context. No opinions, just what changed.

Buffalo Sabres rout Chicago Blackhawks 6–2

Buffalo Sabres beat Chicago Blackhawks 6–2 at home. Alex Tuch (BUF) led the scoring with 3G 0A. New look for CHI: Maroon–Kurashev–Reichel skated 10:11 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (38.5% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

Points
Alex Tuch had a hat trick (3 points) on 3 shots in 16:26.Tuch
Points
Dylan Cozens had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 1 shot in 15:56.Cozens
Points
Jack Quinn had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 4 shots in 14:48.Quinn
Points
Rasmus Dahlin had 2 assists (2 points) on 3 shots in 21:17.Dahlin
New line
New look for CHI: Maroon–Kurashev–Reichel skated 10:11 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (38.5% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Maroon Kurashev Reichel
Luck
BUF scored 6 goals on 3.99 expected goals (63 attempts), finishing well above its chances.
Usage
Ryan McLeod (BUF) played 11:56, −4:57 down on his 16:53 season average over 78 games.McLeod
Usage
Nolan Allan (CHI) played 19:43, +4:42 up on his 15:01 season average over 42 games.Allan

Shot map

Both teams on one rink, filtered by strength and period.

Shot map

Every attempt, sized by expected goals. Goals are rings, shots on goal dots, misses hollow, blocks crosses.

Strength

Period

Team

← CHI attacks left (bottom on phones)BUF attacks right (top on phones) →

BUF
CHI
Goal
Shot on goal
Missed
Blocked

Showing 107 of 107 attempts · BUF 63 · CHI 44

Game flow

Cumulative expected goals and shot attempts, with power plays shaded and goals marked.

Cumulative shot attempts

BUF
CHI
Goal
Power play (shaded)

Pressure Index

BUF pressure
CHI pressure
Goal
Control (|PI| > 0.25)

: descriptive only, the team with more pressure scored the next goal about half the time. In control: CHI 22% of the game, BUF 50%.

Shift chart

Every shift, grouped by line and pair; bars are coloured by strength state. Click a player to highlight.

Shifts

BUF

CHI

goals / penalties

Even strength
Power play
Penalty kill
Goal
Penalty

Sequence card

5-on-5 possession-chain numbers from the sequence engine (Draw Equity and control cover all situations).

Sequence card
Stat	CHI	BUF
	47	71
	1.83	4.37
	1.77	4.08
	11	16
	6	6
	12	30
	−0.010	+0.010
	22%	50%

Definitions: sequence xG, transition attempts, Draw Equity, control and the Pressure Index.

Lines used

Detected from who actually shared the ice, with time together. Percentages are the unit's share of shot attempts.

Chicago Blackhawks

L1Hall – Bertuzzi – Bedard
12:5256% CF
L2Maroon – Kurashev – Reichel
10:1138% CF
L3Teravainen – Dickinson – Mikheyev
9:4022% CF
L4Foligno – Donato – Nazar
9:1426% CF
D1Jones – Vlasic
9:1636% CF
D2Murphy – Korchinski
8:3754% CF
D3Brodie – Allan
5:4357% CF

PP1Teravainen – Bertuzzi – Jones – Nazar – Bedard
1:17100% CF
PP2Maroon – Hall – Donato – Reichel – Korchinski
0:32
PK1FFoligno – Dickinson
0:43
PK2FTeravainen – Mikheyev
0:36
PK1DJones – Vlasic
1:12
PK2DMurphy – Allan
0:36

Current CHI line combinations →

Buffalo Sabres

L1Zucker – Tuch – Thompson
13:0350% CF
L2Krebs – Kulich – Benson
11:5773% CF
L3Cozens – Quinn – Peterka
11:4659% CF
L4Lafferty – Malenstyn – McLeod
8:1355% CF
D1Samuelsson – Power
16:0863% CF
D2Dahlin – Byram
15:2865% CF
D3Clifton – Bryson
14:2660% CF

PP1Zucker – Thompson – Dahlin – Quinn – Peterka
0:46100% CF
PP2Tuch – Dahlin – Cozens – Kulich – Benson
0:45
PK1FMalenstyn – Krebs
0:52
PK2FLafferty – McLeod
0:42
PK1DSamuelsson – Byram
0:52
PK2DClifton – Power
0:42

Current BUF line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

Box score

Skaters grouped by the line they played on; CF% is the 5v5 share of shot attempts while on the ice.

Chicago Blackhawks

CHI skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Connor Bedard C	L1	0	1	1	-1	4	0.43	2	0	0	20:11	—	—	46	36
Tyler Bertuzzi L	L1	1	0	1	-1	3	0.18	1	0	0	16:21	—	—	52	53
Taylor Hall L	L1	0	1	1	-1	0	0.01	0	1	0	16:10	—	—	57	45
Lukas Reichel L	L2	0	1	1	0	0	0.00	0	0	0	14:31	—	—	45	37
Patrick Maroon L	L2	0	1	1	0	1	0.06	3	1	0	14:06	—	—	41	37
Philipp Kurashev C	L2	0	0	0	0	2	0.25	4	0	0	11:24	—	—	39	35
Ilya Mikheyev R	L3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	2	0	0	14:44	—	—	39	17
Teuvo Teravainen C	L3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.05	1	0	0	14:37	—	—	33	2
Jason Dickinson C	L3	0	0	0	-2	0	0.00	3	0	0	14:28	—	—	33	11
Frank Nazar C	L4	0	0	0	-1	0	0.19	2	0	0	14:34	—	—	25	20
Nick Foligno L	L4	0	0	0	-2	1	0.11	5	0	0	13:57	—	—	27	21
Ryan Donato C	L4	0	0	0	-2	1	0.06	3	0	0	12:34	—	—	26	15
Seth Jones D	D1	1	0	1	+1	2	0.29	0	1	0	23:16	—	—	44	47
Alex Vlasic D	D1	0	0	0	-2	2	0.13	0	2	0	21:14	—	—	29	18
Connor Murphy D	D2	0	0	0	-3	0	0.04	5	2	0	21:42	—	—	37	21
Kevin Korchinski D	D2	0	0	0	-2	1	0.04	0	0	2	16:51	—	—	53	43
Nolan Allan D	D3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	2	1	0	19:43	—	—	44	54
TJ Brodie D	D3	0	0	0	-2	0	0.00	2	1	2	15:37	—	—	32	10

CHI goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Arvid Soderblom	—	24	22	2	.917	2.79	40:00
Petr Mrazek(start)	L	11	7	4	.636	1.20	20:00

Buffalo Sabres

BUF skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Tage Thompson C	L1	0	1	1	+2	1	0.03	3	0	0	16:49	—	—	47	58
Jason Zucker L	L1	0	0	0	+2	1	0.05	0	0	0	16:35	—	—	52	64
Alex Tuch R	L1	3	0	3	+2	3	0.45	0	0	2	16:26	—	—	45	60
Jiri Kulich C	L2	0	0	0	+1	2	0.31	2	0	0	15:55	—	—	78	90
Zach Benson L	L2	1	0	1	+1	6	1.07	0	0	0	15:43	—	—	78	91
Peyton Krebs C	L2	0	0	0	0	3	0.18	2	1	2	15:36	—	—	70	71
JJ Peterka R	L3	0	1	1	+3	2	0.37	0	0	0	16:16	—	—	65	82
Dylan Cozens C	L3	1	1	2	+2	1	0.11	0	1	0	15:56	—	—	59	78
Jack Quinn R	L3	1	1	2	+2	4	0.66	1	0	0	14:48	—	—	56	72
Ryan McLeod C	L4	0	1	1	-1	3	0.24	0	0	0	11:56	—	—	52	43
Beck Malenstyn L	L4	0	0	0	-1	2	0.03	0	0	0	10:58	—	—	57	42
Sam Lafferty C	L4	0	1	1	-1	0	0.06	2	0	0	10:53	—	—	50	52
Owen Power D	D1	0	0	0	0	3	0.24	0	4	0	20:50	—	—	59	72
Mattias Samuelsson D	D1	0	0	0	-1	0	0.08	2	2	0	20:18	—	—	65	60
Bowen Byram D	D2	0	1	1	+3	0	0.02	4	1	0	21:37	—	—	49	71
Rasmus Dahlin D	D2	0	2	2	+3	3	0.07	2	1	0	21:17	—	—	77	86
Connor Clifton D	D3	0	0	0	+1	1	0.02	6	1	0	18:52	—	—	53	62
Jacob Bryson D	D3	0	0	0	+2	0	0.00	0	0	0	15:29	—	—	62	65

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen(start)	W	17	15	2	.882	1.81	59:46

Goal anatomy

Animated replays from NHL EDGE tracking, with the entry, passes and shot speed for each goal.

Zach Benson (BUF) 1st 9:51 · assists Rasmus Dahlin, Bowen Byram · Deflection · carried in · 16.3 mph shot · 5.5 s from entry to goal.

Zach Benson · 1st 9:51 · BUF

Play: deflection
Entry: carry
Odd man: No
Passes: 2 (royal road)
Shot: 16.3 mph
Distance: 5 ft
Entry to goal: 5.5 s

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Alex Tuch · 1st 12:23 · BUF

Play: deflection
Passes: 4 (royal road)
Shot: 4.5 mph
Distance: 10 ft

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Jack Quinn · 1st 12:38 · BUF

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: loose
Odd man: 3-on-2
Passes: 0
Shot: 54.4 mph
Distance: 22 ft
Entry to goal: 3.1 s

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Dylan Cozens · 1st 19:18 · BUF

Play: rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: No
Passes: 0
Shot: 64.2 mph
Distance: 34 ft
Entry to goal: 2.9 s

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Tyler Bertuzzi · 2nd 16:39 · CHI

Play: rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: No
Passes: 0
Shot: 67.6 mph
Distance: 37 ft
Entry to goal: 2.1 s
Type: one-timer

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Seth Jones · 3rd 3:06 · CHI

Play: rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: No
Passes: 0
Shot: 54.7 mph
Distance: 16 ft
Entry to goal: 3.7 s
Type: one-timer

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Alex Tuch · 3rd 5:48 · BUF

Play: rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: No
Passes: 0
Shot: 31.6 mph
Distance: 26 ft
Entry to goal: 2.7 s

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Alex Tuch · 3rd 15:06 · BUF

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: loose
Odd man: 1-on-0
Passes: 0
Shot: 68.5 mph
Distance: 27 ft
Entry to goal: 1.9 s

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Methodology

Shot locations come from the NHL play-by-play, normalised so each shooter attacks the same way, then flipped so the home team attacks right. On-ice stats and lines come from the shift charts: a unit is the exact set of skaters sharing the ice, and CF% is the share of all shot attempts while they were out. Head-to-head cells are 5v5 time against each opponent. Expected goals and the Pressure Index appear as their models are released.

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Buffalo SabresDec 27, 2024

Fantasy takeaways

Buffalo Sabres rout Chicago Blackhawks 6–2

Shot map

Shot map

Game flow

Cumulative shot attempts

Shift chart

Shifts

Sequence card

Lines used

Chicago Blackhawks

Buffalo Sabres

Scoring summary

1st period

2nd period

3rd period

Box score

Chicago Blackhawks

Buffalo Sabres

Goal anatomy

Zach Benson · 1st 9:51 · BUF

Alex Tuch · 1st 12:23 · BUF

Jack Quinn · 1st 12:38 · BUF

Dylan Cozens · 1st 19:18 · BUF

Tyler Bertuzzi · 2nd 16:39 · CHI

Seth Jones · 3rd 3:06 · CHI

Alex Tuch · 3rd 5:48 · BUF

Alex Tuch · 3rd 15:06 · BUF