Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Buffalo SabresFeb 4, 2025

FinalTuesday, Feb 4, 2025· KeyBank Center

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Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
CBJ	0	1	1	2		CBJ	12	9	8	29
BUF	1	2	0	3		BUF	6	14	1	21

: CBJ 64BUF 55
: CBJ 1.68BUF 2.69
PP goals: CBJ 0BUF 0
Hits: CBJ 18BUF 24
Blocks: CBJ 18BUF 18
PIM: CBJ 7BUF 7
: CBJ 48%BUF 52%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Buffalo Sabres edge Columbus Blue Jackets 3–2

Buffalo Sabres beat Columbus Blue Jackets 3–2 at home. Alex Tuch (BUF) led the scoring with 2G 1A. New look for BUF: Zucker–Tuch–Krebs skated 6:31 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (25% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

Points
Alex Tuch had two goals and an assist (3 points) on 5 shots in 22:15.Tuch
Points
Bowen Byram had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 1 shot in 22:27.Byram
Points
Ivan Provorov had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 3 shots in 28:27.Provorov
Points
Jason Zucker had 2 assists (2 points) in 16:52.Zucker
New line
New look for BUF: Zucker–Tuch–Krebs skated 6:31 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (25% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Zucker Tuch Krebs
New line
New look for CBJ: Voronkov–Sillinger–Fantilli skated 13:28 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (51.9% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Voronkov Sillinger Fantilli
New line
New look for BUF: Peterka–Rosen–Kulich skated 6:25 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (33.3% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Peterka Rosen Kulich
Usage
Ivan Provorov (CBJ) played 28:27, +5:10 up on his 23:17 season average over 81 games.Provorov

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

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

BUF
CBJ
Goal
Shot on goal
Missed
Blocked

Showing 119 of 119 attempts · BUF 55 · CBJ 64

Game flow

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

Cumulative shot attempts

BUF
CBJ
Goal
Power play (shaded)

Pressure Index

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

: descriptive only, the team with more pressure scored the next goal about half the time. In control: CBJ 28% of the game, BUF 34%.

Shift chart

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

Shifts

BUF

CBJ

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	CBJ	BUF
	64	54
	1.69	1.92
	1.61	1.89
	12	11
	10	8
	29	22
	−0.013	+0.013
	28%	34%

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.

Columbus Blue Jackets

L1Voronkov – Sillinger – Fantilli
13:2852% CF
L2van Riemsdyk – Johnson – Del Bel Belluz
10:1462% CF
L3Olivier – Danforth – Aston-Reese
8:5933% CF
L4Kuraly – Labanc – Pyyhtia
8:3250% CF
D1Provorov – Mateychuk
16:1447% CF
D2Severson – Christiansen
13:5641% CF
D3Johnson – Harris
13:2464% CF

PP1Provorov – Voronkov – Johnson – Sillinger – Fantilli
1:29100% CF
PP2van Riemsdyk – Severson – Olivier – Del Bel Belluz – Mateychuk
0:200% CF
PK1FKuraly – Pyyhtia
0:49
PK2FOlivier – Danforth
0:41
PK1DProvorov – Mateychuk
1:15
PK2DJohnson – Christiansen
0:41

Current CBJ line combinations →

Buffalo Sabres

L1Zucker – Tuch – Krebs
6:3125% CF
L2Peterka – Rosen – Kulich
6:2533% CF
L3McLeod – Quinn – Benson
5:2657% CF
D1Dahlin – Byram
12:1354% CF
D2Jokiharju – Power
8:1833% CF
D3Clifton – Bryson
5:5523% CF

PP1Zucker – Tuch – Dahlin – Quinn – Peterka
1:1583% CF
PP2Cozens – Power – Rosen – Kulich – Benson
0:42100% CF
PK1FTuch – McLeod
1:03
PK2FMalenstyn – Benson
0:55
PK1DBryson – Byram
1:29
PK2DClifton – Power
0:29

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.

Columbus Blue Jackets

CBJ skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Adam Fantilli C	L1	0	0	0	-1	3	0.29	3	1	0	21:25	—	—	54	32
Dmitri Voronkov L	L1	0	0	0	-1	2	0.11	0	1	0	21:13	—	—	61	39
Cole Sillinger C	L1	0	0	0	-1	2	0.03	0	0	0	19:43	—	—	50	28
Kent Johnson C	L2	1	0	1	+2	4	0.17	0	0	0	17:48	—	—	65	58
James van Riemsdyk L	L2	0	1	1	+2	0	0.01	0	0	0	15:41	—	—	56	60
Luca Del Bel Belluz C	L2	0	1	1	+2	0	0.00	0	1	0	14:38	—	—	61	66
Mathieu Olivier R	L3	0	0	0	-1	2	0.07	3	0	5	13:12	—	—	44	63
Zachary Aston-Reese L	L3	0	0	0	0	5	0.42	1	1	0	13:02	—	—	48	80
Justin Danforth R	L3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	3	0	0	12:59	—	—	41	63
Sean Kuraly C	L4	0	0	0	-1	3	0.09	1	2	0	12:01	—	—	58	35
Mikael Pyyhtia L	L4	0	0	0	-2	0	0.00	0	0	0	11:39	—	—	44	9
Kevin Labanc R	L4	0	0	0	-1	0	0.01	1	0	0	10:50	—	—	60	30
Ivan Provorov D	D1	1	1	2	0	3	0.19	1	3	0	28:27	—	—	56	59
Denton Mateychuk D	D1	0	0	0	-1	1	0.12	1	4	0	19:50	—	—	46	28
Damon Severson D	D2	0	1	1	0	2	0.03	0	1	2	18:29	—	—	40	22
Jake Christiansen D	D2	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	3	2	0	17:34	—	—	50	42
Jack Johnson D	D3	0	0	0	0	1	0.02	1	1	0	17:39	—	—	66	58
Jordan Harris D	D3	0	0	0	0	1	0.14	0	1	0	14:24	—	—	67	65

CBJ goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Elvis Merzlikins(start)	L	21	18	3	.857	2.21	57:26

Buffalo Sabres

BUF skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Alex Tuch R	L1	2	1	3	+1	5	0.28	1	3	0	22:15	—	—	43	42
Jason Zucker L	L1	0	2	2	+2	0	0.01	0	2	0	16:52	—	—	46	53
Peyton Krebs C	L1	0	0	0	+1	1	0.11	4	0	0	16:26	—	—	43	42
JJ Peterka R	L2	0	0	0	-1	2	0.65	0	0	0	18:25	—	—	47	56
Jiri Kulich C	L2	0	0	0	-1	2	0.32	0	0	0	17:31	—	—	46	56
Isak Rosen R	L2	0	0	0	-1	1	0.01	0	0	0	11:46	—	—	42	64
Ryan McLeod C	L3	0	0	0	+2	0	0.05	0	0	0	22:19	—	—	48	54
Zach Benson L	L3	0	0	0	0	2	0.53	0	0	0	16:26	—	—	63	60
Jack Quinn R	L3	0	0	0	0	2	0.23	3	0	0	15:22	—	—	58	68
Rasmus Dahlin D	D1	0	1	1	+1	1	0.02	1	4	0	23:36	—	—	54	63
Bowen Byram D	D1	1	1	2	+1	1	0.17	2	1	0	22:27	—	—	55	77
Owen Power D	D2	0	0	0	0	3	0.08	0	3	0	19:04	—	—	40	42
Henri Jokiharju D	D2	0	0	0	-1	0	0.04	0	0	0	13:27	—	—	48	32
Jacob Bryson D	D3	0	0	0	0	1	0.09	0	0	0	16:30	—	—	32	47
Connor Clifton D	D3	0	0	0	0	0	0.07	3	2	0	14:40	—	—	38	36
Dylan Cozens C	—	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	6	0	2	15:15	—	—	41	68
Dennis Gilbert D	—	0	1	1	+1	0	0.00	1	2	5	8:41	—	—	50	44
Beck Malenstyn L	—	0	0	0	0	0	0.02	3	1	0	6:58	—	—	31	9

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
James Reimer(start)	W	29	27	2	.931	1.68	60:00

Goal anatomy

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

Bowen Byram (BUF) 1st 10:07 · assists Jason Zucker, Alex Tuch · Odd-man rush · passed in · 2-on-1 at the blue line · 62.6 mph shot · 4.5 s from entry to goal.

Bowen Byram · 1st 10:07 · BUF

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: pass
Odd man: 2-on-1
Passes: 0
Shot: 62.6 mph
Distance: 25 ft
Entry to goal: 4.5 s

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

Kent Johnson · 2nd 1:47 · CBJ

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: loose
Odd man: 1-on-0
Passes: 0
Shot: 39.5 mph
Distance: 21 ft
Entry to goal: 2.7 s

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

Alex Tuch · 2nd 12:17 · BUF

Play: deflection
Passes: 2 (royal road)
Shot: 51.9 mph
Distance: 62 ft

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

Alex Tuch · 2nd 18:56 · BUF

Play: deflection
Passes: 3
Shot: 69.5 mph
Distance: 18 ft
Type: deflection

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

Ivan Provorov · 3rd 12:38 · CBJ

Play: deflection
Passes: 2 (royal road)
Shot: 37.7 mph
Distance: 5 ft
Type: one-timer, rebound

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.

Columbus Blue Jackets vs. Buffalo SabresFeb 4, 2025

Fantasy takeaways

Buffalo Sabres edge Columbus Blue Jackets 3–2

Shot map

Shot map

Game flow

Cumulative shot attempts

Shift chart

Shifts

Sequence card

Lines used

Columbus Blue Jackets

Buffalo Sabres

Scoring summary

1st period

2nd period

3rd period

Box score

Columbus Blue Jackets

Buffalo Sabres

Goal anatomy

Bowen Byram · 1st 10:07 · BUF

Kent Johnson · 2nd 1:47 · CBJ

Alex Tuch · 2nd 12:17 · BUF

Alex Tuch · 2nd 18:56 · BUF

Ivan Provorov · 3rd 12:38 · CBJ