Montreal Canadiens vs. Vegas Golden KnightsDec 31, 2024

FinalTuesday, Dec 31, 2024· T-Mobile Arena

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Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
MTL	0	1	2	3		MTL	9	5	8	22
VGK	2	0	0	2		VGK	8	8	13	29

: MTL 50VGK 58
: MTL 2.23VGK 2.46
PP goals: MTL 0VGK 0
Hits: MTL 39VGK 22
Blocks: MTL 11VGK 11
PIM: MTL 2VGK 0
: MTL 59%VGK 41%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Montreal Canadiens edge Vegas Golden Knights 3–2

Montreal Canadiens beat Vegas Golden Knights 3–2 at VGK. Cole Caufield (MTL) led the scoring with 1G 0A. New look for VGK: Rondbjerg–Schwindt–Holtz skated 5:21 together at 5v5 as the L4 trio (14.3% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

New line
New look for VGK: Rondbjerg–Schwindt–Holtz skated 5:21 together at 5v5 as the L4 trio (14.3% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Rondbjerg Schwindt Holtz
Usage
Brayden McNabb (VGK) played 13:58, −6:13 down on his 20:11 season average over 81 games.McNabb
Usage
Victor Olofsson (VGK) played 20:27, +6:04 up on his 14:23 season average over 55 games.Olofsson
Usage
Shea Theodore (VGK) played 17:39, −4:24 down on his 22:03 season average over 66 games.Theodore
Usage
Mike Matheson (MTL) played 21:27, −3:41 down on his 25:08 season average over 79 games.Matheson
Usage
Alexander Holtz (VGK) played 8:28, −3:11 down on his 11:39 season average over 52 games.Holtz
Usage
Kaiden Guhle (MTL) played 24:20, +3:13 up on his 21:07 season average over 54 games.Guhle

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

← MTL attacks left (bottom on phones)VGK attacks right (top on phones) →

VGK
MTL
Goal
Shot on goal
Missed
Blocked

Showing 108 of 108 attempts · VGK 58 · MTL 50

Game flow

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

Cumulative shot attempts

VGK
MTL
Goal
Power play (shaded)

Pressure Index

VGK pressure
MTL pressure
Goal
Control (|PI| > 0.25)

: descriptive only, the team with more pressure scored the next goal about half the time. In control: MTL 37% of the game, VGK 26%.

Shift chart

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

Shifts

VGK

MTL

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	MTL	VGK
	59	60
	2.68	2.20
	2.56	2.00
	12	5
	4	4
	31	20
	+0.023	−0.023
	37%	26%

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.

Montreal Canadiens

L1Suzuki – Caufield – Slafkovský
12:1771% CF
L2Laine – Dach – Newhook
12:1154% CF
L3Gallagher – Anderson – Dvorak
11:2633% CF
L4Armia – Evans – Heineman
9:2453% CF
D1Matheson – Hutson
18:3465% CF
D2Carrier – Guhle
17:5352% CF
D3Savard – Xhekaj
12:3933% CF

PK1FAnderson – Suzuki
1:09
PK2FArmia – Evans
0:43
PK1DCarrier – Guhle
1:09
PK2DSavard – Matheson
0:43

Current MTL line combinations →

Vegas Golden Knights

L1Stone – Olofsson – Eichel
13:3547% CF
L2Karlsson – Hertl – Kolesar
11:0162% CF
L3Pearson – Howden – Dorofeyev
10:5962% CF
L4Rondbjerg – Schwindt – Holtz
5:2114% CF
D1Pietrangelo – Hanifin
19:4744% CF
D2Hague – Whitecloud
17:1364% CF
D3McNabb – Theodore
12:4150% CF

PP1Stone – Hertl – Theodore – Olofsson – Eichel
1:5883% CF

Current VGK 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.

Montreal Canadiens

MTL skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Nick Suzuki C	L1	0	1	1	+1	0	0.17	1	0	0	18:19	—	—	62	69
Juraj Slafkovský L	L1	0	1	1	+1	1	0.15	4	0	0	15:36	—	—	67	78
Cole Caufield R	L1	1	0	1	+1	4	0.23	2	0	0	15:12	—	—	71	82
Kirby Dach C	L2	1	0	1	-1	3	0.39	1	1	0	14:57	—	—	45	46
Alex Newhook C	L2	0	0	0	-1	0	0.20	3	0	0	14:06	—	—	54	50
Patrik Laine L	L2	0	0	0	-1	0	0.03	2	0	0	14:03	—	—	54	50
Josh Anderson R	L3	0	1	1	0	3	0.17	4	3	0	16:24	—	—	29	36
Christian Dvorak C	L3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	2	14:36	—	—	32	39
Brendan Gallagher R	L3	0	0	0	0	2	0.34	2	0	0	13:34	—	—	36	59
Jake Evans C	L4	0	0	0	+1	1	0.10	2	0	0	15:52	—	—	55	59
Joel Armia R	L4	0	0	0	+1	1	0.08	4	2	0	14:28	—	—	47	51
Emil Heineman L	L4	1	0	1	+1	1	0.16	5	0	0	10:35	—	—	56	55
Mike Matheson D	D1	0	0	0	+1	0	0.03	2	1	0	21:27	—	—	63	74
Lane Hutson D	D1	0	0	0	+1	2	0.04	0	1	0	21:23	—	—	66	75
Kaiden Guhle D	D2	0	0	0	-1	1	0.00	4	0	0	24:20	—	—	46	54
Alexandre Carrier D	D2	0	0	0	-1	1	0.12	1	1	0	23:08	—	—	54	63
David Savard D	D3	0	1	1	+1	1	0.01	0	2	0	15:40	—	—	31	36
Arber Xhekaj D	D3	0	0	0	+1	1	0.01	2	0	0	14:20	—	—	32	36

MTL goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Samuel Montembeault(start)	W	29	27	2	.931	2.46	60:00

Vegas Golden Knights

VGK skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk		PP	SH
Jack Eichel C	L1	0	0	0	0	5	0.27	3	0	22:23	—	—	45	30
Mark Stone R	L1	0	0	0	0	1	0.00	1	0	21:18	—	—	39	23
Victor Olofsson L	L1	0	0	0	0	3	0.22	1	0	20:27	—	—	47	22
Tomas Hertl C	L2	0	1	1	0	2	0.23	1	0	18:19	—	—	60	51
William Karlsson C	L2	0	0	0	0	0	0.08	1	1	14:57	—	—	68	60
Keegan Kolesar R	L2	0	1	1	0	1	0.42	2	0	13:03	—	—	63	51
Pavel Dorofeyev R	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.02	0	1	18:00	—	—	53	47
Brett Howden C	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.07	2	0	14:14	—	—	59	49
Tanner Pearson L	L3	0	0	0	0	4	0.11	2	0	13:51	—	—	55	46
Jonas Rondbjerg R	L4	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	0	0	9:38	—	—	20	35
Cole Schwindt R	L4	0	0	0	-1	1	0.11	3	0	9:17	—	—	8	31
Alexander Holtz R	L4	0	0	0	-1	0	0.12	0	1	8:28	—	—	46	69
Noah Hanifin D	D1	1	0	1	+2	2	0.31	1	1	24:11	—	—	46	50
Alex Pietrangelo D	D1	0	0	0	0	2	0.15	1	2	23:24	—	—	44	36
Zach Whitecloud D	D2	1	0	1	+1	1	0.17	1	1	19:28	—	—	58	51
Nicolas Hague D	D2	0	0	0	0	2	0.09	0	3	19:23	—	—	63	57
Shea Theodore D	D3	0	0	0	-3	2	0.07	1	1	17:39	—	—	45	36
Brayden McNabb D	D3	0	0	0	-2	1	0.01	2	0	13:58	—	—	50	43

VGK goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Adin Hill(start)	L	22	19	3	.864	2.23	58:02

Goal anatomy

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

Zach Whitecloud (VGK) 1st 2:23 · assists Tomas Hertl, Keegan Kolesar · Rush · carried in · 36.9 mph shot · 3.6 s from entry to goal.

Zach Whitecloud · 1st 2:23 · VGK

Play: rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: No
Passes: 0
Shot: 36.9 mph
Distance: 15 ft
Entry to goal: 3.6 s

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

Noah Hanifin · 1st 19:48 · VGK

Play: dump-and-chase
Entry: dump
Odd man: No
Passes: 0
Shot: 51.5 mph
Distance: 21 ft
Entry to goal: 7.9 s

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

Cole Caufield · 2nd 17:27 · MTL

Play: turnover-forecheck
Passes: 2 (royal road)
Shot: 57.1 mph
Distance: 13 ft
Type: one-timer

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

Emil Heineman · 3rd 7:58 · MTL

Play: rebound
Entry: dump
Odd man: No
Passes: 0
Shot: 12.8 mph
Distance: 7 ft
Entry to goal: 7.0 s
Type: rebound

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

Kirby Dach · 3rd 10:09 · MTL

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: 2-on-1
Passes: 1
Shot: 19.6 mph
Distance: 11 ft
Entry to goal: 2.5 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.

Montreal Canadiens vs. Vegas Golden KnightsDec 31, 2024

Fantasy takeaways

Montreal Canadiens edge Vegas Golden Knights 3–2

Shot map

Shot map

Game flow

Cumulative shot attempts

Shift chart

Shifts

Sequence card

Lines used

Montreal Canadiens

Vegas Golden Knights

Scoring summary

1st period

2nd period

3rd period

Box score

Montreal Canadiens

Vegas Golden Knights

Goal anatomy

Zach Whitecloud · 1st 2:23 · VGK

Noah Hanifin · 1st 19:48 · VGK

Cole Caufield · 2nd 17:27 · MTL

Emil Heineman · 3rd 7:58 · MTL

Kirby Dach · 3rd 10:09 · MTL