Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo SabresOct 23, 2023

FinalMonday, Oct 23, 2023· KeyBank Center

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Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
MTL	1	0	2	3		MTL	4	9	14	27
BUF	1	0	0	1		BUF	7	17	13	37

: MTL 51BUF 69
: MTL 3.67BUF 3.31
PP goals: MTL 1BUF 1
Hits: MTL 34BUF 26
Blocks: MTL 17BUF 10
PIM: MTL 8BUF 6
: MTL 53%BUF 47%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Montreal Canadiens beat Buffalo Sabres 3–1

Montreal Canadiens beat Buffalo Sabres 3–1 at BUF. Tanner Pearson (MTL) led the scoring with 1G 1A. BUF's first power-play unit (Skinner, Tuch, Thompson, Dahlin and Cozens) scored 1 power-play goal on 15 attempts in 6:09 together.

Points
Brendan Gallagher had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 2 shots in 11:14.Gallagher
Points
Tanner Pearson had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 6 shots in 13:24.Pearson
PP1
BUF's first power-play unit (Skinner, Tuch, Thompson, Dahlin and Cozens) scored 1 power-play goal on 15 attempts in 6:09 together.Skinner Tuch Thompson Dahlin Cozens
Luck
BUF scored 1 goal on 3.31 expected goals (69 attempts), well short of its chances.
Goalie
Jake Allen (MTL) faced 37 shots and stopped 36 (.973), +5 against a season average of 32.0; the win.Allen
Usage
Jeff Skinner (BUF) played 20:09, +4:13 up on his 15:56 season average over 73 games.Skinner
Usage
David Savard (MTL) played 16:54, −3:24 down on his 20:18 season average over 59 games.Savard
Usage
Johnathan Kovacevic (MTL) played 20:24, +3:57 up on his 16:27 season average over 61 games.Kovacevic

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)BUF attacks right (top on phones) →

BUF
MTL
Goal
Shot on goal
Missed
Blocked

Showing 120 of 120 attempts · BUF 69 · MTL 51

Game flow

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

Cumulative shot attempts

BUF
MTL
Goal
Power play (shaded)

Pressure Index

BUF 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 30% of the game, BUF 38%.

Shift chart

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

Shifts

BUF

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	BUF
	41	56
	2.53	2.10
	2.39	2.00
	16	6
	2	4
	7	7
	+0.027	−0.027
	30%	38%

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 – Harvey-Pinard – Caufield
9:3529% CF
L2Anderson – Newhook – Slafkovský
9:0725% CF
L3Evans – Pezzetta – Ylonen
6:5529% CF
L4Gallagher – Pearson – Monahan
6:17100% CF
D1Kovacevic – Harris
13:4132% CF
D2Barron – Xhekaj
13:2646% CF
D3Savard – Matheson
10:4742% CF

PP1Matheson – Anderson – Monahan – Suzuki – Caufield
3:49100% CF
PP2Gallagher – Pearson – Newhook – Xhekaj – Slafkovský
1:34100% CF
PK1FEvans – Ylonen
2:45
PK2FPearson – Monahan
2:06
PK1DSavard – Matheson
5:04
PK2DKovacevic – Harris
2:22

Current MTL line combinations →

Buffalo Sabres

L1Greenway – Thompson – Cozens
8:5578% CF
L2Skinner – Tuch – Mittelstadt
8:3650% CF
L3Olofsson – Krebs – Peterka
7:3863% CF
L4Okposo – Girgensons – Jost
6:230% CF
D1Jokiharju – Power
12:1150% CF
D2Samuelsson – Dahlin
11:5770% CF
D3Johnson – Clifton
8:2644% CF

PP1Skinner – Tuch – Thompson – Dahlin – Cozens
6:0988% CF
PP2Olofsson – Mittelstadt – Krebs – Peterka – Power
1:260% CF
PK1FGreenway – Thompson
1:37
PK2FGirgensons – Tuch
1:17
PK1DJohnson – Samuelsson
3:45
PK2DClifton – Power
1:23

Current BUF line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

1st period

2:56
MTLJustin Barron (Arber Xhekaj, Sean Monahan)snap0.17 xG
MTL: Gallagher, Pearson, Monahan, Barron, XhekajBUF: Olofsson, Samuelsson, Dahlin, Krebs, Peterka
MTL 1 – 0 BUF
7:13
BUFJeff SkinnerPP (Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin)wrist0.06 xG
MTL: Savard, Matheson, Monahan, Harvey-PinardBUF: Skinner, Tuch, Thompson, Dahlin, Cozens
MTL 1 – 1 BUF

3rd period

3:31
MTLBrendan Gallagher (David Savard, Tanner Pearson)wrist0.06 xG
MTL: Savard, Gallagher, Pearson, Matheson, MonahanBUF: Johnson, Skinner, Tuch, Mittelstadt, Jokiharju
MTL 2 – 1 BUF
16:53
MTLTanner PearsonPP (Brendan Gallagher, Alex Newhook)snap0.26 xG
MTL: Gallagher, Pearson, Newhook, Xhekaj, SlafkovskýBUF: Girgensons, Clifton, Krebs, Power
MTL 3 – 1 BUF

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	0	0	0	3	0.16	2	0	0	19:03	—	—	39	51
Cole Caufield R	L1	0	0	0	0	1	0.34	0	0	0	17:34	—	—	32	40
Rafael Harvey-Pinard L	L1	0	0	0	0	2	0.41	2	2	0	15:38	—	—	31	44
Josh Anderson R	L2	0	0	0	0	2	0.40	5	1	0	15:10	—	—	26	46
Alex Newhook C	L2	0	1	1	0	0	0.00	1	1	0	14:46	—	—	32	45
Juraj Slafkovský L	L2	0	0	0	0	2	0.20	3	2	0	14:36	—	—	29	41
Jake Evans C	L3	0	0	0	0	0	0.07	2	0	0	15:29	—	—	33	36
Jesse Ylonen R	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.01	0	0	0	12:50	—	—	44	57
Michael Pezzetta L	L3	0	0	0	0	2	0.37	5	0	0	8:56	—	—	40	48
Sean Monahan C	L4	0	1	1	+2	1	0.33	0	0	2	18:38	—	—	80	88
Tanner Pearson L	L4	1	1	2	+2	6	0.69	4	1	0	13:24	—	—	82	86
Brendan Gallagher R	L4	1	1	2	+2	2	0.13	3	0	2	11:14	—	—	79	87
Johnathan Kovacevic D	D1	0	0	0	0	0	0.03	1	0	0	20:24	—	—	35	35
Jordan Harris D	D1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	1	0	18:33	—	—	29	34
Arber Xhekaj D	D2	0	1	1	+1	2	0.11	4	1	2	18:48	—	—	43	67
Justin Barron D	D2	1	0	1	+1	1	0.17	0	2	2	15:49	—	—	52	78
Mike Matheson D	D3	0	0	0	+1	1	0.04	2	1	0	24:06	—	—	44	55
David Savard D	D3	0	1	1	+1	1	0.20	0	5	0	16:54	—	—	48	55

MTL goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Jake Allen(start)	W	37	36	1	.973	3.31	60:00

Buffalo Sabres

BUF skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Tage Thompson C	L1	0	0	0	0	5	0.62	2	0	0	22:16	—	—	76	87
Dylan Cozens C	L1	0	1	1	0	5	0.33	2	0	0	20:05	—	—	68	82
Jordan Greenway L	L1	0	0	0	0	2	0.15	2	0	0	15:18	—	—	69	71
Jeff Skinner L	L2	1	0	1	-1	3	0.26	1	0	0	20:09	—	—	50	39
Alex Tuch R	L2	0	0	0	-1	3	0.49	0	0	2	19:49	—	—	48	34
Casey Mittelstadt C	L2	0	0	0	-1	1	0.10	0	1	0	15:28	—	—	55	47
Peyton Krebs C	L3	0	0	0	-1	2	0.15	1	1	2	14:09	—	—	56	28
JJ Peterka R	L3	0	0	0	-1	5	0.50	0	0	0	13:28	—	—	65	42
Victor Olofsson L	L3	0	0	0	-1	2	0.04	0	0	0	11:52	—	—	67	33
Zemgus Girgensons C	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	1	0	0	12:09	—	—	14	5
Kyle Okposo R	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	1	0	2	11:21	—	—	42	38
Tyson Jost C	L4	0	0	0	0	3	0.26	1	0	0	10:01	—	—	39	35
Owen Power D	D1	0	0	0	0	2	0.19	0	0	0	20:48	—	—	57	44
Henri Jokiharju D	D1	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	0	1	0	15:58	—	—	47	28
Rasmus Dahlin D	D2	0	1	1	-1	3	0.18	5	1	0	26:12	—	—	67	62
Mattias Samuelsson D	D2	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	5	3	0	18:19	—	—	69	59
Connor Clifton D	D3	0	0	0	0	1	0.03	4	2	0	15:52	—	—	56	60
Erik Johnson D	D3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.01	1	1	0	13:57	—	—	36	22

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Eric Comrie(start)	L	27	24	3	.889	3.67	56:53

Goal anatomy

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

Justin Barron (MTL) 1st 2:56 · assists Arber Xhekaj, Sean Monahan · Forecheck turnover · 61.7 mph shot.

Justin Barron · 1st 2:56 · MTL

Play: turnover-forecheck
Passes: 0
Shot: 61.7 mph
Distance: 36 ft
Type: one-timer

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

Jeff Skinner · 1st 7:13 · BUF PP

Play: cycle
Passes: 3
Shot: 60.1 mph
Distance: 16 ft

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

Brendan Gallagher · 3rd 3:31 · MTL

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: pass
Odd man: 3-on-2
Passes: 0
Shot: 5.0 mph
Distance: 4 ft
Entry to goal: 4.3 s

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

Tanner Pearson · 3rd 16:53 · MTL PP

Play: turnover-forecheck
Passes: 0
Shot: 63.8 mph
Distance: 17 ft
Type: one-timer

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.