Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo SabresJan 15, 2026

FinalThursday, Jan 15, 2026· KeyBank Center

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Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
MTL	2	1	0	3		MTL	7	8	8	23
BUF	2	1	2	5		BUF	12	10	5	27

: MTL 43BUF 57
: MTL 2.89BUF 3.01
PP goals: MTL 2BUF 2
Hits: MTL 26BUF 21
Blocks: MTL 18BUF 6
PIM: MTL 12BUF 10
: MTL 59%BUF 41%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Buffalo Sabres beat Montreal Canadiens 5–3

Buffalo Sabres beat Montreal Canadiens 5–3 at home. Tage Thompson (BUF) led the scoring with 3G 2A. BUF's first power-play unit (Zucker, Thompson, Dahlin, Doan and Ostlund) scored 2 power-play goals on 9 attempts in 4:39 together.

Points
Tage Thompson had a hat trick and 2 assists (5 points) on 3 shots in 20:43.Thompson
Points
Cole Caufield had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 5 shots in 19:17.Caufield
Points
Josh Doan had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 1 shot in 16:55.Doan
Points
Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 2 shots in 22:17.Suzuki
Points
Lane Hutson had 2 assists (2 points) on 1 shot in 25:55.Hutson
Points
Noah Ostlund had 2 assists (2 points) on 3 shots in 17:21.Ostlund
PP1
BUF's first power-play unit (Zucker, Thompson, Dahlin, Doan and Ostlund) scored 2 power-play goals on 9 attempts in 4:39 together.Zucker Thompson Dahlin Doan Ostlund
PP1
MTL's first power-play unit (Suzuki, Caufield, Hutson, Slafkovský and Demidov) scored 2 power-play goals on 4 attempts in 2:21 together.Suzuki Caufield Hutson Slafkovský Demidov

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 100 of 100 attempts · BUF 57 · MTL 43

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 28% of the game, BUF 33%.

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

Head-to-head matchups

BUF skaters (rows) against MTL skaters (columns) at 5v5. Square size is time together; colour is xGF% from the BUF side.

Matchup matrix

BUF xGF% 4060square size = TOI together · blank = under 1:00

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	49
	2.25	1.59
	2.20	1.56
	12	6
	6	2
	20	22
	+0.056	−0.055
	28%	33%

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 – Texier – Caufield
10:4752% CF
L2Kapanen – Slafkovský – Demidov
8:1463% CF
L3Danault – Anderson – Bolduc
7:4222% CF
L4Gallagher – Blais – Veleno
6:0544% CF
D1Matheson – Dobson
12:0546% CF
D2Carrier – Hutson
10:2417% CF
D3Guhle – Xhekaj
6:4450% CF

PP1Suzuki – Caufield – Hutson – Slafkovský – Demidov
2:21100% CF
PP2Gallagher – Texier – Dobson – Bolduc – Kapanen
1:01
PK1FDanault – Anderson
2:12
PK2FVeleno – Kapanen
1:30
PK1DMatheson – Carrier
3:29
PK2DDobson – Guhle
0:00

Current MTL line combinations →

Buffalo Sabres

L1Tuch – Thompson – Benson
10:4645% CF
L2Krebs – Doan – Ostlund
7:4877% CF
L3Zucker – McLeod – Quinn
7:3986% CF
L4Greenway – Malenstyn – Kozak
6:4970% CF
D1Byram – Power
9:2770% CF
D2Samuelsson – Dahlin
9:1255% CF
D3Bryson – Metsa
4:3488% CF

PP1Zucker – Thompson – Dahlin – Doan – Ostlund
4:39100% CF
PP2Tuch – McLeod – Byram – Quinn – Benson
0:13
PK1FTuch – McLeod
1:43
PK2FGreenway – Malenstyn
0:40
PK1DSamuelsson – Byram
1:29
PK2DDahlin – Power
0:18

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.

Montreal Canadiens

MTL skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Nick Suzuki C	L1	1	1	2	-1	2	0.46	0	0	0	22:17	—	—	61	64
Cole Caufield R	L1	1	1	2	-1	5	0.36	0	0	0	19:17	—	—	50	56
Alexandre Texier L	L1	0	0	0	0	3	0.32	1	0	0	13:45	—	—	59	64
Juraj Slafkovský L	L2	0	0	0	-1	1	0.09	1	2	0	18:14	—	—	37	50
Ivan Demidov R	L2	1	0	1	-1	3	0.44	0	0	0	16:10	—	—	58	94
Oliver Kapanen C	L2	0	0	0	0	3	0.28	0	1	2	16:02	—	—	56	99
Phillip Danault C	L3	0	0	0	-2	0	0.00	3	2	2	14:58	—	—	11	19
Josh Anderson R	L3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.07	1	0	0	13:27	—	—	23	34
Zachary Bolduc R	L3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.10	5	0	0	12:04	—	—	33	50
Joseph Veleno C	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	3	1	0	11:12	—	—	45	62
Brendan Gallagher R	L4	0	0	0	0	3	0.36	0	0	2	10:58	—	—	44	58
Sammy Blais L	L4	0	0	0	0	2	0.21	4	1	0	7:29	—	—	47	59
Mike Matheson D	D1	0	0	0	0	0	0.01	1	0	2	22:32	—	—	46	49
Noah Dobson D	D1	0	1	1	-1	0	0.01	0	4	0	21:39	—	—	53	58
Lane Hutson D	D2	0	2	2	-1	1	0.11	0	2	2	25:55	—	—	44	60
Alexandre Carrier D	D2	0	0	0	-1	0	0.04	0	4	0	21:00	—	—	27	24
Kaiden Guhle D	D3	0	0	0	0	0	0.03	1	1	2	14:56	—	—	48	85
Arber Xhekaj D	D3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	6	0	0	10:29	—	—	44	89

MTL goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Jacob Fowler(start)	L	26	22	4	.846	2.07	58:08

Buffalo Sabres

BUF skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Tage Thompson C	L1	3	2	5	+2	3	1.46	0	1	0	20:43	—	—	46	44
Alex Tuch R	L1	1	0	1	+1	1	0.23	4	0	0	18:44	—	—	46	34
Zach Benson L	L1	0	1	1	+1	2	0.09	1	0	2	16:06	—	—	48	38
Noah Ostlund C	L2	0	2	2	0	3	0.16	0	0	0	17:21	—	—	73	57
Josh Doan R	L2	1	1	2	+1	1	0.14	1	0	0	16:55	—	—	70	69
Peyton Krebs C	L2	0	0	0	+1	0	0.12	0	0	0	10:55	—	—	71	55
Ryan McLeod C	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.16	1	0	0	18:29	—	—	46	24
Jason Zucker L	L3	0	1	1	0	0	0.00	1	1	0	14:27	—	—	43	16
Jack Quinn R	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.05	1	0	0	14:21	—	—	50	26
Jordan Greenway L	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	3	1	2	11:10	—	—	50	28
Tyson Kozak C	L4	0	0	0	0	2	0.01	3	0	0	9:22	—	—	64	87
Beck Malenstyn L	L4	0	0	0	0	2	0.16	5	0	0	8:45	—	—	70	92
Bowen Byram D	D1	0	0	0	+1	1	0.01	0	0	4	25:05	—	—	50	36
Owen Power D	D1	0	0	0	0	3	0.06	1	0	0	23:04	—	—	59	39
Rasmus Dahlin D	D2	0	1	1	0	2	0.23	0	2	0	27:39	—	—	49	40
Mattias Samuelsson D	D2	0	0	0	+2	4	0.12	0	1	0	25:24	—	—	50	37
Zach Metsa D	D3	0	0	0	+1	1	0.00	0	0	0	7:38	—	—	73	91
Jacob Bryson D	D3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	2	6:02	—	—	78	76

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Colten Ellis(start)	W	23	20	3	.870	2.89	59:47

Goal anatomy

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

Cole Caufield (MTL) 1st 3:11 · assists Noah Dobson · Rebound · passed in · 2-on-1 at the blue line · 39.3 mph shot · 3.1 s from entry to goal.

Cole Caufield · 1st 3:11 · MTL

Play: rebound
Entry: pass
Odd man: 2-on-1
Passes: 0
Shot: 39.3 mph
Distance: 9 ft
Entry to goal: 3.1 s
Type: rebound

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

Tage Thompson · 1st 4:05 · BUF PP

Play: turnover-forecheck
Passes: 2 (royal road)
Shot: 73.2 mph
Distance: 31 ft

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

Josh Doan · 1st 10:30 · BUF PP

Play: cycle
Passes: 2
Shot: 29.3 mph
Distance: 10 ft

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

Ivan Demidov · 1st 14:20 · MTL PP

Play: cycle
Passes: 5 (royal road)
Shot: 52.3 mph
Distance: 22 ft
Type: one-timer

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

Nick Suzuki · 2nd 3:05 · MTL PP

Play: rebound
Passes: 0
Shot: 19.2 mph
Distance: 6 ft
Type: rebound

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

Alex Tuch · 2nd 8:55 · BUF

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: 4-on-3
Passes: 2
Shot: 61.1 mph
Distance: 25 ft
Entry to goal: 3.5 s

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

Tage Thompson · 3rd 5:12 · BUF

Play: turnover-forecheck
Entry: carry
Odd man: No
Passes: 0
Shot: 60.5 mph
Distance: 25 ft
Entry to goal: 8.4 s

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

Tage Thompson · 3rd 18:20 · BUF EN

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: loose
Odd man: 1-on-0
Passes: 0
Shot: 59.1 mph
Distance: 24 ft
Entry to goal: 2.0 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. Buffalo SabresJan 15, 2026

Fantasy takeaways

Buffalo Sabres beat Montreal Canadiens 5–3

Shot map

Shot map

Game flow

Cumulative shot attempts

Shift chart

Shifts

Head-to-head matchups

Matchup matrix

Sequence card

Lines used

Montreal Canadiens

Buffalo Sabres

Scoring summary

1st period

2nd period

3rd period

Box score

Montreal Canadiens

Buffalo Sabres

Goal anatomy

Cole Caufield · 1st 3:11 · MTL

Tage Thompson · 1st 4:05 · BUF PP

Josh Doan · 1st 10:30 · BUF PP

Ivan Demidov · 1st 14:20 · MTL PP

Nick Suzuki · 2nd 3:05 · MTL PP

Alex Tuch · 2nd 8:55 · BUF

Tage Thompson · 3rd 5:12 · BUF

Tage Thompson · 3rd 18:20 · BUF EN