Edgehalla

Montreal Canadiens vs. Buffalo SabresJan 31, 2026

Final· KeyBank Center
away
MTL
4
@
home
BUF
2
Goals123TShots123T
MTL1034MTL1161431
BUF0202BUF11121538
MTL 53BUF 77
MTL 3.94BUF 3.79
PP goals
MTL 1BUF 1
Hits
MTL 29BUF 24
Blocks
MTL 20BUF 7
PIM
MTL 8BUF 6
MTL 70%BUF 30%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Montreal Canadiens beat Buffalo Sabres 4–2

Montreal Canadiens beat Buffalo Sabres 4–2 at BUF. Cole Caufield (MTL) led the scoring with 2G 1A. MTL's first power-play unit (Suzuki, Caufield, Hutson, Slafkovský and Demidov) scored 1 power-play goal on 8 attempts in 3:50 together.

  1. Points
    Cole Caufield had two goals and an assist (3 points) on 5 shots in 15:39.Caufield
  2. Points
    Nick Suzuki had 2 assists (2 points) on 2 shots in 18:52.Suzuki
  3. Points
    Noah Dobson had 2 assists (2 points) on 4 shots in 20:32.Dobson
  4. PP1
    MTL's first power-play unit (Suzuki, Caufield, Hutson, Slafkovský and Demidov) scored 1 power-play goal on 8 attempts in 3:50 together.SuzukiCaufieldHutsonSlafkovskýDemidov
  5. Goalie
    Jakub Dobes (MTL) faced 38 shots and stopped 36 (.947), +10 against a season average of 27.6; the win.Dobes
  6. Luck
    BUF scored 2 goals on 3.79 expected goals (77 attempts), well short of its chances.
  7. Usage
    Alex Tuch (BUF) played 22:29, +3:32 up on his 18:57 season average over 78 games.Tuch
  8. Usage
    Lane Hutson (MTL) played 20:10, −3:39 down on his 23:49 season average over 81 games.Hutson

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.

Shot map, MTL at BUF: 130 attempts, 69 on goal, 6 goals, 7.73 expected goals; best chance Lane Hutson at 0.42 xG.

Strength
Period
Team
← MTL attacks left (bottom on phones)BUF attacks right (top on phones) →
  • BUF
  • MTL
  • Goal
  • Shot on goal
  • Missed
  • Blocked

Showing 130 of 130 attempts · BUF 77 · MTL 53

Game flow

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

Cumulative shot attempts

Game flow, MTL at BUF: expected goals 3.79 to 3.94 (MTL led the chances), shot attempts 77 to 53, 6 goals.

0.01.02.03.04.01st2nd3rdBUFMTLSPOCCKnet xGcumulative expected goals · 60:00
  • BUF
  • MTL
  • Goal
  • Power play (shaded)
Pressure Index
BUFMTLcontrol2nd3rdSlafkovský · 1st 11:20Power · 2nd 7:36Ostlund · 2nd 18:58Caufield · 3rd 4:14Caufield · 3rd 10:13Kapanen · 3rd 19:12
  • 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 24% of the game, BUF 43%.

Shift chart

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

Shifts

Shift chart, MTL at BUF: 38 players over 60:00; most ice Alex Lyon (57:43) for BUF and Jakub Dobes (59:58) for MTL, 6 goals.

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

Head-to-head matrix, BUF rows versus MTL columns: 250 matchups; most common Benson vs Matheson, 12:27 at 62% xGF.

BUF ↓ · MTL →KapanenSlafkovskýDemidovSuzukiCaufieldDachDanaultAndersonGallagherEvansVelenoBolducDobsonHutsonMathesonGuhleCarrierXhekajL1 TuchL1 ThompsonL1 BensonL2 ZuckerL2 McLeodL2 QuinnL3 DoanL3 OstlundL3 HeleniusL4 KrebsL4 MalenstynL4 KozakD1 DahlinD1 PowerD2 SamuelssonD2 MetsaD3 ByramD3 Kesselring
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
StatMTLBUF
4774
2.793.27
2.572.93
1223
54
2017
+0.141−0.141
24%43%

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

Current MTL line combinations →

Buffalo Sabres

Current BUF line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

1st period

  1. 11:20
    MTLJuraj SlafkovskýPP (Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield)wrist0.14 xG
    MTL: Suzuki, Caufield, Hutson, Slafkovský, DemidovBUF: McLeod, Samuelsson, Kesselring, Benson
    MTL 1 – 0 BUF

2nd period

  1. 7:36
    BUFOwen Power (Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin)wrist0.08 xG
    MTL: Matheson, Evans, Carrier, Veleno, BolducBUF: Tuch, Thompson, McLeod, Dahlin, Power, Benson
    MTL 1 – 1 BUF
  2. 18:58
    BUFNoah OstlundPP (Alex Tuch, Bowen Byram)slap0.23 xG
    MTL: Danault, Matheson, Evans, CarrierBUF: Tuch, McLeod, Byram, Ostlund, Benson
    MTL 1 – 2 BUF

3rd period

  1. 4:14
    MTLCole Caufield (Noah Dobson, Lane Hutson)tip-in0.08 xG
    MTL: Suzuki, Dobson, Dach, Caufield, HutsonBUF: Zucker, Kesselring, Krebs, Byram, Quinn
    MTL 2 – 2 BUF
  2. 10:13
    MTLCole Caufield (Nick Suzuki, Kirby Dach)snap0.23 xG
    MTL: Suzuki, Dobson, Dach, Caufield, GuhleBUF: Kesselring, Byram, Doan, Ostlund, Helenius
    MTL 3 – 2 BUF
  3. 19:12
    MTLOliver KapanenEN (Noah Dobson)wrist0.37 xG
    MTL: Suzuki, Dobson, Guhle, Kapanen, SlafkovskýBUF: Tuch, McLeod, Dahlin, Power, Ostlund, Benson
    MTL 4 – 2 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
SkaterLineGAP+/-HitsBlkPIMPPSH
Oliver Kapanen CL1101+120.3812017:28——4466
Juraj Slafkovský LL1101+170.8920017:26——5067
Ivan Demidov RL1000030.3200016:49——5067
Nick Suzuki CL2022+320.0401018:52——4447
Cole Caufield RL2213+250.4431015:39——4346
Kirby Dach CL2011+210.0921212:29——4447
Phillip Danault CL3000010.3711018:13——3029
Josh Anderson RL3000000.0030012:11——3634
Brendan Gallagher RL3000000.0050010:18——3334
Jake Evans CL4000-110.0901016:33——2626
Joseph Veleno CL4000-100.0021010:33——2224
Zachary Bolduc RL4000-100.0810010:10——2525
Noah Dobson DD1022+340.2022220:32——5669
Lane Hutson DD1011+120.6301420:10——5869
Mike Matheson DD2000-120.4104027:33——3030
Kaiden Guhle DD2000+200.0134019:29——4042
Alexandre Carrier DD3000-110.0011020:28——1934
Arber Xhekaj DD3000000.003007:09——1513
MTL goalies
GoalieDecSASVGATOI
Jakub Dobes(start)W38362.9473.7959:58

Buffalo Sabres

BUF skaters
SkaterLineGAP+/-HitsBlkPIMPPSH
Alex Tuch RL1011010.3010022:29——5749
Tage Thompson CL1011+150.3810222:21——5748
Zach Benson LL1000020.2210020:45——6153
Jason Zucker LL2000-140.3920018:40——6247
Ryan McLeod CL2000020.1900217:38——6851
Jack Quinn RL2000-130.3000017:28——6648
Josh Doan RL3000-130.7540017:22——8373
Noah Ostlund CL3101-210.2300013:18——8375
Konsta Helenius CL3000-130.021009:54——8471
Peyton Krebs CL4000-100.031009:38——3756
Beck Malenstyn LL4000010.023208:46——2931
Tyson Kozak CL4000000.001006:49——1718
Rasmus Dahlin DD1011040.1931026:03——7161
Owen Power DD1101060.4902024:00——5851
Mattias Samuelsson DD2000020.1460021:48——6549
Zach Metsa DD2000000.0000010:46——7370
Bowen Byram DD3011-210.1401220:19——5549
Michael Kesselring DD3000-200.000108:53——4659
BUF goalies
GoalieDecSASVGATOI
Alex Lyon(start)L30273.9002.8057:43

Goal anatomy

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

Juraj Slafkovský (MTL PP) 1st 11:20 · assists Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield · Forecheck turnover · 46.7 mph shot.

Noah Ostlund · 2nd 18:58 · BUF PP

Play
odd-man-rush
Entry
carry
Odd man
4-on-3
Passes
0
Shot
17.4 mph
Distance
22 ft
Entry to goal
5.8 s

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

Cole Caufield · 3rd 10:13 · MTL

Play
dump-and-chase
Entry
dump
Odd man
No
Passes
0
Shot
21.1 mph
Distance
5 ft
Entry to goal
6.0 s

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

Oliver Kapanen · 3rd 19:12 · MTL EN

Play
dump-and-chase
Entry
dump
Odd man
6-on-1
Passes
0
Shot
11.1 mph
Distance
13 ft
Entry to goal
8.5 s

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