New Jersey Devils vs. Buffalo SabresDec 29, 2021

FinalWednesday, Dec 29, 2021· KeyBank Center

away

New Jersey DevilsNJD

4

@

home

Buffalo SabresBUF

3

Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
NJD	2	0	2	4		NJD	11	18	13	42
BUF	0	2	1	3		BUF	3	10	9	22

: NJD 74BUF 42
: NJD 2.73BUF 2.15
PP goals: NJD 1BUF 0
Hits: NJD 6BUF 17
Blocks: NJD 13BUF 15
PIM: NJD 7BUF 19
: NJD 51%BUF 49%

Fantasy takeaways

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

New Jersey Devils edge Buffalo Sabres 4–3

New Jersey Devils beat Buffalo Sabres 4–3 at BUF. Jack Hughes (NJD) led the scoring with 1G 2A. NJD's first power-play unit (Hamilton, Bratt, Bastian, Hischier and Hughes) scored 1 power-play goal on 5 attempts in 2:08 together.

Points
Jack Hughes had a goal and 2 assists (3 points) on 6 shots in 17:52.Hughes
Points
Jesper Bratt had a goal and 2 assists (3 points) on 1 shot in 16:06.Bratt
Points
Tage Thompson had two goals (2 points) on 3 shots in 18:22.Thompson
Points
Yegor Sharangovich had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 4 shots in 14:16.Sharangovich
Points
Rasmus Dahlin had 2 assists (2 points) on 2 shots in 24:47.Dahlin
PP1
NJD's first power-play unit (Hamilton, Bratt, Bastian, Hischier and Hughes) scored 1 power-play goal on 5 attempts in 2:08 together.Hamilton Bratt Bastian Hischier Hughes
New line
New look for BUF: Tuch–Thompson–Peterka skated 11:54 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (40.9% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Tuch Thompson Peterka
New line
New look for NJD: Zacha–Hischier–Boqvist skated 12:21 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (75% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Zacha Hischier Boqvist

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

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

BUF
NJD
Goal
Shot on goal
Missed
Blocked

Showing 116 of 116 attempts · BUF 42 · NJD 74

Game flow

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

Cumulative shot attempts

BUF
NJD
Goal
Power play (shaded)

Pressure Index

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

: descriptive only, the team with more pressure scored the next goal about half the time. In control: NJD 39% of the game, BUF 27%.

Shift chart

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

Shifts

BUF

NJD

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	NJD	BUF
	83	46
	2.97	2.37
	2.81	2.33
	10	7
	2	4
	8	10
	+0.010	−0.010
	39%	27%

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.

New Jersey Devils

L1Zacha – Hischier – Boqvist
12:2175% CF
L2Bratt – Sharangovich – Hughes
11:2672% CF
L3Bastian – McLeod – Studenic
10:0661% CF
L4Johnsson – Kuokkanen – Mercer
10:0050% CF
D1Severson – Siegenthaler
16:5467% CF
D2Subban – Smith
13:1872% CF
D3Hamilton – Graves
12:2167% CF

PP1Hamilton – Bratt – Bastian – Hischier – Hughes
2:08100% CF
PP2Severson – Johnsson – Zacha – Smith – Mercer
0:34
PK1FMcLeod – Hischier
0:48
PK2FKuokkanen – Studenic
0:36
PK1DSubban – Graves
0:53
PK2DHamilton – Siegenthaler
0:19

Current NJD line combinations →

Buffalo Sabres

L1Tuch – Thompson – Peterka
11:5441% CF
L2Okposo – Murray – Krebs
9:2917% CF
L3Olofsson – Asplund – Ruotsalainen
6:3235% CF
L4Eakin – Hayden – Bjork
6:199% CF
D1Jokiharju – Dahlin
17:1043% CF
D2Pysyk – Fitzgerald
8:0211% CF
D3Butcher – Prow
7:3741% CF

PP1Okposo – Butcher – Olofsson – Krebs – Ruotsalainen
1:02100% CF
PP2Tuch – Asplund – Thompson – Dahlin – Peterka
0:58
PK1FTuch – Thompson
1:23
PK2FEakin – Hayden
0:42
PK1DPysyk – Jokiharju
2:05
PK2DProw – Dahlin
0:37

Current BUF line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

1st period

4:43
NJDDougie HamiltonPP (Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier)slap0.05 xG
NJD: Hamilton, Bratt, Bastian, Hischier, HughesBUF: Eakin, Pysyk, Hayden, Jokiharju
NJD 1 – 0 BUF
11:48
NJDJesper Bratt (P.K. Subban, Jack Hughes)wrist0.40 xG
NJD: Subban, Bratt, Smith, Sharangovich, HughesBUF: Okposo, Murray, Jokiharju, Dahlin, Krebs
NJD 2 – 0 BUF

2nd period

0:33
BUFTage Thompson (Alex Tuch, Rasmus Dahlin)deflected0.11 xG
NJD: Severson, Siegenthaler, Zacha, Hischier, BoqvistBUF: Tuch, Thompson, Jokiharju, Dahlin, Peterka
NJD 2 – 1 BUF
3:17
BUFTage Thompson (Rasmus Dahlin)wrist0.12 xG
NJD: Hamilton, Graves, Zacha, Hischier, BoqvistBUF: Tuch, Thompson, Jokiharju, Dahlin, Peterka
NJD 2 – 2 BUF

3rd period

4:28
NJDJack Hughes (Yegor Sharangovich, Jesper Bratt)backhand0.17 xG
NJD: Subban, Bratt, Smith, Sharangovich, HughesBUF: Okposo, Murray, Jokiharju, Dahlin, Krebs
NJD 3 – 2 BUF
6:50
NJDYegor Sharangovich (Ty Smith, Jesper Bratt)wrist0.18 xG
NJD: Subban, Bratt, Smith, Sharangovich, HughesBUF: Tuch, Thompson, Jokiharju, Dahlin, Peterka
NJD 4 – 2 BUF
14:38
BUFEthan Prow (Victor Olofsson, Mark Pysyk)wrist0.05 xG
NJD: Severson, Johnsson, Siegenthaler, Kuokkanen, MercerBUF: Eakin, Pysyk, Olofsson, Prow, Asplund
NJD 4 – 3 BUF

Box score

Skaters grouped by the line they played on; CF% is the 5v5 share of shot attempts while on the ice.

New Jersey Devils

NJD skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Pavel Zacha C	L1	0	0	0	-2	5	0.28	0	0	0	17:03	—	—	71	56
Nico Hischier C	L1	0	1	1	-2	2	0.09	0	0	0	16:40	—	—	77	54
Jesper Boqvist C	L1	0	0	0	-2	1	0.06	0	0	0	14:26	—	—	77	57
Jack Hughes C	L2	1	2	3	+3	6	0.49	0	0	0	17:52	—	—	71	76
Jesper Bratt L	L2	1	2	3	+3	1	0.40	0	0	0	16:06	—	—	64	73
Yegor Sharangovich C	L2	1	1	2	+3	4	0.51	0	0	0	14:16	—	—	73	78
Michael McLeod C	L3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	0	14:59	—	—	58	27
Nathan Bastian R	L3	0	0	0	0	0	0.05	2	0	0	14:29	—	—	65	35
Marián Studenic R	L3	0	0	0	0	2	0.11	0	1	0	12:25	—	—	63	29
Janne Kuokkanen C	L4	0	0	0	-1	2	0.05	1	0	0	14:54	—	—	59	39
Andreas Johnsson L	L4	0	0	0	-1	1	0.02	0	0	0	13:31	—	—	46	27
Dawson Mercer C	L4	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	0	2	0	13:16	—	—	44	21
Jonas Siegenthaler D	D1	0	0	0	-2	3	0.06	2	2	5	22:21	—	—	62	40
Damon Severson D	D1	0	0	0	-2	4	0.14	1	1	2	21:37	—	—	68	48
P.K. Subban D	D2	0	1	1	+3	5	0.10	0	0	0	17:59	—	—	64	74
Ty Smith D	D2	0	1	1	+3	1	0.01	0	1	0	16:38	—	—	69	68
Dougie Hamilton D	D3	1	0	1	-1	4	0.33	0	1	0	20:17	—	—	64	46
Ryan Graves D	D3	0	0	0	-1	1	0.03	0	5	0	19:11	—	—	59	52

NJD goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Mackenzie Blackwood(start)	W	22	19	3	.864	2.15	60:00

Buffalo Sabres

BUF skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Alex Tuch R	L1	0	1	1	+1	0	0.00	4	0	0	18:27	—	—	41	55
Tage Thompson C	L1	2	0	2	+1	3	0.57	1	0	0	18:22	—	—	43	56
JJ Peterka R	L1	0	0	0	+1	1	0.14	1	1	0	16:12	—	—	46	60
Kyle Okposo R	L2	0	0	0	-2	3	0.29	2	0	2	18:40	—	—	28	27
Peyton Krebs C	L2	0	0	0	-2	0	0.00	1	0	0	17:03	—	—	29	29
Brett Murray L	L2	0	0	0	-2	1	0.08	0	0	17	11:08	—	—	22	18
Victor Olofsson L	L3	0	1	1	+1	2	0.25	0	1	0	17:21	—	—	44	70
Rasmus Asplund C	L3	0	0	0	+1	1	0.07	1	0	0	16:25	—	—	48	74
Arttu Ruotsalainen C	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.03	1	2	0	12:08	—	—	33	25
Cody Eakin C	L4	0	0	0	+1	2	0.25	1	1	0	14:14	—	—	41	73
Anders Bjork L	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	0	11:19	—	—	19	29
John Hayden C	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	1	1	0	10:58	—	—	24	48
Rasmus Dahlin D	D1	0	2	2	-1	2	0.15	0	1	0	24:47	—	—	41	40
Henri Jokiharju D	D1	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	1	0	0	22:03	—	—	43	37
Mark Pysyk D	D2	0	1	1	+1	0	0.17	0	3	0	19:29	—	—	23	40
Casey Fitzgerald D	D2	0	0	0	0	1	0.01	1	1	0	18:04	—	—	24	35
Will Butcher D	D3	0	0	0	0	4	0.09	0	2	0	15:59	—	—	44	64
Ethan Prow D	D3	1	0	1	+1	1	0.05	2	2	0	15:59	—	—	36	60

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen(start)	L	42	38	4	.905	2.73	58:25

More

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.