Vegas Golden Knights vs. Buffalo SabresJan 14, 2020

FinalTuesday, Jan 14, 2020· KeyBank Center

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Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
VGK	0	1	1	2		VGK	4	12	10	26
BUF	0	2	2	4		BUF	13	5	8	26

: VGK 57BUF 39
: VGK 2.71BUF 2.54
PP goals: VGK 1BUF 2
Hits: VGK 21BUF 16
Blocks: VGK 6BUF 18
PIM: VGK 6BUF 8
: VGK 46%BUF 54%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Buffalo Sabres beat Vegas Golden Knights 4–2

Buffalo Sabres beat Vegas Golden Knights 4–2 at home. Sam Reinhart (BUF) led the scoring with 1G 2A. BUF's first power-play unit (Johansson, Ristolainen, Reinhart, Eichel and Dahlin) scored 1 power-play goal on 2 attempts in 2:18 together.

Points
Sam Reinhart had a goal and 2 assists (3 points) on 2 shots in 19:32.Reinhart
Points
Jack Eichel had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 3 shots in 20:13.Eichel
Points
Shea Theodore had 2 assists (2 points) in 23:04.Theodore
PP1
BUF's first power-play unit (Johansson, Ristolainen, Reinhart, Eichel and Dahlin) scored 1 power-play goal on 2 attempts in 2:18 together.Johansson Ristolainen Reinhart Eichel Dahlin
New line
New look for BUF: Okposo–Larsson–Lazar skated 10:38 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (27.3% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Okposo Larsson Lazar
New line
New look for VGK: Smith–Karlsson–Marchessault skated 10:11 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (47.1% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Smith Karlsson Marchessault
Usage
Curtis Lazar (BUF) played 18:06, +6:26 up on his 11:40 season average over 37 games.Lazar
Usage
Kyle Okposo (BUF) played 17:55, +5:10 up on his 12:45 season average over 51 games.Okposo

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

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

BUF
VGK
Goal
Shot on goal
Missed
Blocked

Showing 96 of 96 attempts · BUF 39 · VGK 57

Game flow

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

Cumulative shot attempts

BUF
VGK
Goal
Power play (shaded)

Pressure Index

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

: descriptive only, the team with more pressure scored the next goal about half the time. In control: VGK 39% of the game, BUF 26%.

Shift chart

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

Shifts

BUF

VGK

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	VGK	BUF
	49	38
	2.12	2.01
	2.06	1.91
	10	11
	4	0
	16	11
	+0.003	−0.003
	39%	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.

Vegas Golden Knights

L1Pacioretty – Stone – Stephenson
10:1764% CF
L2Smith – Karlsson – Marchessault
10:1147% CF
L3Stastny – Nosek – Tuch
7:0757% CF
L4Reaves – Eakin – Carrier
6:0636% CF
D1McNabb – Schmidt
15:0528% CF
D2Holden – Theodore
14:5761% CF
D3Engelland – Hague
12:4676% CF

PP1Stastny – Pacioretty – Stone – Theodore – Tuch
2:39100% CF
PP2Smith – Karlsson – Marchessault – Stephenson – Theodore
1:33100% CF
PK1FSmith – Karlsson
1:19
PK2FEakin – Stone
1:08
PK1DEngelland – McNabb
2:19
PK2DHolden – Schmidt
1:15

Current VGK line combinations →

Buffalo Sabres

L1Girgensons – Reinhart – Eichel
11:3740% CF
L2Okposo – Larsson – Lazar
10:3827% CF
L3Frolik – Johansson – Sheary
7:0657% CF
D1McCabe – Jokiharju
7:430% CF
D2Ristolainen – Pilut
6:5645% CF
D3Miller – Montour
5:5350% CF

PP1Johansson – Ristolainen – Reinhart – Eichel – Dahlin
2:1867% CF
PP2Okposo – Miller – Sheary – Eichel – Rodrigues
1:05100% CF
PK1FLarsson – Girgensons
2:44
PK2FFrolik – Lazar
1:23
PK1DMcCabe – Ristolainen
1:06
PK2DMontour – Pilut
0:54

Current BUF line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

2nd period

1:55
VGKTomas Nosek (Chandler Stephenson, Shea Theodore)deflected0.14 xG
VGK: Holden, Stone, Stephenson, Theodore, NosekBUF: Frolik, Johansson, Sheary, Montour, Dahlin
VGK 1 – 0 BUF
6:32
BUFKyle OkposoPP (Sam Reinhart, Conor Sheary)wrist0.11 xG
VGK: Engelland, McNabb, Smith, KarlssonBUF: Okposo, Miller, Sheary, Reinhart, Eichel
VGK 1 – 1 BUF
19:41
BUFSam ReinhartPP (Rasmus Ristolainen, Jack Eichel)wrist0.14 xG
VGK: Engelland, McNabb, Smith, KarlssonBUF: Johansson, Ristolainen, Reinhart, Eichel, Dahlin
VGK 1 – 2 BUF

3rd period

1:43
VGKReilly SmithPP (Shea Theodore, William Karlsson)wrist0.13 xG
VGK: Smith, Karlsson, Marchessault, Stephenson, TheodoreBUF: Frolik, Ristolainen, Lazar, Pilut
VGK 2 – 2 BUF
7:57
BUFJack Eichel (Sam Reinhart, Colin Miller)wrist0.13 xG
VGK: Holden, Smith, Karlsson, Marchessault, TheodoreBUF: Miller, Girgensons, Reinhart, Eichel, Pilut
VGK 2 – 3 BUF
19:35
BUFCurtis LazarENbackhand0.49 xG
VGK: Stastny, Pacioretty, Stone, Karlsson, Marchessault, TuchBUF: Ristolainen, Lazar, Reinhart, Montour, Eichel
VGK 2 – 4 BUF

Box score

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

Vegas Golden Knights

VGK skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Mark Stone R	L1	0	0	0	0	3	0.15	0	0	0	20:05	—	—	71	58
Max Pacioretty L	L1	0	0	0	-1	5	0.28	2	0	2	18:49	—	—	70	60
Chandler Stephenson C	L1	0	1	1	+1	0	0.13	0	0	0	13:47	—	—	69	61
William Karlsson C	L2	0	1	1	-2	1	0.09	0	0	0	18:43	—	—	54	51
Reilly Smith R	L2	1	0	1	-1	4	0.45	0	0	0	17:57	—	—	52	50
Jonathan Marchessault R	L2	0	0	0	-2	2	0.30	2	0	0	16:14	—	—	55	60
Paul Stastny C	L3	0	0	0	-1	3	0.44	0	0	0	15:47	—	—	50	59
Alex Tuch R	L3	0	0	0	-1	1	0.13	2	0	2	15:29	—	—	44	70
Tomas Nosek L	L3	1	0	1	+1	2	0.23	1	0	0	12:39	—	—	69	70
Cody Eakin C	L4	0	0	0	0	1	0.17	1	0	0	12:30	—	—	50	25
Ryan Reaves R	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	1	0	0	11:00	—	—	59	34
William Carrier L	L4	0	0	0	0	1	0.01	6	0	0	9:30	—	—	37	28
Nate Schmidt D	D1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	2	0	21:28	—	—	36	34
Brayden McNabb D	D1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	2	2	0	19:03	—	—	31	23
Shea Theodore D	D2	0	2	2	0	0	0.21	0	0	0	23:04	—	—	64	56
Nick Holden D	D2	0	0	0	0	1	0.02	2	0	0	18:43	—	—	63	52
Deryk Engelland D	D3	0	0	0	0	1	0.01	1	1	0	15:47	—	—	76	80
Nicolas Hague D	D3	0	0	0	0	1	0.07	1	1	2	15:07	—	—	77	82

VGK goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Marc-Andre Fleury(start)	L	25	22	3	.880	2.05	58:22

Buffalo Sabres

BUF skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Jack Eichel C	L1	1	1	2	+2	3	0.21	0	0	0	20:13	—	—	43	49
Sam Reinhart C	L1	1	2	3	+2	2	0.42	0	2	0	19:32	—	—	39	47
Zemgus Girgensons C	L1	0	0	0	+1	1	0.04	0	0	0	15:53	—	—	41	45
Johan Larsson L	L2	0	0	0	0	1	0.00	1	2	0	18:10	—	—	29	25
Curtis Lazar C	L2	1	0	1	+1	2	0.61	1	4	0	18:06	—	—	31	39
Kyle Okposo R	L2	1	0	1	0	3	0.19	1	1	0	17:55	—	—	29	32
Marcus Johansson L	L3	0	0	0	-1	1	0.01	1	0	0	15:21	—	—	50	46
Michael Frolik R	L3	0	0	0	-1	3	0.21	0	0	0	14:10	—	—	55	38
Conor Sheary L	L3	0	1	1	-1	0	0.01	0	0	0	13:56	—	—	50	57
Jake McCabe D	D1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	2	0	0	17:40	—	—	15	1
Henri Jokiharju D	D1	0	0	0	0	0	0.03	0	3	0	16:28	—	—	47	58
Rasmus Ristolainen D	D2	0	1	1	+1	0	0.00	4	2	0	20:41	—	—	28	25
Lawrence Pilut D	D2	0	0	0	+1	1	0.02	0	2	0	14:55	—	—	52	46
Brandon Montour D	D3	0	0	0	0	1	0.04	1	1	0	21:55	—	—	50	45
Colin Miller D	D3	0	1	1	+1	0	0.06	4	0	6	13:13	—	—	39	70
Rasmus Dahlin D	—	0	0	0	-1	2	0.08	0	1	0	14:12	—	—	58	62
Evan Rodrigues C	—	0	0	0	0	3	0.10	1	0	2	11:35	—	—	62	79
Jimmy Vesey L	—	0	0	0	0	3	0.50	0	0	0	9:46	—	—	57	79

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Linus Ullmark(start)	W	26	24	2	.923	2.71	60:00

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.