Vegas Golden Knights vs. Buffalo SabresMar 15, 2025

Final / SOSaturday, Mar 15, 2025· KeyBank Center

away

home

Goals	1	2	3	OT	SO	T		Shots	1	2	3	OT	T
VGK	1	1	1	0	0	3		VGK	7	6	6	0	19
BUF	0	1	2	0	1	4		BUF	12	10	14	1	37

: VGK 49BUF 70
: VGK 2.37BUF 2.46
PP goals: VGK 0BUF 1
Hits: VGK 22BUF 36
Blocks: VGK 14BUF 13
PIM: VGK 14BUF 22
: VGK 28%BUF 72%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Buffalo Sabres edge Vegas Golden Knights 4–3 (SO)

Buffalo Sabres beat Vegas Golden Knights 4–3 in a shootout at home. Bowen Byram (BUF) led the scoring with 0G 2A. New look for BUF: Zucker–McLeod–Benson skated 11:53 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (62.5% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

Points
Bowen Byram had 2 assists (2 points) in 23:54.Byram
New line
New look for BUF: Zucker–McLeod–Benson skated 11:53 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (62.5% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Zucker McLeod Benson
New line
New look for BUF: Tuch–Greenway–Thompson skated 11:34 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (25% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Tuch Greenway Thompson
Goalie
Adin Hill (VGK) faced 37 shots and stopped 34 (.919), +11 against a season average of 25.9; the overtime loss.Hill
Usage
Ryan McLeod (BUF) played 22:05, +5:19 up on his 16:46 season average over 78 games.McLeod
New line
New look for BUF: Krebs–Quinn–Kulich skated 5:03 together at 5v5 as the L4 trio (100% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Krebs Quinn Kulich
New line
New look for BUF: Lafferty–Malenstyn–Kozak skated 6:34 together at 5v5 as the L3 trio (45.5% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Lafferty Malenstyn Kozak
New line
New look for VGK: Pearson–Kolesar–Howden skated 4:33 together at 5v5 as the L3 trio (42.9% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Pearson Kolesar Howden

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 119 of 119 attempts · BUF 70 · VGK 49

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 27% 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

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
	53	67
	2.46	1.93
	2.45	1.84
	7	7
	2	5
	31	24
	−0.133	+0.133
	27%	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.

Vegas Golden Knights

L1Saad – Hertl – Dorofeyev
9:2421% CF
L2Stone – Barbashev – Eichel
5:5262% CF
L3Pearson – Kolesar – Howden
4:3343% CF
L4Smith – Olofsson – Roy
4:1140% CF
D1Hanifin – Whitecloud
20:4954% CF
D2Pietrangelo – Hague
14:4852% CF
D3McNabb – Korczak
14:3326% CF

PP1Stone – Hertl – Hanifin – Eichel – Dorofeyev
1:21
PP2Pietrangelo – Smith – Barbashev – Olofsson – Roy
0:33
PK1FStone – Eichel
2:06
PK1DPietrangelo – McNabb
2:06

Current VGK line combinations →

Buffalo Sabres

L1Zucker – McLeod – Benson
11:5363% CF
L2Tuch – Greenway – Thompson
11:3425% CF
L3Lafferty – Malenstyn – Kozak
6:3445% CF
L4Krebs – Quinn – Kulich
5:03100% CF
D1Samuelsson – Dahlin
14:2451% CF
D2Bryson – Byram
14:1364% CF
D3Clifton – Power
12:5443% CF

PP1Zucker – Tuch – Thompson – Dahlin – Kulich
2:0583% CF
PK1FGreenway – McLeod
1:07
PK2FTuch – Malenstyn
0:45
PK1DSamuelsson – Byram
0:45
PK2DClifton – Bryson
0:34

Current BUF line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

Decided in the shootout: VGK 3 – 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
Tomas Hertl C	L1	0	1	1	+1	0	0.00	1	1	0	15:06	—	—	33	47
Pavel Dorofeyev R	L1	1	0	1	+1	1	0.31	0	1	2	14:31	—	—	25	44
Brandon Saad L	L1	0	0	0	0	0	0.02	1	0	0	12:56	—	—	26	14
Jack Eichel C	L2	1	0	1	-1	2	0.87	0	0	0	23:04	—	—	61	81
Mark Stone R	L2	0	1	1	-1	2	0.14	0	1	0	22:28	—	—	58	69
Ivan Barbashev L	L2	0	1	1	+1	1	0.19	1	0	0	17:19	—	—	42	88
Brett Howden C	L3	1	0	1	0	1	0.23	2	1	5	15:10	—	—	32	62
Keegan Kolesar R	L3	0	0	0	0	2	0.22	5	0	5	12:34	—	—	47	77
Tanner Pearson L	L3	0	1	1	+2	2	0.02	1	0	0	12:00	—	—	39	40
Nicolas Roy C	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	2	3	0	16:02	—	—	43	27
Reilly Smith R	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	1	0	15:28	—	—	41	28
Victor Olofsson L	L4	0	0	0	0	3	0.24	1	0	0	12:54	—	—	63	86
Noah Hanifin D	D1	0	0	0	+1	1	0.01	0	1	0	28:05	—	—	53	62
Zach Whitecloud D	D1	0	0	0	+1	1	0.10	1	0	0	22:16	—	—	51	59
Alex Pietrangelo D	D2	0	1	1	+1	2	0.02	1	1	0	20:58	—	—	56	77
Nicolas Hague D	D2	0	0	0	+2	1	0.01	0	1	0	17:01	—	—	44	66
Brayden McNabb D	D3	0	0	0	-2	0	0.00	2	2	0	19:50	—	—	21	29
Kaedan Korczak D	D3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	4	1	0	15:01	—	—	26	34

VGK goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Adin Hill(start)	O	37	34	3	.919	2.46	65:00

Buffalo Sabres

BUF skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Ryan McLeod C	L1	1	0	1	+2	3	0.29	0	0	0	22:05	—	—	69	69
Jason Zucker L	L1	1	0	1	+2	4	0.34	2	0	0	20:12	—	—	65	70
Zach Benson L	L1	0	0	0	+1	1	0.21	0	1	0	19:18	—	—	67	73
Alex Tuch R	L2	0	0	0	-1	1	0.12	1	2	0	23:16	—	—	30	6
Tage Thompson C	L2	0	1	1	-2	5	0.35	2	0	0	22:57	—	—	29	7
Jordan Greenway L	L2	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	5	1	5	17:09	—	—	39	8
Beck Malenstyn L	L3	0	0	0	-1	3	0.04	7	0	0	14:52	—	—	46	58
Sam Lafferty C	L3	0	0	0	-1	3	0.27	4	1	0	12:21	—	—	52	62
Tyson Kozak C	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.27	2	1	0	9:04	—	—	47	66
Peyton Krebs C	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	2	0	17	12:09	—	—	83	87
Jack Quinn R	L4	0	0	0	-1	3	0.11	0	0	0	9:57	—	—	83	38
Jiri Kulich C	L4	0	0	0	0	2	0.15	0	0	0	8:08	—	—	85	100
Rasmus Dahlin D	D1	1	0	1	-2	5	0.23	1	2	0	26:48	—	—	52	20
Mattias Samuelsson D	D1	0	0	0	-2	1	0.03	4	0	0	18:16	—	—	54	23
Bowen Byram D	D2	0	2	2	+2	0	0.01	2	0	0	23:54	—	—	67	71
Jacob Bryson D	D2	0	1	1	+1	2	0.00	0	0	0	16:30	—	—	61	71
Owen Power D	D3	0	0	0	-1	1	0.03	0	4	0	19:48	—	—	52	45
Connor Clifton D	D3	0	0	0	0	2	0.02	4	1	0	17:43	—	—	54	54

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen(start)	W	19	16	3	.842	2.37	63:33

Goal anatomy

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

Brett Howden (VGK) 1st 12:07 · assists Tanner Pearson, Ivan Barbashev · Deflection · carried in · 3-on-2 at the blue line · 7.1 mph shot · 3.5 s from entry to goal.

Brett Howden · 1st 12:07 · VGK

Play: deflection
Entry: carry
Odd man: 3-on-2
Passes: 2
Shot: 7.1 mph
Distance: 4 ft
Entry to goal: 3.5 s
Type: rebound

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

Pavel Dorofeyev · 2nd 12:06 · VGK

Play: turnover-forecheck
Passes: 0
Shot: 26.7 mph
Distance: 6 ft

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

Ryan McLeod · 2nd 12:13 · BUF

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: pass
Odd man: 3-on-1
Passes: 3 (royal road)
Shot: 69.5 mph
Distance: 28 ft
Entry to goal: 1.9 s

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

Jason Zucker · 3rd 9:53 · BUF PP

Play: turnover-forecheck
Passes: 0
Shot: 56.0 mph
Distance: 23 ft

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

Jack Eichel · 3rd 17:27 · VGK

Play: rebound
Passes: 1 (royal road)
Shot: 3.7 mph
Distance: 7 ft
Type: rebound

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

Rasmus Dahlin · 3rd 19:46 · BUF

Play: turnover-forecheck
Passes: 2
Shot: 89.1 mph
Distance: 52 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.

Vegas Golden Knights vs. Buffalo SabresMar 15, 2025

Fantasy takeaways

Buffalo Sabres edge Vegas Golden Knights 4–3 (SO)

Shot map

Shot map

Game flow

Cumulative shot attempts

Shift chart

Shifts

Sequence card

Lines used

Vegas Golden Knights

Buffalo Sabres

Scoring summary

1st period

2nd period

3rd period

Box score

Vegas Golden Knights

Buffalo Sabres

Goal anatomy

Brett Howden · 1st 12:07 · VGK

Pavel Dorofeyev · 2nd 12:06 · VGK

Ryan McLeod · 2nd 12:13 · BUF

Jason Zucker · 3rd 9:53 · BUF PP

Jack Eichel · 3rd 17:27 · VGK

Rasmus Dahlin · 3rd 19:46 · BUF