Edgehalla

New York Islanders vs. Buffalo SabresDec 20, 2025

Final / SO· KeyBank Center
away
NYI
2
@
home
BUF
3
Goals123OTSOTShots123OTT
NYI011002NYI7157534
BUF110013BUF12107332
NYI 66BUF 56
NYI 3.42BUF 3.97
PP goals
NYI 0BUF 1
Hits
NYI 25BUF 18
Blocks
NYI 8BUF 11
PIM
NYI 8BUF 6
NYI 55%BUF 45%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Buffalo Sabres edge New York Islanders 3–2 (SO)

Buffalo Sabres beat New York Islanders 3–2 in a shootout at home. Mathew Barzal (NYI) led the scoring with 1G 1A. BUF's first power-play unit (Thompson, Norris, Dahlin, Doan and Benson) scored 1 power-play goal on 10 attempts in 4:59 together.

  1. Points
    Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 4 shots in 23:33.Barzal
  2. PP1
    BUF's first power-play unit (Thompson, Norris, Dahlin, Doan and Benson) scored 1 power-play goal on 10 attempts in 4:59 together.ThompsonNorrisDahlinDoanBenson
  3. Luck
    BUF scored 2 goals on 3.97 expected goals (56 attempts), well short of its chances.
  4. New line
    New look for NYI: Duclair–Ritchie–Tsyplakov skated 9:02 together at 5v5 as the L4 trio (38.5% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.DuclairRitchieTsyplakov
  5. Usage
    Anders Lee (NYI) played 20:04, +4:29 up on his 15:35 season average over 81 games.Lee
  6. Goalie
    David Rittich (NYI) faced 32 shots and stopped 30 (.938), +8 against a season average of 24.0; the overtime loss.Rittich
  7. Usage
    Josh Doan (BUF) played 19:09, +3:19 up on his 15:50 season average over 81 games.Doan
  8. Usage
    Tage Thompson (BUF) played 22:48, +3:36 up on his 19:12 season average over 80 games.Thompson

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, NYI at BUF: 122 attempts, 66 on goal, 4 goals, 7.39 expected goals; best chance Jack Quinn at 0.38 xG.

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

Showing 122 of 122 attempts · BUF 56 · NYI 66

Game flow

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

Cumulative shot attempts

Game flow, NYI at BUF: expected goals 3.97 to 3.42 (BUF led the chances), shot attempts 56 to 66, 4 goals.

0.01.02.03.04.01st2nd3rdOTBUFNYIDTBHnet xGcumulative expected goals · 64:43
  • BUF
  • NYI
  • Goal
  • Power play (shaded)
Pressure Index
BUFNYIcontrol2nd3rdOTDahlin · 1st 1:47Thompson · 2nd 8:55Barzal · 2nd 19:37Heineman · 3rd 19:31
  • BUF pressure
  • NYI pressure
  • Goal
  • Control (|PI| > 0.25)

: descriptive only, the team with more pressure scored the next goal about half the time. In control: NYI 28% of the game, BUF 37%.

Shift chart

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

Shifts

Shift chart, NYI at BUF: 38 players over 64:43; most ice Alex Lyon (64:55) for BUF and David Rittich (62:39) for NYI, 4 goals.

BUF
NYI
goals / penalties
  • Even strength
  • Power play
  • Penalty kill
  • Goal
  • Penalty

Head-to-head matchups

BUF skaters (rows) against NYI 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 NYI columns: 251 matchups; most common Samuelsson vs DeAngelo, 9:13 at 30% xGF.

BUF ↓ · NYI →BarzalLeeHolmstromHeinemanDrouinPageauCizikasMacLeanGatcombRitchieTsyplakovDuclairPelechDeAngeloSchaeferPulockMayfieldWarrenL1 ThompsonL1 DoanL1 KrebsL2 BensonL2 McLeodL2 QuinnL3 TuchL3 NorrisL3 OstlundL4 DunneL4 GreenwayL4 MalenstynD1 DahlinD1 SamuelssonD2 ByramD2 MetsaD3 KesselringD3 Power
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
StatNYIBUF
6448
2.312.53
2.182.44
1311
47
2226
+0.032−0.032
28%37%

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 York Islanders

Current NYI line combinations →

Buffalo Sabres

Current BUF line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

1st period

  1. 1:47
    BUFRasmus DahlinPP (Alex Lyon)backhand0.17 xG
    NYI: Pageau, Pelech, Pulock, HeinemanBUF: Thompson, Norris, Dahlin, Doan, Benson
    NYI 0 – 1 BUF

2nd period

  1. 8:55
    BUFTage Thompson (Josh Doan, Peyton Krebs)backhand0.22 xG
    NYI: Pageau, Drouin, Pulock, Heineman, SchaeferBUF: Thompson, Samuelsson, Dahlin, Krebs, Doan
    NYI 0 – 2 BUF
  2. 19:37
    NYIMathew Barzal (Anders Lee, Simon Holmstrom)snap0.21 xG
    NYI: Lee, Mayfield, Pelech, Barzal, HolmstromBUF: Thompson, Kesselring, Krebs, Doan, Power
    NYI 1 – 2 BUF

3rd period

  1. 19:31
    NYIEmil Heineman (Mathew Barzal, Matthew Schaefer)wrist0.10 xG
    NYI: Lee, Drouin, Barzal, Heineman, Ritchie, SchaeferBUF: Tuch, McLeod, Samuelsson, Power
    NYI 2 – 2 BUF

Decided in the shootout: NYI 2 – 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 York Islanders

NYI skaters
SkaterLineGAP+/-HitsBlkPIMPPSH
Mathew Barzal CL1112+140.5601223:33——5957
Anders Lee LL1011+100.1010020:04——5752
Simon Holmstrom RL1011+120.9200017:49——5450
Emil Heineman LL2101-1100.5641018:49——6753
Jonathan Drouin LL2000-100.0400017:16——6750
Jean-Gabriel Pageau CL2000-130.2510215:34——5943
Casey Cizikas CL3000000.0322016:18——6045
Kyle MacLean CL3000000.0011013:55——5745
Marc Gatcomb CL3000010.2230011:14——6053
Calum Ritchie CL4000020.1300012:57——4038
Maxim Tsyplakov RL4000010.0410012:08——4737
Anthony Duclair LL4000000.0000010:48——4037
Adam Pelech DD1000+110.0640226:25——6051
Tony DeAngelo DD1000030.2320022:55——6556
Matthew Schaefer DD2011-130.2311023:36——5032
Ryan Pulock DD2000-120.0221020:18——4127
Scott Mayfield DD3000+110.0121017:48——7385
Marshall Warren DD3000010.011029:51——5045
NYI goalies
GoalieDecSASVGATOI
David Rittich(start)O32302.9383.5862:39

Buffalo Sabres

BUF skaters
SkaterLineGAP+/-HitsBlkPIMPPSH
Tage Thompson CL1101040.5600022:48——4249
Josh Doan RL1011020.4700019:09——4450
Peyton Krebs CL1011000.0031013:29——4648
Zach Benson LL2000020.4100018:25——3540
Ryan McLeod CL2000000.0010017:06——3034
Jack Quinn RL2000020.5600015:24——2833
Alex Tuch RL3000050.3711221:06——5670
Josh Norris CL3000020.2200019:39——6475
Noah Ostlund CL3000010.0800014:42——5570
Josh Dunne CL4000010.1011010:20——3973
Jordan Greenway LL4000010.001009:33——3971
Beck Malenstyn LL4000010.105128:55——3971
Rasmus Dahlin DD1101+150.6010025:52——5271
Mattias Samuelsson DD1000+100.0011024:12——4867
Bowen Byram DD2000010.2331022:49——4862
Zach Metsa DD2000010.1100014:05——5064
Michael Kesselring DD3000-120.0513217:28——3635
Owen Power DD3000-120.1202017:05——3028
BUF goalies
GoalieDecSASVGATOI
Alex Lyon(start)W34322.9413.4264:55

Goal anatomy

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

Rasmus Dahlin (BUF PP) 1st 1:47 · assists Alex Lyon · Rush · carried in · 33.5 mph shot · 2.1 s from entry to goal.

Rasmus Dahlin · 1st 1:47 · BUF PP

Play
rush
Entry
carry
Odd man
No
Passes
0
Shot
33.5 mph
Distance
8 ft
Entry to goal
2.1 s

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

Tage Thompson · 2nd 8:55 · BUF

Play
odd-man-rush
Entry
loose
Odd man
3-on-2
Passes
0
Shot
0.3 mph
Distance
3 ft
Entry to goal
5.0 s

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