Buffalo Sabres vs. St. Louis BluesDec 29, 2024

FinalSunday, Dec 29, 2024· Enterprise Center

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Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
BUF	2	0	2	4		BUF	6	6	4	16
STL	1	0	1	2		STL	15	11	11	37

: BUF 27STL 75
: BUF 1.59STL 4.00
PP goals: BUF 2STL 0
Hits: BUF 20STL 14
Blocks: BUF 23STL 4
PIM: BUF 8STL 6
: BUF 40%STL 60%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Buffalo Sabres beat St. Louis Blues 4–2

Buffalo Sabres beat St. Louis Blues 4–2 at STL. Tage Thompson (BUF) led the scoring with 1G 1A. BUF's first power-play unit (Zucker, Thompson, Dahlin, Quinn and Peterka) scored 1 power-play goal on 2 attempts in 2:49 together.

Points
Jason Zucker had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 1 shot in 18:13.Zucker
Points
Tage Thompson had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 2 shots in 19:18.Thompson
Points
Colton Parayko had 2 assists (2 points) on 3 shots in 22:24.Parayko
Points
Jack Quinn had 2 assists (2 points) in 14:48.Quinn
PP1
BUF's first power-play unit (Zucker, Thompson, Dahlin, Quinn and Peterka) scored 1 power-play goal on 2 attempts in 2:49 together.Zucker Thompson Dahlin Quinn Peterka
Luck
BUF scored 4 goals on 1.59 expected goals (27 attempts), finishing well above its chances.
Goalie
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (BUF) faced 37 shots and stopped 35 (.946), +10 against a season average of 27.1; the win.Luukkonen
Luck
STL scored 2 goals on 4.00 expected goals (75 attempts), well short of its chances.

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

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

STL
BUF
Goal
Shot on goal
Missed
Blocked

Showing 102 of 102 attempts · STL 75 · BUF 27

Game flow

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

Cumulative shot attempts

STL
BUF
Goal
Power play (shaded)

Pressure Index

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

: descriptive only, the team with more pressure scored the next goal about half the time. In control: BUF 11% of the game, STL 63%.

Shift chart

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

Shifts

STL

BUF

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	BUF	STL
	23	60
	1.23	2.36
	1.22	2.31
	4	8
	1	0
	12	16
	−0.072	+0.072
	11%	63%

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.

Buffalo Sabres

L1Zucker – Tuch – Thompson
10:5420% CF
L2Cozens – Quinn – Peterka
8:429% CF
L3Krebs – Kulich – Benson
8:3262% CF
L4Lafferty – Malenstyn – McLeod
7:2618% CF
D1Dahlin – Byram
14:5638% CF
D2Samuelsson – Power
12:4210% CF
D3Clifton – Bryson
9:5915% CF

PP1Zucker – Thompson – Dahlin – Quinn – Peterka
2:4967% CF
PP2Tuch – Cozens – Power – Kulich – Benson
0:31
PK1FTuch – McLeod
2:12
PK2FMalenstyn – Benson
1:23
PK1DSamuelsson – Byram
2:47
PK2DClifton – Power
0:42

Current BUF line combinations →

St. Louis Blues

L1Schenn – Kyrou – Holloway
10:2188% CF
L2Sundqvist – Neighbours – Bolduc
6:5958% CF
L3Buchnevich – Thomas – Texier
6:5856% CF
L4Saad – Walker – Toropchenko
5:0750% CF
D1Fowler – Parayko
14:2890% CF
D2Faulk – Broberg
11:3475% CF
D3Suter – Tucker
8:1850% CF

PP1Fowler – Buchnevich – Kyrou – Thomas – Holloway
4:56100% CF
PP2Schenn – Faulk – Sundqvist – Neighbours – Bolduc
1:5375% CF
PK1FSaad – Sundqvist
1:23
PK2FWalker – Toropchenko
1:04
PK1DSuter – Parayko
1:21
PK2DFaulk – Broberg
1:14

Current STL line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

1st period

6:52
BUFPeyton Krebs (Bowen Byram, Rasmus Dahlin)tip-in0.06 xG
BUF: Dahlin, Krebs, Byram, Kulich, BensonSTL: Fowler, Parayko, Buchnevich, Thomas, Texier
BUF 1 – 0 STL
13:06
BUFTage ThompsonPP (Jason Zucker, Jack Quinn)wrist0.12 xG
BUF: Zucker, Thompson, Dahlin, Quinn, PeterkaSTL: Faulk, Saad, Sundqvist, Broberg
BUF 2 – 0 STL
15:47
STLBrayden Schenn (Colton Parayko, Jake Neighbours)wrist0.85 xG
BUF: Dahlin, Cozens, Power, KulichSTL: Schenn, Parayko, Broberg, Neighbours
BUF 2 – 1 STL

3rd period

5:56
STLNathan Walker (Colton Parayko, Alexey Toropchenko)wrist0.12 xG
BUF: Lafferty, Malenstyn, McLeod, Dahlin, ByramSTL: Fowler, Parayko, Walker, Texier, Toropchenko
BUF 2 – 2 STL
10:30
BUFJason ZuckerPP (Jack Quinn, Tage Thompson)wrist0.15 xG
BUF: Zucker, Thompson, Quinn, Peterka, PowerSTL: Faulk, Saad, Sundqvist, Broberg
BUF 3 – 2 STL
16:19
BUFJiri Kulich (Mattias Samuelsson)wrist0.04 xG
BUF: Clifton, Bryson, Krebs, Kulich, BensonSTL: Faulk, Fowler, Walker, Texier, Toropchenko
BUF 4 – 2 STL

Box score

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

Buffalo Sabres

BUF skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Alex Tuch R	L1	0	0	0	0	2	0.02	0	4	2	19:29	—	—	26	19
Tage Thompson C	L1	1	1	2	0	2	0.23	2	0	0	19:18	—	—	28	29
Jason Zucker L	L1	1	1	2	0	1	0.16	2	1	0	18:13	—	—	20	21
JJ Peterka R	L2	0	0	0	0	1	0.02	0	0	2	15:17	—	—	14	9
Jack Quinn R	L2	0	2	2	0	0	0.00	0	0	0	14:48	—	—	14	9
Dylan Cozens C	L2	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	1	1	0	13:55	—	—	19	7
Zach Benson L	L3	0	0	0	+2	1	0.17	1	0	0	12:56	—	—	67	76
Jiri Kulich C	L3	1	0	1	+1	2	0.19	0	0	0	12:28	—	—	43	56
Peyton Krebs C	L3	1	0	1	+2	2	0.28	1	2	0	11:44	—	—	53	74
Ryan McLeod C	L4	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	1	2	0	15:03	—	—	14	26
Beck Malenstyn L	L4	0	0	0	-1	0	0.14	1	1	0	11:38	—	—	15	23
Sam Lafferty C	L4	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	1	1	2	10:34	—	—	23	26
Bowen Byram D	D1	0	1	1	0	1	0.28	1	4	0	24:45	—	—	39	56
Rasmus Dahlin D	D1	0	1	1	-1	2	0.08	2	3	2	23:38	—	—	39	60
Mattias Samuelsson D	D2	0	1	1	0	0	0.00	5	1	0	23:19	—	—	13	2
Owen Power D	D2	0	0	0	-1	1	0.00	0	0	0	18:43	—	—	21	7
Connor Clifton D	D3	0	0	0	+1	1	0.02	2	2	0	14:14	—	—	21	37
Jacob Bryson D	D3	0	0	0	+1	0	0.00	0	1	0	12:14	—	—	21	48

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen(start)	W	37	35	2	.946	4.00	59:44

St. Louis Blues

STL skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Jordan Kyrou R	L1	0	0	0	0	5	0.43	0	0	0	19:50	—	—	89	99
Brayden Schenn C	L1	1	0	1	+1	5	1.09	0	0	0	18:43	—	—	78	92
Dylan Holloway L	L1	0	0	0	0	4	0.50	2	0	0	18:38	—	—	83	93
Jake Neighbours L	L2	0	1	1	+1	2	0.27	0	0	2	14:12	—	—	54	45
Oskar Sundqvist C	L2	0	0	0	0	2	0.14	2	0	0	13:25	—	—	71	58
Zachary Bolduc R	L2	0	0	0	0	3	0.16	0	0	2	11:19	—	—	67	57
Robert Thomas C	L3	0	0	0	-1	3	0.29	0	0	0	23:17	—	—	79	56
Pavel Buchnevich L	L3	0	0	0	-1	1	0.20	0	0	0	22:35	—	—	78	56
Alexandre Texier L	L3	0	0	0	-1	1	0.06	0	0	2	12:42	—	—	53	34
Brandon Saad L	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	0	14:20	—	—	83	84
Nathan Walker L	L4	1	0	1	0	2	0.26	4	1	0	10:49	—	—	58	49
Alexey Toropchenko R	L4	0	1	1	0	0	0.00	1	0	0	9:47	—	—	58	49
Cam Fowler D	D1	0	0	0	-1	2	0.31	0	0	0	23:42	—	—	89	91
Colton Parayko D	D1	0	2	2	+1	3	0.08	3	0	0	22:24	—	—	79	69
Justin Faulk D	D2	0	0	0	-1	2	0.09	0	0	0	23:01	—	—	72	76
Philip Broberg D	D2	0	0	0	+1	1	0.07	0	2	0	15:33	—	—	76	96
Ryan Suter D	D3	0	0	0	0	0	0.01	1	0	0	15:25	—	—	48	10
Tyler Tucker D	D3	0	0	0	0	1	0.04	1	1	0	9:53	—	—	60	24

STL goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Jordan Binnington(start)	L	16	12	4	.750	1.59	56:26

Goal anatomy

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

Brayden Schenn (STL) 1st 15:47 · assists Colton Parayko, Jake Neighbours · Off the faceoff · 5.0 mph shot.

Brayden Schenn · 1st 15:47 · STL

Play: faceoff
Passes: 1
Shot: 5.0 mph
Distance: 11 ft

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

Peyton Krebs · 1st 6:52 · BUF

Play: deflection
Passes: 3 (royal road)
Shot: 33.7 mph
Distance: 13 ft
Type: one-timer

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

Tage Thompson · 1st 13:06 · BUF PP

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: pass
Odd man: 4-on-2
Passes: 3
Shot: 87.6 mph
Distance: 37 ft
Entry to goal: 2.4 s

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

Nathan Walker · 3rd 5:56 · STL

Play: rebound
Passes: 1
Shot: 38.6 mph
Distance: 5 ft
Type: rebound

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

Jason Zucker · 3rd 10:30 · BUF PP

Play: turnover-forecheck
Passes: 2
Shot: 55.9 mph
Distance: 14 ft
Type: one-timer

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

Jiri Kulich · 3rd 16:19 · BUF

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: loose
Odd man: 1-on-0
Passes: 0
Shot: 49.3 mph
Distance: 18 ft
Entry to goal: 2.8 s

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.