Edgehalla

Buffalo Sabres vs. Montreal CanadiensOct 20, 2025

Final· Centre Bell
away
BUF
2
@
home
MTL
4
Goals123TShots123T
BUF0112BUF6111532
MTL1034MTL1441432
BUF 73MTL 59
BUF 4.01MTL 3.86
PP goals
BUF 0MTL 0
Hits
BUF 15MTL 22
Blocks
BUF 9MTL 21
PIM
BUF 6MTL 6
BUF 44%MTL 56%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Montreal Canadiens beat Buffalo Sabres 4–2

Montreal Canadiens beat Buffalo Sabres 4–2 at home. Nick Suzuki (MTL) led the scoring with 0G 2A. Zach Benson (BUF) played 21:11, +5:23 up on his 15:48 season average over 64 games.

  1. Points
    Alex Newhook had 2 assists (2 points) on 1 shot in 15:44.Newhook
  2. Points
    Nick Suzuki had 2 assists (2 points) on 1 shot in 21:37.Suzuki
  3. Usage
    Zach Benson (BUF) played 21:11, +5:23 up on his 15:48 season average over 64 games.Benson
  4. Luck
    BUF scored 2 goals on 4.01 expected goals (73 attempts), well short of its chances.
  5. New line
    New look for BUF: Geertsen–Dunne–Kozak skated 4:51 together at 5v5 as the L4 trio (57.1% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.GeertsenDunneKozak
  6. Usage
    Lane Hutson (MTL) played 19:59, −3:50 down on his 23:49 season average over 81 games.Hutson
  7. Usage
    Ivan Demidov (MTL) played 12:27, −3:05 down on his 15:32 season average over 81 games.Demidov
  8. Usage
    Jayden Struble (MTL) played 19:09, +5:13 up on his 13:56 season average over 58 games.Struble

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, BUF at MTL: 132 attempts, 64 on goal, 6 goals, 7.87 expected goals; best chance Jake Evans at 0.68 xG.

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

Showing 132 of 132 attempts · MTL 59 · BUF 73

Game flow

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

Cumulative shot attempts

Game flow, BUF at MTL: expected goals 3.86 to 4.01 (BUF led the chances), shot attempts 59 to 73, 6 goals.

0.01.02.03.04.05.01st2nd3rdMTLBUFKKSHKEnet xGcumulative expected goals · 60:00
  • MTL
  • BUF
  • Goal
  • Power play (shaded)
Pressure Index
MTLBUFcontrol2nd3rdKapanen · 1st 8:29Kulich · 2nd 6:51Slafkovský · 3rd 2:57Hutson · 3rd 11:38Kozak · 3rd 12:30Evans · 3rd 19:29
  • MTL 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 29% of the game, MTL 30%.

Shift chart

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

Shifts

Shift chart, BUF at MTL: 38 players over 60:00; most ice Jakub Dobes (59:57) for MTL and Alex Lyon (57:52) for BUF, 6 goals.

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

Head-to-head matchups

MTL skaters (rows) against BUF skaters (columns) at 5v5. Square size is time together; colour is xGF% from the MTL side.

Matchup matrix

Head-to-head matrix, MTL rows versus BUF columns: 250 matchups; most common Suzuki vs Benson, 11:40 at 45% xGF.

MTL ↓ · BUF →BensonThompsonKulichTuchMcLeodDoanKrebsQuinnZuckerKozakDunneGeertsenPowerTimminsDahlinByramSamuelssonMetsaL1 SuzukiL1 CaufieldL1 SlafkovskýL2 EvansL2 AndersonL2 GallagherL3 NewhookL3 KapanenL3 DemidovL4 BolducL4 VelenoL4 BeckD1 MathesonD1 DobsonD2 HutsonD2 StrubleD3 CarrierD3 Xhekaj
MTL 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
StatBUFMTL
7062
3.853.11
3.612.86
2017
52
1720
−0.058+0.058
29%30%

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

Current BUF line combinations →

Montreal Canadiens

Current MTL line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

1st period

  1. 8:29
    MTLOliver Kapanen (Ivan Demidov, Alex Newhook)backhand0.15 xG
    BUF: Zucker, Timmins, Krebs, Quinn, PowerMTL: Carrier, Newhook, Kapanen, Xhekaj, Demidov
    BUF 0 – 1 MTL

2nd period

  1. 6:51
    BUFJiri Kulich (Zach Benson)backhand0.13 xG
    BUF: Thompson, Byram, Kulich, Benson, MetsaMTL: Veleno, Bolduc, Xhekaj, Beck, Hutson
    BUF 1 – 1 MTL

3rd period

  1. 2:57
    MTLJuraj Slafkovský (Noah Dobson, Nick Suzuki)snap0.32 xG
    BUF: Thompson, Samuelsson, Dahlin, Kulich, BensonMTL: Matheson, Suzuki, Dobson, Caufield, Slafkovský
    BUF 1 – 2 MTL
  2. 11:38
    MTLLane Hutson (Alex Newhook)wrist0.14 xG
    BUF: Zucker, Thompson, Timmins, Krebs, PowerMTL: Anderson, Veleno, Struble, Newhook, Hutson
    BUF 1 – 3 MTL
  3. 12:30
    BUFTyson Kozak (Jack Quinn, Rasmus Dahlin)snap0.34 xG
    BUF: Dahlin, Krebs, Byram, Quinn, KozakMTL: Carrier, Newhook, Kapanen, Xhekaj, Demidov
    BUF 2 – 3 MTL
  4. 19:29
    MTLJake EvansEN (Nick Suzuki)snap0.68 xG
    BUF: Tuch, Thompson, McLeod, Dahlin, Byram, BensonMTL: Matheson, Anderson, Evans, Carrier, Suzuki
    BUF 2 – 4 MTL

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
SkaterLineGAP+/-HitsBlkPIMPPSH
Zach Benson LL1011-170.5610221:11——5862
Tage Thompson CL1000-230.4621220:18——5351
Jiri Kulich CL1101020.2300018:00——5657
Alex Tuch RL2000-120.4100020:08——5052
Ryan McLeod CL2000-120.1611019:58——5764
Josh Doan RL2000020.5711015:53——5966
Peyton Krebs CL3000-110.0141013:29——4238
Jack Quinn RL3011010.0800013:17——5254
Jason Zucker LL3000-210.0100012:35——268
Tyson Kozak CL4101+120.3620010:59——6282
Josh Dunne CL4000010.271006:35——5075
Mason Geertsen LL4000000.000005:27——5775
Owen Power DD1000-220.2410021:17——5969
Conor Timmins DD1000-200.0201018:47——4865
Rasmus Dahlin DD2011-140.3000026:52——5848
Bowen Byram DD2000+110.2801023:07——4651
Mattias Samuelsson DD3000-110.0622019:13——5154
Zach Metsa DD3000+100.000129:02——5559
BUF goalies
GoalieDecSASVGATOI
Alex Lyon(start)L31283.9033.0357:52

Montreal Canadiens

MTL skaters
SkaterLineGAP+/-HitsBlkPIMPPSH
Nick Suzuki CL1022+210.3601021:37——5254
Cole Caufield RL1000+110.0730017:48——5458
Juraj Slafkovský LL1101+130.4031417:17——5753
Jake Evans CL2101+181.2122018:16——4746
Josh Anderson RL2000+240.2521015:55——5352
Brendan Gallagher RL2000030.2810215:46——4443
Alex Newhook CL3022+110.0012015:44——3837
Oliver Kapanen CL3101010.2810012:34——4346
Ivan Demidov RL3011000.1100012:27——4755
Zachary Bolduc RL4000-120.2020011:03——3311
Joseph Veleno CL4000000.002109:27——4225
Owen Beck CL4000-100.020108:01——4416
Mike Matheson DD1000+200.1924026:30——5867
Noah Dobson DD1011+130.0801020:46——6369
Lane Hutson DD2101020.1501019:59——3931
Jayden Struble DD2000+120.1521019:09——4943
Alexandre Carrier DD3000+110.1005018:36——4037
Arber Xhekaj DD3000-100.0110013:08——3323
MTL goalies
GoalieDecSASVGATOI
Jakub Dobes(start)W32302.9384.0159:57

Goal anatomy

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

Oliver Kapanen (MTL) 1st 8:29 · assists Ivan Demidov, Alex Newhook · Cycle · 33.5 mph shot.

Jake Evans · 3rd 19:29 · MTL EN

Play
odd-man-rush
Entry
carry
Odd man
1-on-0
Passes
1
Shot
57.3 mph
Distance
48 ft
Entry to goal
1.4 s

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