Edgehalla

Buffalo Sabres vs. Montreal CanadiensMay 12, 2026

FinalPlayoffs· Centre Bell
away
BUF
3
@
home
MTL
2
Goals123TShots123T
BUF1113BUF125522
MTL2002MTL8111231
BUF 44MTL 75
BUF 3.18MTL 3.36
PP goals
BUF 2MTL 1
Hits
BUF 23MTL 26
Blocks
BUF 27MTL 6
PIM
BUF 16MTL 10
BUF 52%MTL 48%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Buffalo Sabres edge Montreal Canadiens 3–2

Buffalo Sabres beat Montreal Canadiens 3–2 at MTL. Tage Thompson (BUF) led the scoring with 1G 1A. BUF's first power-play unit (Thompson, Dahlin, Quinn, Doan and Benson) scored 2 power-play goals on 5 attempts in 3:12 together.

  1. Points
    Tage Thompson had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 2 shots in 19:14.Thompson
  2. Points
    Josh Doan had 2 assists (2 points) in 15:30.Doan
  3. PP1
    BUF's first power-play unit (Thompson, Dahlin, Quinn, Doan and Benson) scored 2 power-play goals on 5 attempts in 3:12 together.ThompsonDahlinQuinnDoanBenson
  4. PP1
    MTL's first power-play unit (Suzuki, Caufield, Hutson, Slafkovský and Demidov) scored 1 power-play goal on 17 attempts in 8:22 together.SuzukiCaufieldHutsonSlafkovskýDemidov
  5. New line
    New look for BUF: Zucker–Quinn–Helenius skated 8:37 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (54.5% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.ZuckerQuinnHelenius
  6. Usage
    Ryan McLeod (BUF) played 9:35, −8:02 down on his 17:37 season average over 12 games.McLeod
  7. Usage
    Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) played 19:29, −4:51 down on his 24:20 season average over 12 games.Dahlin
  8. Usage
    Jake Evans (MTL) played 12:47, −4:22 down on his 17:09 season average over 18 games.Evans

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: 119 attempts, 53 on goal, 5 goals, 6.54 expected goals; best chance Cole Caufield at 0.30 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 119 of 119 attempts · MTL 75 · BUF 44

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 3.36 to 3.18 (MTL led the chances), shot attempts 75 to 44, 5 goals.

0.01.02.03.04.01st2nd3rdMTLBUFSNCTBnet xGcumulative expected goals · 60:00
  • MTL
  • BUF
  • Goal
  • Power play (shaded)
Pressure Index
MTLBUFcontrol2nd3rdSamuelsson · 1st 6:32Newhook · 1st 10:08Caufield · 1st 19:47Thompson · 2nd 7:00Benson · 3rd 4:41
  • 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 28% of the game, MTL 52%.

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 (57:17) for MTL and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (60:00) for BUF, 5 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 Matheson vs Byram, 8:20 at 92% xGF.

MTL ↓ · BUF →TuchThompsonKrebsQuinnHeleniusZuckerDoanBensonNorrisMalenstynGreenwayMcLeodByramDahlinSamuelssonTimminsPowerSchennL1 SuzukiL1 SlafkovskýL1 CaufieldL2 AndersonL2 DanaultL2 TexierL3 DemidovL3 NewhookL3 EvansL4 BolducL4 DachL4 VelenoD1 HutsonD1 DobsonD2 MathesonD2 CarrierD3 GuhleD3 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
3559
2.822.23
2.472.14
1211
21
1917
+0.002−0.002
28%52%

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. 6:32
    BUFMattias Samuelsson (Josh Norris, Josh Doan)snap0.20 xG
    BUF: Norris, Samuelsson, Dahlin, Doan, BensonMTL: Veleno, Dobson, Dach, Bolduc, Hutson
    BUF 1 – 0 MTL
  2. 10:08
    MTLAlex Newhook (Jake Evans, Ivan Demidov)snap0.27 xG
    BUF: Greenway, Malenstyn, McLeod, Samuelsson, ByramMTL: Matheson, Evans, Carrier, Newhook, Demidov
    BUF 1 – 1 MTL
  3. 19:47
    MTLCole CaufieldPP (Juraj Slafkovský, Lane Hutson)wrist0.30 xG
    BUF: Greenway, Malenstyn, Timmins, SamuelssonMTL: Suzuki, Caufield, Hutson, Slafkovský, Demidov
    BUF 1 – 2 MTL

2nd period

  1. 7:00
    BUFTage ThompsonPP (Rasmus Dahlin)snap0.04 xG
    BUF: Thompson, Dahlin, Quinn, Doan, BensonMTL: Matheson, Evans, Newhook, Guhle
    BUF 2 – 2 MTL

3rd period

  1. 4:41
    BUFZach BensonPP (Josh Doan, Tage Thompson)backhand0.21 xG
    BUF: Thompson, Dahlin, Quinn, Doan, BensonMTL: Matheson, Carrier, Suzuki, Newhook
    BUF 3 – 2 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
Alex Tuch RL1000040.4810021:58——4047
Tage Thompson CL1112020.1000219:14——3341
Peyton Krebs CL1000000.0710215:47——4652
Jack Quinn RL2000030.5720014:06——4882
Konsta Helenius CL2000030.7711012:53——4673
Jason Zucker LL2000010.1011212:14——4873
Josh Doan RL3022+100.0001015:30——1427
Zach Benson LL3101+110.2912014:21——2354
Josh Norris CL3011+100.0001012:41——1331
Beck Malenstyn LL4000-120.2330010:52——5027
Jordan Greenway LL4000-100.002109:58——3815
Ryan McLeod CL4000-100.020109:35——5016
Bowen Byram DD1000-120.0701620:42——2429
Rasmus Dahlin DD1011+120.0424419:29——3461
Mattias Samuelsson DD2101020.2066023:47——3949
Conor Timmins DD2000000.2425021:38——3957
Owen Power DD3000000.0011023:43——4865
Luke Schenn DD3000000.000207:04——5091
BUF goalies
GoalieDecSASVGATOI
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen(start)W31292.9353.3660:00

Montreal Canadiens

MTL skaters
SkaterLineGAP+/-HitsBlkPIMPPSH
Nick Suzuki CL1000020.1900024:34——7851
Juraj Slafkovský LL1011050.6930023:10——8053
Cole Caufield RL1101050.6400021:21——8454
Josh Anderson RL2000030.3120016:35——6034
Phillip Danault CL2000000.0410014:42——6234
Alexandre Texier LL2000020.0840012:59——5832
Ivan Demidov RL3011+120.1500018:45——6367
Alex Newhook CL3101+150.6830014:26——6569
Jake Evans CL3011+100.1620212:47——6368
Zachary Bolduc RL4000-100.002129:39——4630
Kirby Dach CL4000-110.031008:51——3616
Joseph Veleno CL4000-100.002006:42——3625
Lane Hutson DD1011-100.0200028:02——6855
Noah Dobson DD1000-120.1012024:09——7457
Mike Matheson DD2000+130.2622022:01——7063
Alexandre Carrier DD2000+100.0101617:00——4836
Kaiden Guhle DD3000010.0220015:16——5627
Arber Xhekaj DD3000000.001003:46——00
MTL goalies
GoalieDecSASVGATOI
Jakub Dobes(start)L22193.8643.1857:17

Goal anatomy

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

Mattias Samuelsson (BUF) 1st 6:32 · assists Josh Norris, Josh Doan · Rush · carried in · 45.5 mph shot · 3.4 s from entry to goal.

Mattias Samuelsson · 1st 6:32 · BUF

Play
rush
Entry
carry
Odd man
No
Passes
2 (royal road)
Shot
45.5 mph
Distance
13 ft
Entry to goal
3.4 s
Type
one-timer

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