Buffalo Sabres vs. New Jersey DevilsFeb 23, 2021

FinalTuesday, Feb 23, 2021· Prudential Center

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Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
BUF	0	1	3	4		BUF	12	13	12	37
NJD	0	0	1	1		NJD	15	6	21	42

: BUF 60NJD 64
: BUF 4.17NJD 2.74
PP goals: BUF 1NJD 0
Hits: BUF 18NJD 20
Blocks: BUF 13NJD 10
PIM: BUF 4NJD 4
: BUF 50%NJD 50%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Buffalo Sabres beat New Jersey Devils 4–1

Buffalo Sabres beat New Jersey Devils 4–1 at NJD. Sam Reinhart (BUF) led the scoring with 0G 2A. BUF's first power-play unit (Hall, Reinhart, Olofsson, Eichel and Dahlin) scored 1 power-play goal on 8 attempts in 3:53 together.

Points
Sam Reinhart had 2 assists (2 points) on 2 shots in 17:59.Reinhart
PP1
BUF's first power-play unit (Hall, Reinhart, Olofsson, Eichel and Dahlin) scored 1 power-play goal on 8 attempts in 3:53 together.Hall Reinhart Olofsson Eichel Dahlin
Goalie
Linus Ullmark (BUF) faced 42 shots and stopped 41 (.976), +12 against a season average of 29.6; the win.Ullmark
Goalie
Mackenzie Blackwood (NJD) faced 36 shots and stopped 33 (.917), +5 against a season average of 30.9; the loss.Blackwood
New line
New look for BUF: Okposo–Eakin–Asplund skated 10:55 together at 5v5 as the L4 trio (58.8% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Okposo Eakin Asplund
New line
New look for NJD: Zajac–Gusev–Kuokkanen skated 6:35 together at 5v5 as the L4 trio (50% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Zajac Gusev Kuokkanen
Luck
NJD scored 1 goal on 2.74 expected goals (64 attempts), well short of its chances.
Usage
Jack Eichel (BUF) played 17:31, −3:08 down on his 20:39 season average over 20 games.Eichel

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)NJD attacks right (top on phones) →

NJD
BUF
Goal
Shot on goal
Missed
Blocked

Showing 124 of 124 attempts · NJD 64 · BUF 60

Game flow

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

Cumulative shot attempts

NJD
BUF
Goal
Power play (shaded)

Pressure Index

NJD 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 37% of the game, NJD 37%.

Shift chart

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

Shifts

NJD

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	NJD
	59	66
	3.45	2.66
	3.32	2.61
	7	8
	4	5
	14	12
	−0.006	+0.006
	37%	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.

Buffalo Sabres

L1Staal – Hall – Cozens
13:3347% CF
L2Reinhart – Olofsson – Eichel
13:1340% CF
L3Sheahan – Lazar – Mittelstadt
11:0736% CF
L4Okposo – Eakin – Asplund
10:5559% CF
D1Montour – Dahlin
16:2146% CF
D2Irwin – Jokiharju
15:0747% CF
D3Miller – Bryson
15:0452% CF

PP1Hall – Reinhart – Olofsson – Eichel – Dahlin
3:53100% CF
PK1FEakin – Asplund
0:59
PK2FSheahan – Lazar
0:46
PK1DMontour – Dahlin
0:59
PK2DMiller – Jokiharju
0:43

Current BUF line combinations →

New Jersey Devils

L1Wood – Bastian – McLeod
9:3754% CF
L2Palmieri – Johnsson – Hughes
8:0470% CF
L3Zacha – Bratt – Hischier
6:5140% CF
L4Zajac – Gusev – Kuokkanen
6:3550% CF
D1Severson – Smith
17:1748% CF
D2Subban – Murray
15:2658% CF
D3Kulikov – Vatanen
14:1647% CF

PP1Severson – Gusev – Wood – Smith – Hughes
1:14100% CF
PP2Subban – Palmieri – Johnsson – Zacha – Hischier
0:41
PK1FZajac – Hischier
2:12
PK2FPalmieri – Zacha
1:22
PK1DMurray – Severson
1:32
PK2DKulikov – Vatanen
1:22

Current NJD line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

2nd period

10:20
BUFVictor OlofssonPP (Rasmus Dahlin, Sam Reinhart)slap0.08 xG
BUF: Hall, Reinhart, Olofsson, Eichel, DahlinNJD: Zajac, Murray, Severson, Hischier
BUF 1 – 0 NJD

3rd period

5:16
BUFRasmus Asplund (Sam Reinhart, Jack Eichel)tip-in0.07 xG
BUF: Irwin, Reinhart, Eichel, Asplund, JokiharjuNJD: Subban, Murray, Gusev, Zacha, Hischier
BUF 2 – 0 NJD
6:50
BUFDylan Cozens (Taylor Hall, Eric Staal)backhand0.22 xG
BUF: Staal, Hall, Miller, Bryson, CozensNJD: Subban, Palmieri, Murray, Wood, Hughes
BUF 3 – 0 NJD
19:32
NJDNikita Gusev (P.K. Subban, Pavel Zacha)snap0.02 xG
BUF: Sheahan, Miller, Lazar, Olofsson, JokiharjuNJD: Zajac, Subban, Vatanen, Gusev, Zacha, Bratt
BUF 3 – 1 NJD
19:59
BUFCody EakinEN (Kyle Okposo)snap0.69 xG
BUF: Okposo, Eakin, Montour, Asplund, BrysonNJD: Palmieri, Severson, Wood, McLeod, Smith, Hughes
BUF 4 – 1 NJD

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
Taylor Hall L	L1	0	1	1	+1	1	0.24	0	0	0	17:28	—	—	51	55
Eric Staal C	L1	0	1	1	+1	2	0.12	0	0	0	14:42	—	—	47	54
Dylan Cozens C	L1	1	0	1	+1	1	0.38	1	1	0	14:33	—	—	47	54
Victor Olofsson L	L2	1	0	1	-1	2	0.24	1	0	2	18:19	—	—	47	53
Sam Reinhart C	L2	0	2	2	+1	2	0.20	1	0	0	17:59	—	—	48	56
Jack Eichel C	L2	0	1	1	+1	2	0.29	2	1	0	17:31	—	—	48	60
Curtis Lazar C	L3	0	0	0	-1	2	0.27	1	0	0	13:41	—	—	39	58
Riley Sheahan C	L3	0	0	0	-1	4	0.23	1	0	0	13:27	—	—	36	57
Casey Mittelstadt C	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.17	1	0	0	12:33	—	—	39	58
Cody Eakin C	L4	1	0	1	+1	2	1.19	0	1	0	14:06	—	—	55	57
Kyle Okposo R	L4	0	1	1	+1	5	0.08	2	1	0	13:02	—	—	58	61
Rasmus Asplund C	L4	1	0	1	+2	1	0.07	2	0	0	12:15	—	—	61	66
Rasmus Dahlin D	D1	0	1	1	0	3	0.10	0	2	0	23:31	—	—	47	58
Brandon Montour D	D1	0	0	0	+1	2	0.25	1	2	0	19:31	—	—	43	63
Matt Irwin D	D2	0	0	0	+1	2	0.04	1	2	0	19:47	—	—	45	50
Henri Jokiharju D	D2	0	0	0	0	2	0.03	0	2	0	18:56	—	—	42	51
Jacob Bryson D	D3	0	0	0	+2	1	0.18	1	1	2	17:59	—	—	47	56
Colin Miller D	D3	0	0	0	0	2	0.08	3	0	0	16:40	—	—	52	58

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Linus Ullmark(start)	W	42	41	1	.976	2.74	60:00

New Jersey Devils

NJD skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Miles Wood L	L1	0	0	0	-2	2	0.20	2	0	0	13:31	—	—	52	52
Michael McLeod C	L1	0	0	0	-1	1	0.30	0	0	2	12:49	—	—	53	59
Nathan Bastian R	L1	0	0	0	0	3	0.24	4	1	0	11:14	—	—	59	66
Jack Hughes C	L2	0	0	0	-2	4	0.30	0	0	0	19:09	—	—	65	47
Kyle Palmieri C	L2	0	0	0	-2	3	0.33	0	0	0	19:05	—	—	54	49
Andreas Johnsson L	L2	0	0	0	0	3	0.38	0	0	0	12:18	—	—	71	80
Nico Hischier C	L3	0	0	0	-1	2	0.11	1	0	0	18:48	—	—	47	36
Pavel Zacha C	L3	0	1	1	0	0	0.02	1	0	0	15:55	—	—	41	34
Jesper Bratt L	L3	0	0	0	+1	2	0.16	0	1	0	15:41	—	—	48	20
Travis Zajac C	L4	0	0	0	+1	1	0.00	3	0	0	15:54	—	—	46	16
Nikita Gusev L	L4	1	0	1	0	3	0.10	0	0	0	15:16	—	—	52	23
Janne Kuokkanen C	L4	0	0	0	0	1	0.03	0	0	0	9:20	—	—	59	34
Damon Severson D	D1	0	0	0	-1	1	0.00	4	2	0	24:47	—	—	46	22
Ty Smith D	D1	0	0	0	-1	2	0.09	1	1	0	22:01	—	—	53	39
P.K. Subban D	D2	0	1	1	-1	5	0.19	0	0	0	19:34	—	—	58	37
Ryan Murray D	D2	0	0	0	-2	3	0.08	1	1	0	18:15	—	—	57	41
Dmitry Kulikov D	D3	0	0	0	0	2	0.08	3	2	0	17:48	—	—	54	67
Sami Vatanen D	D3	0	0	0	+1	4	0.11	0	2	2	17:09	—	—	49	65

NJD goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Mackenzie Blackwood(start)	L	36	33	3	.917	3.48	57:33

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.