Buffalo Sabres vs. New Jersey DevilsFeb 25, 2026

FinalWednesday, Feb 25, 2026· Prudential Center

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Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
BUF	0	1	1	2		BUF	9	11	10	30
NJD	0	0	1	1		NJD	12	10	6	28

: BUF 59NJD 57
: BUF 3.28NJD 3.95
PP goals: BUF 0NJD 0
Hits: BUF 21NJD 24
Blocks: BUF 10NJD 13
PIM: BUF 7NJD 11
: BUF 46%NJD 54%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Buffalo Sabres edge New Jersey Devils 2–1

Buffalo Sabres beat New Jersey Devils 2–1 at NJD. Tage Thompson (BUF) led the scoring with 1G 1A. New look for NJD: Meier–Hischier–Mercer skated 11:44 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (33.3% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

Points
Peyton Krebs had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 1 shot in 13:41.Krebs
Points
Tage Thompson had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 3 shots in 19:19.Thompson
New line
New look for NJD: Meier–Hischier–Mercer skated 11:44 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (33.3% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Meier Hischier Mercer
Luck
NJD scored 1 goal on 3.95 expected goals (57 attempts), well short of its chances.
New line
New look for BUF: Malenstyn–Dunne–Kozak skated 7:51 together at 5v5 as the L4 trio (71.4% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Malenstyn Dunne Kozak
New line
New look for BUF: Norris–Doan–Ostlund skated 8:18 together at 5v5 as the L3 trio (76.5% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Norris Doan Ostlund
Usage
Jonas Siegenthaler (NJD) played 15:59, −3:32 down on his 19:31 season average over 81 games.Siegenthaler
PP1
BUF's PP1 (Thompson, Norris, Dahlin, Quinn and Ostlund) went scoreless in 3:39 of 5v4 time with 1 attempt.Thompson Norris Dahlin Quinn Ostlund

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 116 of 116 attempts · NJD 57 · BUF 59

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 26% of the game, NJD 33%.

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

Head-to-head matchups

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

Matchup matrix

NJD 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
Stat	BUF	NJD
	66	44
	3.60	2.15
	3.42	2.09
	18	8
	12	6
	25	20
	−0.014	+0.014
	26%	33%

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

L1Tuch – Thompson – Krebs
11:0472% CF
L2Zucker – McLeod – Quinn
10:2356% CF
L3Norris – Doan – Ostlund
8:1876% CF
L4Malenstyn – Dunne – Kozak
7:5171% CF
D1Samuelsson – Dahlin
13:3377% CF
D2Byram – Power
13:1646% CF
D3Kesselring – Metsa
6:1830% CF

PP1Thompson – Norris – Dahlin – Quinn – Ostlund
3:3933% CF
PP2Tuch – McLeod – Byram – Doan – Power
1:51100% CF
PK1FTuch – McLeod
2:16
PK2FMalenstyn – Kozak
1:35
PK1DSamuelsson – Byram
2:12
PK2DDahlin – Kesselring
0:43

Current BUF line combinations →

New Jersey Devils

L1Meier – Hischier – Mercer
11:4433% CF
L2Brown – Bratt – Hughes
9:2647% CF
L3Glass – Gritsyuk – Hameenaho
7:4964% CF
L4Bjugstad – Cotter – Tsyplakov
6:5445% CF
D1Dillon – Nemec
13:2839% CF
D2Hamilton – Siegenthaler
13:2343% CF
D3Pesce – Kovacevic
12:1636% CF

PP1Hamilton – Brown – Bratt – Hischier – Hughes
2:2475% CF
PP2Meier – Gritsyuk – Mercer – Nemec – Hameenaho
1:10100% CF
PK1FBrown – Glass
2:16
PK2FBjugstad – Bratt
1:13
PK1DDillon – Pesce
3:25
PK2DSiegenthaler – Kovacevic
0:46

Current NJD line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

2nd period

8:10
BUFTage Thompson (Peyton Krebs, Bowen Byram)wrist0.21 xG
BUF: Thompson, Kesselring, Krebs, Quinn, PowerNJD: Pesce, Glass, Kovacevic, Gritsyuk, Tsyplakov
BUF 1 – 0 NJD

3rd period

10:36
BUFPeyton Krebs (Tage Thompson)wrist0.18 xG
BUF: Tuch, Thompson, Krebs, Byram, PowerNJD: Brown, Pesce, Bratt, Kovacevic, Hughes
BUF 2 – 0 NJD
17:30
NJDTimo Meier (Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt)wrist0.73 xG
BUF: Malenstyn, Kesselring, Dunne, Power, KozakNJD: Brown, Meier, Bratt, Hischier, Hughes, Nemec
BUF 2 – 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
Alex Tuch R	L1	0	0	0	+1	2	0.04	2	1	0	19:50	—	—	60	39
Tage Thompson C	L1	1	1	2	+2	3	0.44	1	0	0	19:19	—	—	61	50
Peyton Krebs C	L1	1	1	2	+2	1	0.20	0	0	0	13:41	—	—	68	51
Ryan McLeod C	L2	0	0	0	0	3	0.37	0	1	0	17:34	—	—	49	63
Jack Quinn R	L2	0	0	0	+1	3	0.24	1	0	0	15:45	—	—	56	76
Jason Zucker L	L2	0	0	0	0	3	0.79	1	1	5	13:28	—	—	50	65
Noah Ostlund C	L3	0	0	0	0	2	0.11	0	0	0	15:28	—	—	65	80
Josh Doan R	L3	0	0	0	0	3	0.62	1	0	0	14:58	—	—	70	81
Josh Norris C	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.10	0	0	0	14:33	—	—	79	82
Tyson Kozak C	L4	0	0	0	-1	1	0.02	3	0	0	12:04	—	—	56	51
Beck Malenstyn L	L4	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	3	0	0	11:49	—	—	56	57
Josh Dunne C	L4	0	0	0	-1	1	0.06	0	0	0	11:15	—	—	50	48
Mattias Samuelsson D	D1	0	0	0	0	4	0.16	5	1	0	24:15	—	—	72	80
Rasmus Dahlin D	D1	0	0	0	0	1	0.04	2	2	0	24:07	—	—	74	80
Bowen Byram D	D2	0	1	1	+1	0	0.01	0	2	0	23:08	—	—	55	59
Owen Power D	D2	0	0	0	+1	0	0.01	1	1	2	21:51	—	—	44	51
Michael Kesselring D	D3	0	0	0	0	1	0.02	1	1	0	14:43	—	—	59	66
Zach Metsa D	D3	0	0	0	0	1	0.04	0	0	0	8:16	—	—	36	23

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen(start)	W	28	27	1	.964	3.95	60:00

New Jersey Devils

NJD skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Nico Hischier C	L1	0	0	0	+1	2	0.27	1	1	2	21:11	—	—	36	51
Timo Meier R	L1	1	0	1	+1	6	1.43	4	0	0	19:47	—	—	33	42
Dawson Mercer C	L1	0	0	0	0	2	0.41	0	1	0	18:15	—	—	39	59
Jack Hughes C	L2	0	1	1	0	1	0.10	0	0	0	21:25	—	—	30	22
Jesper Bratt L	L2	0	1	1	0	2	0.51	2	0	0	18:49	—	—	41	28
Connor Brown R	L2	0	0	0	0	1	0.39	1	0	0	18:38	—	—	47	38
Arseny Gritsyuk R	L3	0	0	0	-1	1	0.08	0	1	0	14:25	—	—	40	38
Lenni Hameenaho R	L3	0	0	0	0	3	0.20	2	1	0	12:31	—	—	44	55
Cody Glass C	L3	0	0	0	-1	1	0.00	1	0	0	11:53	—	—	60	51
Nick Bjugstad C	L4	0	0	0	0	3	0.36	0	0	0	10:35	—	—	46	31
Maxim Tsyplakov R	L4	0	0	0	-1	1	0.02	0	0	0	9:20	—	—	37	20
Paul Cotter L	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.02	3	0	0	7:45	—	—	48	42
Simon Nemec D	D1	0	0	0	+1	1	0.06	1	1	0	22:23	—	—	42	54
Brenden Dillon D	D1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	6	1	0	20:15	—	—	37	42
Dougie Hamilton D	D2	0	0	0	0	3	0.08	2	3	0	20:02	—	—	42	37
Jonas Siegenthaler D	D2	0	0	0	0	0	0.03	0	1	7	15:59	—	—	42	32
Brett Pesce D	D3	0	0	0	-2	1	0.00	0	1	0	18:50	—	—	38	25
Johnathan Kovacevic D	D3	0	0	0	-2	0	0.00	1	2	2	15:13	—	—	37	22

NJD goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Jake Allen(start)	L	30	28	2	.933	3.28	56:44

Goal anatomy

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

Tage Thompson (BUF) 2nd 8:10 · assists Peyton Krebs, Bowen Byram · Odd-man rush · carried in · 2-on-1 at the blue line · 52.1 mph shot · 2.7 s from entry to goal.

Tage Thompson · 2nd 8:10 · BUF

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: 2-on-1
Passes: 0
Shot: 52.1 mph
Distance: 13 ft
Entry to goal: 2.7 s

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

Peyton Krebs · 3rd 10:36 · BUF

Play: rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: No
Passes: 0
Shot: 33.8 mph
Distance: 16 ft
Entry to goal: 2.9 s

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

Timo Meier · 3rd 17:30 · NJD

Play: rebound
Passes: 1
Shot: 20.4 mph
Distance: 3 ft
Type: rebound

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.