Buffalo Sabres vs. Vegas Golden KnightsDec 15, 2023

FinalFriday, Dec 15, 2023· T-Mobile Arena

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Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
BUF	0	1	4	5		BUF	10	8	9	27
VGK	0	1	1	2		VGK	14	11	10	35

: BUF 48VGK 78
: BUF 2.18VGK 4.80
PP goals: BUF 0VGK 1
Hits: BUF 30VGK 44
Blocks: BUF 19VGK 12
PIM: BUF 8VGK 2
: BUF 56%VGK 44%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Buffalo Sabres beat Vegas Golden Knights 5–2

Buffalo Sabres beat Vegas Golden Knights 5–2 at VGK. Casey Mittelstadt (BUF) led the scoring with 2G 1A. New look for BUF: Mittelstadt–Cozens–Peterka skated 12:58 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (54.2% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

Points
Casey Mittelstadt had two goals and an assist (3 points) on 2 shots in 16:38.Mittelstadt
Points
Dylan Cozens had a goal and 2 assists (3 points) on 3 shots in 15:16.Cozens
Points
Alex Tuch had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 2 shots in 18:47.Tuch
Points
Zach Benson had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 3 shots in 17:38.Benson
New line
New look for BUF: Mittelstadt–Cozens–Peterka skated 12:58 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (54.2% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Mittelstadt Cozens Peterka
Luck
BUF scored 5 goals on 2.18 expected goals (48 attempts), finishing well above its chances.
Luck
VGK scored 2 goals on 4.80 expected goals (78 attempts), well short of its chances.
Usage
Mattias Samuelsson (BUF) played 26:18, +5:57 up on his 20:21 season average over 40 games.Samuelsson

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)VGK attacks right (top on phones) →

VGK
BUF
Goal
Shot on goal
Missed
Blocked

Showing 126 of 126 attempts · VGK 78 · BUF 48

Game flow

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

Cumulative shot attempts

VGK
BUF
Goal
Power play (shaded)

Pressure Index

VGK 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 15% of the game, VGK 54%.

Shift chart

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

Shifts

VGK

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	VGK
	53	74
	2.04	4.00
	1.95	3.78
	10	25
	10	5
	17	13
	+0.038	−0.038
	15%	54%

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 – Benson
13:2841% CF
L2Mittelstadt – Cozens – Peterka
12:5854% CF
L3Okposo – Robinson – Krebs
10:3921% CF
L4Olofsson – Jost – Murray
4:07100% CF
D1Samuelsson – Dahlin
17:3137% CF
D2Jokiharju – Power
15:0531% CF
D3Clifton – Johnson
9:3943% CF

PP1Tuch – Thompson – Dahlin – Peterka – Benson
1:1950% CF
PP2Okposo – Thompson – Mittelstadt – Dahlin – Peterka
0:11100% CF
PK1FJost – Krebs
2:21
PK2FTuch – Robinson
0:57
PK1DClifton – Samuelsson
2:27
PK2DJokiharju – Dahlin
0:29

Current BUF line combinations →

Vegas Golden Knights

L1Stone – Barbashev – Eichel
11:1048% CF
L2Karlsson – Amadio – Cotter
10:0374% CF
L3Carrier – Kolesar – Roy
9:4971% CF
L4Marchessault – Stephenson – Howden
8:5650% CF
D1Hague – Whitecloud
19:5660% CF
D2Pietrangelo – McNabb
12:5150% CF
D3Hutton – Pachal
12:5153% CF

PP1Pietrangelo – Stone – Karlsson – Marchessault – Eichel
4:23100% CF
PP2Stephenson – Hutton – Barbashev – Amadio – Roy
1:35100% CF
PK1FStone – Howden
0:53
PK2FKarlsson – Eichel
0:48
PK1DPietrangelo – McNabb
0:58
PK2DHague – Whitecloud
0:53

Current VGK line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

2nd period

7:42
BUFDylan Cozens (Casey Mittelstadt)wrist0.08 xG
BUF: Okposo, Mittelstadt, Jokiharju, Cozens, PowerVGK: Pietrangelo, McNabb, Stephenson, Kolesar, Roy
BUF 1 – 0 VGK
13:44
VGKIvan BarbashevPP (Nicolas Roy)wrist0.53 xG
BUF: Clifton, Jost, Krebs, PowerVGK: Stephenson, Hutton, Barbashev, Amadio, Roy
BUF 1 – 1 VGK

3rd period

3:22
VGKJack Eichel (Paul Cotter)snap0.42 xG
BUF: Tuch, Jost, Jokiharju, Power, BensonVGK: Stone, Eichel, Hague, Whitecloud, Cotter
BUF 1 – 2 VGK
5:01
BUFCasey Mittelstadt (Dylan Cozens, Connor Clifton)snap0.07 xG
BUF: Clifton, Mittelstadt, Cozens, Johnson, PeterkaVGK: Marchessault, Stephenson, Howden, Hague, Whitecloud
BUF 2 – 2 VGK
9:29
BUFZach Benson (Alex Tuch, Mattias Samuelsson)backhand0.21 xG
BUF: Tuch, Thompson, Samuelsson, Power, BensonVGK: Pietrangelo, McNabb, Karlsson, Amadio, Cotter
BUF 3 – 2 VGK
11:12
BUFAlex Tuch (Zach Benson)wrist0.13 xG
BUF: Tuch, Thompson, Jokiharju, Samuelsson, BensonVGK: Stone, Hutton, Barbashev, Eichel, Pachal
BUF 4 – 2 VGK
17:19
BUFCasey MittelstadtEN (Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin)wrist0.35 xG
BUF: Mittelstadt, Samuelsson, Dahlin, Cozens, PeterkaVGK: Pietrangelo, Stone, Karlsson, Marchessault, Hutton, Eichel
BUF 5 – 2 VGK

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
Tage Thompson C	L1	0	0	0	+2	4	0.28	1	0	2	19:23	—	—	38	43
Alex Tuch R	L1	1	1	2	+1	2	0.25	0	1	0	18:47	—	—	45	40
Zach Benson L	L1	1	1	2	+1	3	0.29	0	1	0	17:38	—	—	40	37
JJ Peterka R	L2	0	0	0	+2	4	0.44	1	1	0	18:25	—	—	54	44
Casey Mittelstadt C	L2	2	1	3	+3	2	0.42	0	0	0	16:38	—	—	57	47
Dylan Cozens C	L2	1	2	3	+3	3	0.27	1	0	0	15:16	—	—	57	49
Peyton Krebs C	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.05	4	1	2	15:58	—	—	23	16
Eric Robinson L	L3	0	0	0	0	2	0.03	5	1	0	15:21	—	—	21	7
Kyle Okposo R	L3	0	0	0	+1	0	0.00	2	0	0	14:29	—	—	21	12
Tyson Jost C	L4	0	0	0	-1	1	0.02	0	0	0	11:32	—	—	67	8
Victor Olofsson L	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	0	6:43	—	—	100	100
Brett Murray L	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	2	0	2	5:09	—	—	100	100
Mattias Samuelsson D	D1	0	1	1	+3	1	0.01	3	2	2	26:18	—	—	46	50
Rasmus Dahlin D	D1	0	1	1	+1	3	0.09	4	6	0	23:51	—	—	44	30
Owen Power D	D2	0	0	0	+1	1	0.01	0	0	0	21:43	—	—	35	25
Henri Jokiharju D	D2	0	0	0	+1	0	0.01	2	3	0	18:43	—	—	36	16
Connor Clifton D	D3	0	1	1	+1	0	0.00	4	2	0	15:54	—	—	46	37
Ryan Johnson D	D3	0	0	0	+1	0	0.00	1	1	0	11:42	—	—	48	55

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Devon Levi(start)	W	35	33	2	.943	4.80	60:00

Vegas Golden Knights

VGK skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Mark Stone R	L1	0	0	0	-1	3	0.31	2	0	0	20:08	—	—	57	57
Jack Eichel C	L1	1	0	1	-1	8	0.81	3	0	0	19:54	—	—	52	51
Ivan Barbashev L	L1	1	0	1	-1	3	0.71	4	0	0	15:25	—	—	50	36
William Karlsson C	L2	0	0	0	-2	3	0.40	1	0	0	17:54	—	—	77	82
Michael Amadio R	L2	0	0	0	-1	1	0.23	1	0	0	14:56	—	—	67	76
Paul Cotter L	L2	0	1	1	0	3	0.63	6	0	0	13:48	—	—	71	84
Nicolas Roy C	L3	0	1	1	-1	2	0.17	3	0	0	14:17	—	—	60	72
William Carrier L	L3	0	0	0	0	2	0.38	0	0	0	12:30	—	—	71	84
Keegan Kolesar R	L3	0	0	0	-1	2	0.08	9	0	0	12:26	—	—	59	72
Jonathan Marchessault R	L4	0	0	0	-2	1	0.32	3	0	0	16:39	—	—	48	66
Chandler Stephenson C	L4	0	0	0	-2	1	0.21	0	0	2	13:52	—	—	44	53
Brett Howden C	L4	0	0	0	-1	1	0.20	2	1	0	13:31	—	—	43	65
Nicolas Hague D	D1	0	0	0	0	2	0.22	2	3	0	21:45	—	—	60	75
Zach Whitecloud D	D1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	3	2	0	21:22	—	—	61	77
Alex Pietrangelo D	D2	0	0	0	-3	1	0.05	0	2	0	23:32	—	—	58	59
Brayden McNabb D	D2	0	0	0	-2	1	0.04	1	2	0	14:22	—	—	51	52
Ben Hutton D	D3	0	0	0	-2	0	0.04	0	0	0	19:15	—	—	65	65
Brayden Pachal D	D3	0	0	0	-1	1	0.00	4	2	0	13:11	—	—	58	64

VGK goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Logan Thompson(start)	L	26	22	4	.846	1.83	59:13

Goal anatomy

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

Dylan Cozens (BUF) 2nd 7:42 · assists Casey Mittelstadt · Odd-man rush · carried in · 3-on-2 at the blue line · 64.1 mph shot · 3.0 s from entry to goal.

Dylan Cozens · 2nd 7:42 · BUF

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: 3-on-2
Passes: 1
Shot: 64.1 mph
Distance: 35 ft
Entry to goal: 3.0 s

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

Ivan Barbashev · 2nd 13:44 · VGK PP

Play: rebound
Passes: 0
Shot: 14.6 mph
Distance: 12 ft
Type: rebound

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

Jack Eichel · 3rd 3:22 · VGK

Play: rebound
Entry: carry
Odd man: No
Passes: 0
Shot: 46.4 mph
Distance: 12 ft
Entry to goal: 4.3 s
Type: rebound

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

Casey Mittelstadt · 3rd 5:01 · BUF

Play: cycle
Passes: 0
Shot: 5.7 mph
Distance: 20 ft

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

Zach Benson · 3rd 9:29 · BUF

Play: turnover-forecheck
Passes: 0
Shot: 21.5 mph
Distance: 7 ft

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

Alex Tuch · 3rd 11:12 · BUF

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: 2-on-1
Passes: 0
Shot: 45.9 mph
Distance: 19 ft
Entry to goal: 2.5 s

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

Casey Mittelstadt · 3rd 17:19 · BUF EN

Play: rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: No
Passes: 1
Shot: 50.8 mph
Distance: 64 ft
Entry to goal: 1.1 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.