Buffalo Sabres vs. Tampa Bay LightningFeb 28, 2026

FinalSaturday, Feb 28, 2026· Benchmark International Arena

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Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
BUF	4	1	1	6		BUF	10	20	5	35
TBL	0	1	1	2		TBL	14	12	12	38

: BUF 55TBL 65
: BUF 4.50TBL 3.18
PP goals: BUF 1TBL 0
Hits: BUF 16TBL 28
Blocks: BUF 14TBL 5
PIM: BUF 12TBL 28
: BUF 48%TBL 52%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Buffalo Sabres rout Tampa Bay Lightning 6–2

Buffalo Sabres beat Tampa Bay Lightning 6–2 at TBL. Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) led the scoring with 1G 2A. New look for BUF: Malenstyn–Kozak–Benson skated 8:48 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (25% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

Points
Rasmus Dahlin had a goal and 2 assists (3 points) on 2 shots in 24:32.Dahlin
Points
Josh Norris had two goals (2 points) on 2 shots in 15:03.Norris
Points
Victor Hedman had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 2 shots in 16:53.Hedman
Points
Zach Metsa had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 3 shots in 13:08.Metsa
New line
New look for BUF: Malenstyn–Kozak–Benson skated 8:48 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (25% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Malenstyn Kozak Benson
Goalie
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (BUF) faced 38 shots and stopped 36 (.947), +11 against a season average of 26.6; the win.Luukkonen
Usage
Jake Guentzel (TBL) played 13:02, −7:18 down on his 20:20 season average over 80 games.Guentzel
New line
New look for TBL: Guentzel–Cirelli–Hagel skated 4:40 together at 5v5 as the L3 trio (42.9% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Guentzel Cirelli Hagel

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)TBL attacks right (top on phones) →

TBL
BUF
Goal
Shot on goal
Missed
Blocked

Showing 120 of 120 attempts · TBL 65 · BUF 55

Game flow

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

Cumulative shot attempts

TBL
BUF
Goal
Power play (shaded)

Pressure Index

TBL 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 33% of the game, TBL 34%.

Shift chart

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

Shifts

TBL

BUF

goals / penalties

Even strength
Power play
Penalty kill
Goal
Penalty

Head-to-head matchups

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

Matchup matrix

TBL 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	TBL
	43	62
	3.43	3.09
	3.23	2.93
	10	16
	2	1
	11	24
	−0.028	+0.028
	33%	34%

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

L1Malenstyn – Kozak – Benson
8:4825% CF
L2Tuch – Thompson – Krebs
7:4248% CF
L3Zucker – McLeod – Quinn
7:3957% CF
L4Norris – Doan – Ostlund
7:2925% CF
D1Samuelsson – Dahlin
10:0248% CF
D2Byram – Power
6:2564% CF
D3Kesselring – Metsa
0:16

PP1Tuch – McLeod – Byram – Quinn – Ostlund
3:4460% CF
PP2Zucker – Thompson – Norris – Dahlin – Doan
3:32100% CF
PK1FTuch – McLeod
1:44
PK2FMalenstyn – Kozak
1:10
PK1DSamuelsson – Byram
3:29
PK2DPower – Metsa
0:33

Current BUF line combinations →

Tampa Bay Lightning

L1Gourde – Girgensons – Holmberg
8:4947% CF
L2Kucherov – Point – Goncalves
4:5550% CF
L3Guentzel – Cirelli – Hagel
4:4043% CF
D1Raddysh – Moser
9:1653% CF
D2D'Astous – Lilleberg
8:3383% CF
D3McDonagh – Cernak
8:1444% CF

PP1Kucherov – Guentzel – Bjorkstrand – Point – Raddysh
3:46100% CF
PP2Hedman – Kucherov – Point – Raddysh – Hagel
0:38
PK1FGourde – Girgensons
3:40
PK2FCirelli – Hagel
1:38
PK1DMcDonagh – Cernak
3:54
PK2DHedman – Moser
2:28

Current TBL line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

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
Zach Benson L	L1	0	1	1	+1	0	0.00	2	0	2	13:39	—	—	24	32
Tyson Kozak C	L1	0	0	0	+1	0	0.00	0	1	0	13:04	—	—	22	41
Beck Malenstyn L	L1	0	0	0	0	1	0.31	4	2	0	12:26	—	—	28	37
Alex Tuch R	L2	1	0	1	-1	5	0.74	1	0	2	18:15	—	—	35	43
Tage Thompson C	L2	1	0	1	-1	6	0.52	0	0	0	16:00	—	—	56	65
Peyton Krebs C	L2	0	1	1	-1	0	0.22	5	0	0	10:59	—	—	46	52
Ryan McLeod C	L3	0	0	0	+1	2	0.38	0	1	0	20:21	—	—	52	64
Jack Quinn R	L3	0	1	1	+2	2	0.28	1	0	0	14:21	—	—	58	76
Jason Zucker L	L3	0	0	0	+2	1	0.17	0	1	0	12:05	—	—	61	76
Josh Doan R	L4	0	1	1	+2	2	0.16	1	1	0	16:08	—	—	41	56
Josh Norris C	L4	2	0	2	+2	2	0.24	0	0	0	15:03	—	—	36	50
Noah Ostlund C	L4	0	0	0	+1	0	0.15	1	2	0	14:46	—	—	21	30
Rasmus Dahlin D	D1	1	2	3	+2	2	0.33	0	0	2	24:32	—	—	49	65
Mattias Samuelsson D	D1	0	0	0	-1	1	0.09	1	2	2	24:08	—	—	38	39
Bowen Byram D	D2	0	1	1	+2	4	0.21	0	2	0	22:45	—	—	48	65
Owen Power D	D2	0	1	1	+2	4	0.26	0	0	0	19:59	—	—	42	49
Zach Metsa D	D3	1	1	2	+2	3	0.43	0	2	0	13:08	—	—	35	66
Michael Kesselring D	D3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	0	0	4	8:40	—	—	25	17

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen(start)	W	38	36	2	.947	3.18	59:41

Tampa Bay Lightning

TBL skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Yanni Gourde C	L1	0	0	0	-1	1	0.01	5	0	0	15:59	—	—	48	34
Zemgus Girgensons C	L1	0	0	0	-1	3	0.07	3	0	0	15:03	—	—	47	29
Pontus Holmberg R	L1	0	0	0	0	1	0.07	1	0	0	13:52	—	—	54	52
Nikita Kucherov R	L2	0	0	0	-1	4	0.14	0	0	0	20:11	—	—	66	40
Brayden Point C	L2	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	1	2	17:52	—	—	68	57
Gage Goncalves C	L2	0	0	0	-1	2	0.25	3	0	0	8:17	—	—	64	78
Brandon Hagel L	L3	0	0	0	-1	8	0.76	0	1	0	21:05	—	—	62	54
Anthony Cirelli C	L3	0	0	0	-2	1	0.35	2	0	2	14:01	—	—	47	32
Jake Guentzel C	L3	0	0	0	-1	3	0.29	0	0	14	13:02	—	—	48	32
Darren Raddysh D	D1	0	1	1	+1	3	0.20	1	0	2	21:18	—	—	55	44
J.J. Moser D	D1	0	0	0	-1	2	0.07	1	1	0	15:46	—	—	50	33
Emil Lilleberg D	D2	0	0	0	-1	3	0.05	3	0	2	16:45	—	—	71	50
Charle-Edouard D'Astous D	D2	0	0	0	-2	0	0.00	3	0	4	15:50	—	—	71	67
Ryan McDonagh D	D3	0	0	0	-3	0	0.00	0	0	0	16:16	—	—	40	28
Erik Cernak D	D3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.07	1	1	0	14:39	—	—	47	40
Victor Hedman D	—	1	1	2	+1	2	0.15	1	1	2	16:53	—	—	66	51
Oliver Bjorkstrand R	—	0	1	1	-1	4	0.42	2	0	0	16:24	—	—	70	64
Dominic James C	—	1	0	1	0	1	0.28	2	0	0	13:06	—	—	74	67

TBL goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Jonas Johansson	—	21	20	1	.952	2.15	38:06
Andrei Vasilevskiy(start)	L	14	9	5	.643	2.35	21:54

Goal anatomy

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

Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) 1st 5:25 · assists Owen Power · Rush · passed in · 63.1 mph shot · 3.4 s from entry to goal.

Rasmus Dahlin · 1st 5:25 · BUF

Play: rush
Entry: pass
Odd man: No
Passes: 1
Shot: 63.1 mph
Distance: 35 ft
Entry to goal: 3.4 s

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

Josh Norris · 1st 6:15 · BUF

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: 3-on-2
Passes: 4
Shot: 61.5 mph
Distance: 15 ft
Entry to goal: 2.4 s

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

Josh Norris · 1st 8:18 · BUF

Play: deflection
Passes: 4 (royal road)
Shot: 64.7 mph
Distance: 63 ft
Type: one-timer

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

Tage Thompson · 1st 15:06 · BUF

Play: turnover-forecheck
Entry: loose
Odd man: No
Passes: 0
Shot: 10.9 mph
Distance: 10 ft
Entry to goal: 10.2 s

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

Zach Metsa · 2nd 1:54 · BUF

Play: turnover-forecheck
Passes: 0
Shot: 60.9 mph
Distance: 25 ft

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

Dominic James · 2nd 16:03 · TBL

Play: turnover-forecheck
Passes: 1
Shot: 23.1 mph
Distance: 5 ft

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

Alex Tuch · 3rd 3:43 · BUF PP

Play: turnover-forecheck
Passes: 1
Shot: 55.9 mph
Distance: 47 ft

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

Victor Hedman · 3rd 5:27 · TBL

Play: turnover-forecheck
Entry: carry
Odd man: No
Passes: 1
Shot: 82.4 mph
Distance: 46 ft
Entry to goal: 9.0 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.

Buffalo Sabres vs. Tampa Bay LightningFeb 28, 2026

Fantasy takeaways

Buffalo Sabres rout Tampa Bay Lightning 6–2

Shot map

Shot map

Game flow

Cumulative shot attempts

Shift chart

Shifts

Head-to-head matchups

Matchup matrix

Sequence card

Lines used

Buffalo Sabres

Tampa Bay Lightning

Scoring summary

1st period

2nd period

3rd period

Box score

Buffalo Sabres

Tampa Bay Lightning

Goal anatomy

Rasmus Dahlin · 1st 5:25 · BUF

Josh Norris · 1st 6:15 · BUF

Josh Norris · 1st 8:18 · BUF

Tage Thompson · 1st 15:06 · BUF

Zach Metsa · 2nd 1:54 · BUF

Dominic James · 2nd 16:03 · TBL

Alex Tuch · 3rd 3:43 · BUF PP

Victor Hedman · 3rd 5:27 · TBL