Buffalo Sabres at Tampa Bay LightningJan 2, 2027

Time TBDSaturday, Jan 2, 2027

away

Buffalo SabresBUF

at

home

Tampa Bay LightningTBL

Preview

Probable goalies, start odds, schedule edge and each team's lines from its last game.

Schedule Edge

No schedule edge

BUFaway±0.0 pts

2 days rest · 289 km travel

2 days rest vs 1 day rest

TBLhome±0.0 pts

1 day rest

1 day rest vs 2 days rest

No meaningful schedule edge: BUF (2 days rest) at TBL (1 day rest).

· Every game this week →

Buffalo Sabres

Goalie: Starter not announced
Start probability: Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen73%
Alex Lyon16%
Colten Ellis11%
Schedule: Rested
Last game: L 3–6 at CBJ · Oct 1

L1Quinn – Ostlund – Benson
11:13
L2Thompson – Norris – Doan
10:19
L3McLeod – Krebs – Helenius
10:05
L4Carrick – Malenstyn – Kulich
6:00
D1Samuelsson – Dahlin
13:10
D2Crevier – Power
10:21
D3Grzelcyk – Metsa
8:13
PP1Thompson – Dahlin – Quinn – Doan – Benson
4:22

Projected BUF lines →·BUF goalies →·Goalie start planner →

Tampa Bay Lightning

Goalie: Starter not announced
Start probability: Andrei Vasilevskiy86%
Dennis Hildeby14%
Schedule: Rested
Last game: L 1–5 at NYR · Oct 1

L1Guentzel – Cirelli – Hagel
8:05
L2Kucherov – Point – Mikheyev
6:58
L3Harkins – Goncalves – Geekie
5:04
L4Girgensons – Viel – Holmberg
4:59
D1McDonagh – Cernak
11:26
D2Hedman – D'Astous
11:01
D3Carlson – Moser
9:29
PP1Carlson – Kucherov – Guentzel – Point – Hagel
7:18

Projected TBL lines →·TBL goalies →·Goalie start planner →

Game day: all games on Jan 2.

More

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.