Buffalo Sabres vs. Pittsburgh PenguinsJan 6, 2024

FinalSaturday, Jan 6, 2024· PPG Paints Arena

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Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
BUF	1	0	2	3		BUF	8	15	9	32
PIT	0	0	1	1		PIT	17	12	12	41

: BUF 64PIT 79
: BUF 2.78PIT 4.07
PP goals: BUF 0PIT 1
Hits: BUF 32PIT 22
Blocks: BUF 16PIT 17
PIM: BUF 10PIT 6
: BUF 47%PIT 53%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Buffalo Sabres beat Pittsburgh Penguins 3–1

Buffalo Sabres beat Pittsburgh Penguins 3–1 at PIT. Alex Tuch (BUF) led the scoring with 1G 0A. PIT's first power-play unit (Malkin, Crosby, Karlsson, Rakell and Guentzel) scored 1 power-play goal on 9 attempts in 4:19 together.

PP1
PIT's first power-play unit (Malkin, Crosby, Karlsson, Rakell and Guentzel) scored 1 power-play goal on 9 attempts in 4:19 together.Malkin Crosby Karlsson Rakell Guentzel
Goalie
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen (BUF) faced 41 shots and stopped 40 (.976), +14 against a season average of 27.2; the win.Luukkonen
Luck
PIT scored 1 goal on 4.07 expected goals (79 attempts), well short of its chances.
New line
New look for BUF: Girgensons–Robinson–Krebs skated 6:57 together at 5v5 as the L3 trio (61.9% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Girgensons Robinson Krebs
Usage
Rickard Rakell (PIT) played 20:22, +3:54 up on his 16:28 season average over 69 games.Rakell
Usage
Ryan Graves (PIT) played 11:52, −6:37 down on his 18:29 season average over 69 games.Graves
Usage
Valtteri Puustinen (PIT) played 5:31, −6:21 down on his 11:52 season average over 51 games.Puustinen
Usage
Connor Clifton (BUF) played 20:14, +3:43 up on his 16:31 season average over 78 games.Clifton

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)PIT attacks right (top on phones) →

PIT
BUF
Goal
Shot on goal
Missed
Blocked

Showing 143 of 143 attempts · PIT 79 · BUF 64

Game flow

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

Cumulative shot attempts

PIT
BUF
Goal
Power play (shaded)

Pressure Index

PIT 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 22% of the game, PIT 42%.

Shift chart

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

Shifts

PIT

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	PIT
	58	77
	2.21	3.55
	2.11	3.36
	6	12
	10	6
	14	17
	−0.044	+0.044
	22%	42%

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

L1Skinner – Tuch – Thompson
11:5044% CF
L2Greenway – Mittelstadt – Benson
10:0239% CF
L3Girgensons – Robinson – Krebs
6:5762% CF
L4Cozens – Quinn – Peterka
6:0129% CF
D1Clifton – Samuelsson
15:0140% CF
D2Jokiharju – Dahlin
14:3237% CF
D3Johnson – Power
8:1135% CF

PP1Skinner – Tuch – Thompson – Mittelstadt – Dahlin
2:19100% CF
PP2Cozens – Quinn – Peterka – Power – Benson
1:4175% CF
PK1FGreenway – Cozens
2:28
PK2FThompson – Quinn
0:45
PK1DJohnson – Samuelsson
2:01
PK2DClifton – Power
1:49

Current BUF line combinations →

Pittsburgh Penguins

L1Crosby – Rakell – Guentzel
11:5668% CF
L2Malkin – Smith – Rust
6:4762% CF
L3Carter – Harkins – Acciari
6:3256% CF
L4Eller – Puustinen – O'Connor
3:5944% CF
D1Letang – Pettersson
16:1768% CF
D2Karlsson – Joseph
11:2653% CF
D3Ruhwedel – Graves
8:0447% CF

PP1Malkin – Crosby – Karlsson – Rakell – Guentzel
4:1975% CF
PP2Carter – Letang – Eller – Smith – Rust
1:31
PK1FEller – O'Connor
1:47
PK2FRust – Acciari
1:02
PK1DLetang – Pettersson
2:32
PK2DRuhwedel – Graves
1:30

Current PIT line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

1st period

2:53
BUFAlex Tuch (Connor Clifton, Tage Thompson)snap0.05 xG
BUF: Skinner, Clifton, Tuch, Thompson, SamuelssonPIT: Letang, Karlsson, Rakell, Harkins, Acciari
BUF 1 – 0 PIT

3rd period

7:49
PITRickard RakellPP (Erik Karlsson, Evgeni Malkin)tip-in0.19 xG
BUF: Johnson, Greenway, PowerPIT: Malkin, Crosby, Karlsson, Rakell, Guentzel
BUF 1 – 1 PIT
15:22
BUFZemgus Girgensons (Eric Robinson, Mattias Samuelsson)wrist0.20 xG
BUF: Girgensons, Clifton, Robinson, Samuelsson, KrebsPIT: Karlsson, Rakell, Guentzel, Acciari, Joseph
BUF 2 – 1 PIT
18:24
BUFRasmus Dahlinwrist0.00 xG
BUF: Skinner, Tuch, Thompson, Jokiharju, DahlinPIT: Crosby, Karlsson, Rakell, Guentzel, Joseph
BUF 3 – 1 PIT

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	1	1	+2	4	0.53	1	0	0	19:24	—	—	46	46
Alex Tuch R	L1	1	0	1	+2	4	0.25	5	1	2	19:06	—	—	43	43
Jeff Skinner L	L1	0	0	0	+2	3	0.43	0	0	0	17:53	—	—	42	35
Jordan Greenway L	L2	0	0	0	0	1	0.03	0	3	0	20:19	—	—	30	28
Casey Mittelstadt C	L2	0	0	0	0	1	0.19	0	1	0	16:59	—	—	33	35
Zach Benson L	L2	0	0	0	0	1	0.17	0	0	0	13:42	—	—	44	48
Peyton Krebs C	L3	0	0	0	+1	1	0.01	4	2	0	10:22	—	—	56	37
Zemgus Girgensons C	L3	1	0	1	+1	1	0.20	2	0	2	8:28	—	—	64	61
Eric Robinson L	L3	0	1	1	+1	2	0.05	1	0	0	8:15	—	—	54	35
Dylan Cozens C	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	0	14:49	—	—	28	31
Jack Quinn R	L4	0	0	0	0	1	0.16	2	1	0	12:42	—	—	44	43
JJ Peterka R	L4	0	0	0	0	1	0.13	0	0	0	11:12	—	—	40	32
Mattias Samuelsson D	D1	0	1	1	+2	1	0.00	4	3	2	22:59	—	—	43	32
Connor Clifton D	D1	0	1	1	+2	1	0.10	4	1	2	20:14	—	—	42	39
Rasmus Dahlin D	D2	1	0	1	+1	2	0.19	2	3	0	24:11	—	—	44	41
Henri Jokiharju D	D2	0	0	0	+1	1	0.02	4	0	2	17:05	—	—	40	33
Owen Power D	D3	0	0	0	0	3	0.15	0	0	0	18:36	—	—	41	42
Erik Johnson D	D3	0	0	0	0	4	0.18	3	1	0	13:52	—	—	48	36

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen(start)	W	41	40	1	.976	4.07	60:00

Pittsburgh Penguins

PIT skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Jake Guentzel C	L1	0	0	0	-2	4	0.47	1	0	0	22:23	—	—	58	69
Sidney Crosby C	L1	0	0	0	-1	2	0.47	1	0	2	20:46	—	—	67	84
Rickard Rakell R	L1	1	0	1	-3	4	0.52	3	2	0	20:22	—	—	58	64
Evgeni Malkin C	L2	0	1	1	0	2	0.40	0	0	0	20:51	—	—	55	55
Bryan Rust R	L2	0	0	0	0	4	0.37	2	1	0	17:02	—	—	60	59
Reilly Smith R	L2	0	0	0	0	6	0.63	0	0	0	13:14	—	—	74	72
Noel Acciari C	L3	0	0	0	-2	0	0.01	4	1	2	13:22	—	—	34	40
Jeff Carter C	L3	0	0	0	0	2	0.19	0	0	0	12:08	—	—	59	62
Jansen Harkins C	L3	0	0	0	-1	2	0.19	0	0	2	9:39	—	—	54	55
Lars Eller C	L4	0	0	0	0	2	0.07	0	1	0	13:59	—	—	59	61
Drew O'Connor L	L4	0	0	0	0	3	0.18	1	2	0	13:23	—	—	55	47
Valtteri Puustinen R	L4	0	0	0	0	1	0.04	2	0	0	5:31	—	—	54	59
Kris Letang D	D1	0	0	0	-1	2	0.02	3	1	0	26:26	—	—	66	67
Marcus Pettersson D	D1	0	0	0	0	3	0.34	1	3	0	23:18	—	—	65	68
Erik Karlsson D	D2	0	1	1	-3	1	0.10	1	2	0	23:11	—	—	55	58
Pierre-Olivier Joseph D	D2	0	0	0	-2	0	0.00	0	2	0	16:22	—	—	49	51
Chad Ruhwedel D	D3	0	0	0	0	2	0.04	0	1	0	11:53	—	—	55	68
Ryan Graves D	D3	0	0	0	0	1	0.02	3	1	0	11:52	—	—	42	45

PIT goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Tristan Jarry(start)	L	32	29	3	.906	2.78	58:18

Goal anatomy

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

Alex Tuch (BUF) 1st 2:53 · assists Connor Clifton, Tage Thompson · Rush · carried in · 71.3 mph shot · 2.1 s from entry to goal.

Alex Tuch · 1st 2:53 · BUF

Play: rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: No
Passes: 0
Shot: 71.3 mph
Distance: 40 ft
Entry to goal: 2.1 s

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

Zemgus Girgensons · 3rd 15:22 · BUF

Play: cycle
Passes: 4 (royal road)
Shot: 30.5 mph
Distance: 9 ft

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

Rasmus Dahlin · 3rd 18:24 · BUF

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: loose
Odd man: 5-on-1
Passes: 0
Shot: 4.7 mph
Distance: 55 ft
Entry to goal: 2.0 s

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

Rickard Rakell · 3rd 7:49 · PIT PP

Play: deflection
Passes: 3
Shot: 25.6 mph
Distance: 3 ft
Type: deflection

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.