Buffalo Sabres vs. Nashville PredatorsJan 20, 2026

FinalTuesday, Jan 20, 2026· Bridgestone Arena

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Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
BUF	3	1	1	5		BUF	14	11	8	33
NSH	0	2	1	3		NSH	8	12	14	34

: BUF 47NSH 83
: BUF 2.68NSH 2.86
PP goals: BUF 0NSH 0
Hits: BUF 17NSH 27
Blocks: BUF 19NSH 8
PIM: BUF 6NSH 4
: BUF 45%NSH 55%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Buffalo Sabres beat Nashville Predators 5–3

Buffalo Sabres beat Nashville Predators 5–3 at NSH. Ryan O'Reilly (NSH) led the scoring with 2G 1A. New look for NSH: McCarron–Smith–Wiesblatt skated 9:22 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (46.7% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

Points
Ryan O'Reilly had two goals and an assist (3 points) on 4 shots in 20:42.O'Reilly
Points
Filip Forsberg had a goal and 2 assists (3 points) on 7 shots in 19:38.Forsberg
Points
Konsta Helenius had a goal and 2 assists (3 points) on 4 shots in 14:43.Helenius
Points
Noah Ostlund had two goals (2 points) on 3 shots in 16:58.Ostlund
Points
Peyton Krebs had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 2 shots in 12:31.Krebs
New line
New look for NSH: McCarron–Smith–Wiesblatt skated 9:22 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (46.7% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.McCarron Smith Wiesblatt
Luck
BUF scored 5 goals on 2.68 expected goals (47 attempts), finishing well above its chances.
Usage
Tage Thompson (BUF) played 13:33, −5:46 down on his 19:19 season average over 80 games.Thompson

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)NSH attacks right (top on phones) →

NSH
BUF
Goal
Shot on goal
Missed
Blocked

Showing 130 of 130 attempts · NSH 83 · BUF 47

Game flow

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

Cumulative shot attempts

NSH
BUF
Goal
Power play (shaded)

Pressure Index

NSH 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 28% of the game, NSH 34%.

Shift chart

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

Shifts

NSH

BUF

goals / penalties

Even strength
Power play
Penalty kill
Goal
Penalty

Head-to-head matchups

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

Matchup matrix

NSH 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	NSH
	53	76
	2.50	2.03
	2.44	1.97
	5	13
	5	12
	17	24
	−0.023	+0.023
	28%	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

L1Zucker – McLeod – Quinn
12:1048% CF
L2Ostlund – Benson – Helenius
11:2759% CF
L3Tuch – Thompson – Doan
8:4924% CF
L4Greenway – Malenstyn – Krebs
8:2732% CF
D1Dahlin – Power
10:1340% CF
D2Samuelsson – Byram
8:2350% CF
D3Bryson – Metsa
7:4017% CF

PP1Zucker – Thompson – Dahlin – Doan – Ostlund
1:22100% CF
PP2Tuch – McLeod – Byram – Quinn – Benson
0:24
PK1FTuch – McLeod
2:24
PK2FGreenway – Malenstyn
0:43
PK1DSamuelsson – Byram
2:25
PK2DDahlin – Power
1:19

Current BUF line combinations →

Nashville Predators

L1O'Reilly – Forsberg – Evangelista
10:5776% CF
L2McCarron – Smith – Wiesblatt
9:2247% CF
L3Stamkos – Haula – Bunting
5:1933% CF
L4Marchessault – Svechkov – Wood
4:5660% CF
D1Josi – Skjei
17:2475% CF
D2Hague – Perbix
6:5167% CF
D3Barron – Blankenburg
4:1633% CF

PP1Stamkos – Josi – O'Reilly – Forsberg – Evangelista
2:3488% CF
PP2Haula – Marchessault – Bunting – Blankenburg – Wood
1:21100% CF
PK1FMcCarron – Smith
1:22
PK2FO'Reilly – Haula
0:35
PK1DSkjei – Perbix
1:22
PK2DHague – Blankenburg
0:35

Current NSH 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
Ryan McLeod C	L1	0	0	0	-1	0	0.02	0	0	0	19:30	—	—	39	47
Jason Zucker L	L1	0	0	0	-2	5	0.36	1	1	2	17:32	—	—	44	48
Jack Quinn R	L1	0	0	0	-1	5	0.42	0	1	0	16:32	—	—	44	50
Noah Ostlund C	L2	2	0	2	+1	3	0.39	0	1	0	16:58	—	—	50	69
Zach Benson L	L2	0	0	0	+3	2	0.07	0	0	0	15:32	—	—	60	77
Konsta Helenius C	L2	1	2	3	+2	4	0.24	2	1	0	14:43	—	—	58	81
Alex Tuch R	L3	0	1	1	+1	1	0.02	0	0	0	15:44	—	—	29	27
Tage Thompson C	L3	1	0	1	+1	1	0.12	0	0	0	13:33	—	—	33	34
Josh Doan R	L3	0	1	1	0	1	0.01	0	1	0	12:57	—	—	27	27
Peyton Krebs C	L4	1	1	2	+2	2	0.50	2	0	0	12:31	—	—	46	64
Beck Malenstyn L	L4	0	0	0	0	1	0.10	5	2	0	11:25	—	—	29	51
Jordan Greenway L	L4	0	0	0	0	3	0.17	2	0	2	11:02	—	—	33	63
Rasmus Dahlin D	D1	0	1	1	+2	0	0.00	5	3	0	28:02	—	—	39	52
Owen Power D	D1	0	1	1	0	3	0.11	0	3	0	23:25	—	—	46	49
Mattias Samuelsson D	D2	0	1	1	+2	0	0.00	0	2	2	25:53	—	—	42	64
Bowen Byram D	D2	0	0	0	0	2	0.14	0	0	0	23:59	—	—	51	61
Jacob Bryson D	D3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	2	0	8:36	—	—	15	45
Zach Metsa D	D3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	2	0	8:06	—	—	23	50

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Alex Lyon(start)	W	34	31	3	.912	2.86	60:00

Nashville Predators

NSH skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Ryan O'Reilly C	L1	2	1	3	+2	4	0.71	0	0	2	20:42	—	—	80	69
Luke Evangelista R	L1	0	1	1	0	4	0.36	1	0	2	20:35	—	—	72	56
Filip Forsberg L	L1	1	2	3	+1	7	0.54	1	1	0	19:38	—	—	69	54
Michael McCarron C	L2	0	0	0	-1	1	0.01	3	0	0	13:28	—	—	45	47
Cole Smith R	L2	0	0	0	-1	2	0.33	5	0	0	13:21	—	—	52	51
Ozzy Wiesblatt C	L2	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	3	0	0	11:24	—	—	47	54
Steven Stamkos C	L3	0	0	0	-2	1	0.05	1	0	0	18:06	—	—	54	33
Erik Haula L	L3	0	0	0	-2	1	0.15	3	0	0	13:28	—	—	36	11
Michael Bunting L	L3	0	0	0	-2	1	0.01	0	0	0	12:39	—	—	39	6
Jonathan Marchessault R	L4	0	0	0	+1	1	0.01	3	0	0	13:49	—	—	50	21
Matthew Wood R	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	1	1	0	13:33	—	—	61	37
Fedor Svechkov C	L4	0	0	0	-1	1	0.04	1	0	0	13:19	—	—	50	27
Roman Josi D	D1	0	0	0	0	4	0.37	0	1	0	28:24	—	—	67	57
Brady Skjei D	D1	0	1	1	+1	2	0.14	0	2	0	26:15	—	—	64	66
Nicolas Hague D	D2	0	0	0	-2	2	0.07	1	1	0	20:09	—	—	62	49
Nick Perbix D	D2	0	0	0	-1	1	0.01	1	0	0	14:30	—	—	50	44
Nick Blankenburg D	D3	0	0	0	-1	2	0.02	3	2	0	18:15	—	—	50	33
Justin Barron D	D3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.03	0	0	0	8:22	—	—	48	12

NSH goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Justus Annunen	—	13	13	0	.1000	0.88	34:09
Juuse Saros(start)	L	19	15	4	.789	1.35	23:54

Goal anatomy

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

Noah Ostlund (BUF) 1st 8:11 · assists Konsta Helenius, Rasmus Dahlin · Cycle · 28.6 mph shot.

Noah Ostlund · 1st 8:11 · BUF

Play: cycle
Passes: 2
Shot: 28.6 mph
Distance: 11 ft

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

Noah Ostlund · 1st 11:45 · BUF

Play: rebound
Passes: 2 (royal road)
Shot: 6.1 mph
Distance: 6 ft
Type: rebound

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

Konsta Helenius · 1st 17:24 · BUF

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: 3-on-2
Passes: 1
Shot: 66.9 mph
Distance: 37 ft
Entry to goal: 2.4 s

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

Tage Thompson · 2nd 4:20 · BUF

Play: rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: No
Passes: 0
Shot: 49.2 mph
Distance: 26 ft
Entry to goal: 4.5 s

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

Ryan O'Reilly · 2nd 10:09 · NSH

Play: cycle
Passes: 4 (royal road)
Shot: 39.9 mph
Distance: 14 ft

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

Filip Forsberg · 2nd 11:54 · NSH

Play: turnover-forecheck
Passes: 0
Shot: 47.0 mph
Distance: 42 ft

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

Ryan O'Reilly · 3rd 9:30 · NSH

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: 3-on-2
Passes: 0
Shot: 45.3 mph
Distance: 13 ft
Entry to goal: 2.8 s

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

Peyton Krebs · 3rd 18:14 · BUF EN

Play: point-shot
Passes: 2
Shot: 66.3 mph
Distance: 116 ft

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. Nashville PredatorsJan 20, 2026

Fantasy takeaways

Buffalo Sabres beat Nashville Predators 5–3

Shot map

Shot map

Game flow

Cumulative shot attempts

Shift chart

Shifts

Head-to-head matchups

Matchup matrix

Sequence card

Lines used

Buffalo Sabres

Nashville Predators

Scoring summary

1st period

2nd period

3rd period

Box score

Buffalo Sabres

Nashville Predators

Goal anatomy

Noah Ostlund · 1st 8:11 · BUF

Noah Ostlund · 1st 11:45 · BUF

Konsta Helenius · 1st 17:24 · BUF

Tage Thompson · 2nd 4:20 · BUF

Ryan O'Reilly · 2nd 10:09 · NSH

Filip Forsberg · 2nd 11:54 · NSH

Ryan O'Reilly · 3rd 9:30 · NSH

Peyton Krebs · 3rd 18:14 · BUF EN