Buffalo Sabres vs. New York RangersMar 2, 2021

FinalTuesday, Mar 2, 2021· Madison Square Garden

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Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
BUF	1	1	0	2		BUF	9	10	5	24
NYR	2	1	0	3		NYR	11	5	3	19

: BUF 61NYR 39
: BUF 2.44NYR 2.77
PP goals: BUF 0NYR 0
Hits: BUF 24NYR 23
Blocks: BUF 9NYR 17
PIM: BUF 9NYR 7
: BUF 59%NYR 41%

Fantasy takeaways

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

New York Rangers edge Buffalo Sabres 3–2

New York Rangers beat Buffalo Sabres 3–2 at home. Pavel Buchnevich (NYR) led the scoring with 1G 1A. Alexis Lafrenière (NYR) played 18:35, +4:47 up on his 13:48 season average over 55 games.

Points
Pavel Buchnevich had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 4 shots in 18:11.Buchnevich
Points
Adam Fox had 2 assists (2 points) on 1 shot in 23:47.Fox
Usage
Alexis Lafrenière (NYR) played 18:35, +4:47 up on his 13:48 season average over 55 games.Lafrenière
New line
New look for BUF: Eakin–Rieder–Cozens skated 8:02 together at 5v5 as the L4 trio (41.2% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Eakin Rieder Cozens
New line
New look for NYR: Rooney–Gauthier–Chytil skated 10:12 together at 5v5 as the L3 trio (33.3% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Rooney Gauthier Chytil
Usage
Mika Zibanejad (NYR) played 16:36, −3:34 down on his 20:10 season average over 55 games.Zibanejad
Usage
Julien Gauthier (NYR) played 13:56, +4:26 up on his 9:30 season average over 29 games.Gauthier
Usage
Dylan Cozens (BUF) played 10:55, −3:32 down on his 14:27 season average over 40 games.Cozens

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)NYR attacks right (top on phones) →

NYR
BUF
Goal
Shot on goal
Missed
Blocked

Showing 100 of 100 attempts · NYR 39 · BUF 61

Game flow

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

Cumulative shot attempts

NYR
BUF
Goal
Power play (shaded)

Pressure Index

NYR 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 32% of the game, NYR 21%.

Shift chart

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

Shifts

NYR

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	NYR
	66	38
	2.64	2.79
	2.53	2.69
	14	8
	4	4
	11	24
	+0.066	−0.066
	32%	21%

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

L1Reinhart – Olofsson – Eichel
13:4752% CF
L2Sheahan – Skinner – Lazar
10:4391% CF
L3Staal – Okposo – Hall
9:5963% CF
L4Eakin – Rieder – Cozens
8:0241% CF
D1Ristolainen – Dahlin
18:3156% CF
D2Montour – Bryson
15:3364% CF
D3Miller – Jokiharju
13:5280% CF

PP1Hall – Reinhart – Olofsson – Eichel – Dahlin
1:3067% CF
PP2Staal – Skinner – Miller – Ristolainen – Cozens
0:30100% CF
PK1FSheahan – Lazar
2:02
PK2FEakin – Rieder
1:26
PK1DMontour – Bryson
0:45
PK2DMiller – Jokiharju
0:41

Current BUF line combinations →

New York Rangers

L1Kreider – Blackwell – Strome
11:2444% CF
L2Zibanejad – Buchnevich – Lafrenière
11:1838% CF
L3Rooney – Gauthier – Chytil
10:1233% CF
L4Di Giuseppe – Lemieux – Howden
7:5527% CF
D1Fox – Lindgren
15:1050% CF
D2Johnson – Hajek
13:4733% CF
D3Smith – Miller
11:4227% CF

PP1Buchnevich – Lemieux – Chytil – Miller – Lafrenière
2:21
PP2Kreider – Blackwell – Strome – Zibanejad – Fox
1:22100% CF
PK1FStrome – Howden
1:16
PK2FZibanejad – Buchnevich
0:44
PK1DFox – Lindgren
1:03
PK2DSmith – Miller
0:35

Current NYR line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

1st period

0:28
NYRPavel Buchnevich (Mika Zibanejad, Adam Fox)wrist0.15 xG
BUF: Staal, Okposo, Hall, Ristolainen, DahlinNYR: Smith, Zibanejad, Buchnevich, Miller, Lafrenière
BUF 0 – 1 NYR
0:55
BUFSam Reinhart (Victor Olofsson, Jack Eichel)wrist0.17 xG
BUF: Reinhart, Montour, Olofsson, Eichel, BrysonNYR: Smith, Kreider, Blackwell, Strome, Miller
BUF 1 – 1 NYR
2:36
NYRAlexis Lafrenière (Pavel Buchnevich)deflected0.47 xG
BUF: Staal, Okposo, Hall, Montour, BrysonNYR: Smith, Zibanejad, Buchnevich, Miller, Lafrenière
BUF 1 – 2 NYR

2nd period

9:32
NYRChris Kreider (Ryan Lindgren, Adam Fox)snap0.01 xG
BUF: Reinhart, Montour, Olofsson, Eichel, BrysonNYR: Kreider, Strome, Buchnevich, Fox, Lindgren
BUF 1 – 3 NYR
16:21
BUFTobias Rieder (Rasmus Dahlin, Rasmus Ristolainen)snap0.02 xG
BUF: Eakin, Rieder, Ristolainen, Dahlin, CozensNYR: Smith, Zibanejad, Buchnevich, Miller, Lafrenière
BUF 2 – 3 NYR

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
Jack Eichel C	L1	0	1	1	0	2	0.05	2	0	2	19:55	—	—	58	59
Sam Reinhart C	L1	1	0	1	0	2	0.42	0	1	0	19:46	—	—	52	57
Victor Olofsson L	L1	0	1	1	0	0	0.00	0	1	0	17:36	—	—	50	45
Curtis Lazar C	L2	0	0	0	0	1	0.16	2	0	0	15:27	—	—	81	89
Riley Sheahan C	L2	0	0	0	0	0	0.06	0	0	0	14:23	—	—	91	97
Jeff Skinner L	L2	0	0	0	0	3	0.47	1	0	0	14:12	—	—	88	95
Taylor Hall L	L3	0	0	0	-2	1	0.23	3	0	0	15:38	—	—	67	41
Eric Staal C	L3	0	0	0	-2	3	0.17	0	0	0	13:14	—	—	61	37
Kyle Okposo R	L3	0	0	0	-2	2	0.38	1	0	0	12:28	—	—	65	35
Tobias Rieder L	L4	1	0	1	+1	2	0.02	1	1	0	12:49	—	—	48	24
Cody Eakin C	L4	0	0	0	+1	0	0.04	0	1	0	12:05	—	—	47	18
Dylan Cozens C	L4	0	0	0	+1	0	0.00	2	0	5	10:55	—	—	39	18
Rasmus Ristolainen D	D1	0	1	1	0	4	0.09	4	1	0	24:01	—	—	48	35
Rasmus Dahlin D	D1	0	1	1	0	0	0.02	1	1	0	22:52	—	—	58	38
Jacob Bryson D	D2	0	0	0	-1	0	0.04	0	0	0	18:39	—	—	64	50
Brandon Montour D	D2	0	0	0	-1	2	0.19	1	1	2	17:55	—	—	66	51
Henri Jokiharju D	D3	0	0	0	0	1	0.07	3	1	0	18:08	—	—	74	83
Colin Miller D	D3	0	0	0	0	1	0.04	3	1	0	17:12	—	—	74	78

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Carter Hutton(start)	L	19	16	3	.842	2.77	58:45

New York Rangers

NYR skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Ryan Strome C	L1	0	0	0	0	3	0.38	0	1	0	17:56	—	—	48	44
Chris Kreider L	L1	1	0	1	0	2	0.19	1	1	0	17:00	—	—	46	51
Colin Blackwell C	L1	0	0	0	-1	0	0.11	1	0	0	15:41	—	—	41	43
Alexis Lafrenière L	L2	1	0	1	+1	1	0.47	1	0	0	18:35	—	—	38	58
Pavel Buchnevich L	L2	1	1	2	+2	4	0.79	0	1	0	18:11	—	—	39	59
Mika Zibanejad C	L2	0	1	1	+1	0	0.11	0	2	0	16:36	—	—	36	61
Filip Chytil C	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.03	0	0	0	16:08	—	—	38	45
Kevin Rooney C	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.41	2	1	2	14:33	—	—	33	43
Julien Gauthier R	L3	0	0	0	0	2	0.04	6	0	0	13:56	—	—	37	46
Brendan Lemieux L	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.06	3	1	0	11:49	—	—	22	37
Phillip Di Giuseppe L	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.02	3	2	0	10:58	—	—	32	43
Brett Howden C	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.09	1	0	0	10:26	—	—	25	37
Adam Fox D	D1	0	2	2	+1	1	0.01	0	2	0	23:47	—	—	44	76
Ryan Lindgren D	D1	0	1	1	+1	0	0.00	1	0	5	19:14	—	—	52	84
Jack Johnson D	D2	0	0	0	0	1	0.00	1	2	0	17:50	—	—	31	33
Libor Hajek D	D2	0	0	0	0	1	0.01	0	3	0	17:28	—	—	36	35
K'Andre Miller D	D3	0	0	0	0	0	0.03	3	0	0	20:51	—	—	33	42
Brendan Smith D	D3	0	0	0	0	2	0.03	0	1	0	17:07	—	—	27	45

NYR goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Igor Shesterkin(start)	W	24	22	2	.917	2.44	59:54

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.