NHL Recaps: Friday, Jan 31, 2025

4 games: what happened that matters for your fantasy team, built from the play-by-play and shift charts.

Game recaps

Final

Full report

Nashville Predators

Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo Sabres edge Nashville Predators 4–3

Buffalo Sabres beat Nashville Predators 4–3 at home. Jiri Kulich (BUF) led the scoring with 2G 0A. New look for NSH: Nyquist–O'Reilly–Evangelista skated 9:21 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (77.8% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

•Jiri Kulich had two goals (2 points) on 2 shots in 15:44.
•Brady Skjei had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 1 shot in 21:53.
•Rasmus Dahlin had 2 assists (2 points) on 2 shots in 25:39.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

Dallas Stars beat Vancouver Canucks 5–3

Dallas Stars beat Vancouver Canucks 5–3 at home. Roope Hintz (DAL) led the scoring with 2G 1A. DAL's first power-play unit (Duchene, Hintz, Robertson, Harley and Johnston) scored 1 power-play goal on 5 attempts in 2:10 together.

•Jason Robertson had two goals and an assist (3 points) on 2 shots in 15:14.
•Roope Hintz had two goals and an assist (3 points) on 2 shots in 17:47.
•DAL's first power-play unit (Duchene, Hintz, Robertson, Harley and Johnston) scored 1 power-play goal on 5 attempts in 2:10 together.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

Colorado Avalanche rout St. Louis Blues 5–0

Colorado Avalanche beat St. Louis Blues 5–0 at home. Jonathan Drouin (COL) led the scoring with 2G 1A. COL's first power-play unit (Lehkonen, MacKinnon, Drouin, Necas and Makar) scored 2 power-play goals on 8 attempts in 5:21 together.

•Jonathan Drouin had two goals and an assist (3 points) on 2 shots in 14:23.
•COL's first power-play unit (Lehkonen, MacKinnon, Drouin, Necas and Makar) scored 2 power-play goals on 8 attempts in 5:21 together.
•New look for STL: Buchnevich–Thomas–Texier skated 11:22 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (37.5% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

Final / OT

Full report

Columbus Blue Jackets

Utah Hockey Club

Columbus Blue Jackets edge Utah Mammoth 3–2 (OT)

Columbus Blue Jackets beat Utah Mammoth 3–2 in overtime at UTA. Zach Werenski (CBJ) led the scoring with 1G 1A. UTA's first power-play unit (Schmaltz, Keller, Sergachev, Hayton and Doan) scored 1 power-play goal on 10 attempts in 4:21 together.

•Zach Werenski had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 5 shots in 27:48.
•Clayton Keller had 2 assists (2 points) on 6 shots in 21:33.
•UTA's first power-play unit (Schmaltz, Keller, Sergachev, Hayton and Doan) scored 1 power-play goal on 10 attempts in 4:21 together.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

Goal of the night

The hardest tracked shot of the night: Martin Necas for COL vs STL, 71.5 mph. Full game report →

Martin Necas (COL vs STL): Rush, carried in, 2 passes, 71.5 mph shot.

Top performers

Player	Game	G	A	P	SOG	Hits	Blk	TOI	PP
Roope Hintz DAL	vs VAN	2	1	3	2	3	1	17:47	—
Jason Robertson DAL	vs VAN	2	1	3	2	1	1	15:14	—
Jonathan Drouin COL	vs STL	2	1	3	2	1	0	14:23	—
Jiri Kulich BUF	vs NSH	2	0	2	2	0	1	15:44	—
Zach Werenski CBJ	at UTA	1	1	2	5	0	1	27:48	—
Brady Skjei NSH	at BUF	1	1	2	1	1	1	21:53	—
Clayton Keller UTA	vs CBJ	0	2	2	6	1	0	21:33	—
Rasmus Dahlin BUF	vs NSH	0	2	2	2	3	3	25:39	—
Mathieu Joseph STL	at COL	0	0	0	3	9	2	12:46	—
Lian Bichsel DAL	vs VAN	0	0	0	1	6	2	19:06	—

Line changes

New look for NSH: Nyquist–O'Reilly–Evangelista skated 9:21 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (77.8% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games. Report →
New look for VAN: Joshua–Garland–Suter skated 9:02 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (42.9% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games. Report →
New look for STL: Buchnevich–Thomas–Texier skated 11:22 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (37.5% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games. Report →
New look for UTA: Kerfoot–Schmaltz–Keller skated 11:36 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (52% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games. Report →

Goalie notes

Goalie	Game	Dec	SA	GA	SV%
Joel Hofer STL	at COL	L	36	5	.861
Daniil Tarasov CBJ	at UTA	W	34	2	.941
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen BUF	vs NSH	W	31	3	.903
Jake Oettinger DAL	vs VAN	W	29	3	.897
Justus Annunen NSH	at BUF	L	27	4	.852
Karel Vejmelka UTA	vs CBJ	O	23	3	.870
Mackenzie Blackwood COL	vs STL	W	19	0	.1000
Thatcher Demko VAN	at DAL	L	14	3	.786

Next up: tonight's starting goalies, today's line combinations and today's games. Takeaways are generated from the numbers with fixed rules; nothing is written by a language model.