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Ice Lab

Fri, Nov 28, 2025·KeyBank Center, Buffalo

New Jersey Devils 5, Buffalo Sabres 0

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, Buffalo Sabres win this game 72% of the time.

BUF winsNJD wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3Total
NJD191836523
BUF010015017042

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

Every goal, with the change it made to the home team's win probability.

  1. P1 12:07NJDNico HischierGWGAssists: Timo Meier · Snap, 0.30 xG1–0
  2. P2 7:45NJDArseny GritsyukAssists: Ondrej Palat, Dawson Mercer · Wrist, 0.23 xG2–0
  3. P3 1:39NJDBrenden DillonAssists: Connor Brown, Paul Cotter · Slap, 0.06 xG3–0
  4. P3 5:22NJDPaul CotterAssists: Brenden Dillon · Backhand, 0.17 xG4–0
  5. P3 16:49NJDArseny GritsyukAssists: Ondrej Palat · Wrist, 0.12 xG5–0
Penalties (5)
  1. P1 2:24NJDStefan Noesen: Fighting5 min
  2. P1 2:24BUFTage Thompson: Fighting5 min
  3. P2 8:01NJDCody Glass: Hooking2 min
  4. P2 13:39BUFJack Quinn: Holding2 min
  5. P2 15:13NJDArseny Gritsyuk: Interference goalkeeper2 min

Replay

Watch the game unfold on the ice: every shot, hit, turnover and faceoff appears as it happened, then fades. Drag the timeline to jump; goals are marked on it.

NJD00 SOG · 0.0 xG

20:00

P1

0.0 xG · 0 SOG0BUF
47% to win53% to win
← NJD attackBUF attack →
  1. P1 20:00Krebs won the faceoff against Hischier
  • Goal
  • Shot
  • Miss
  • Block
  • Hit
  • Takeaway
  • Giveaway
  • Faceoff
  • Penalty

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

NJDBUF
23Shots on goal42
2.2Expected goals3.5
38Shot attempts88
32Faceoffs won25
1Power plays2
9Penalty minutes7
20Hits24
20Blocked shots9
19Giveaways19
8Takeaways6

Line combinations that worked

Model-based

Each team's forward lines and defence pairs at 5-on-5 (two minutes or more together), best first by expected goals for minus against.

New Jersey Devils

Forward lines

  1. bestPalat – Gritsyuk – Mercer9:03

    xG 0.67–0.60 (53%)attempts 12–10goals 2–0

  2. Brown – Glass – Cotter11:14

    xG 0.52–0.63 (45%)attempts 9–16goals 2–0

  3. Meier – Bratt – Hischier12:41

    xG 0.72–0.87 (45%)attempts 8–15goals 1–0

  4. Noesen – Glendening – Lammikko5:51

    xG 0.00–0.38 (0%)attempts 0–15goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. Dillon – White12:24

    xG 0.61–0.59 (51%)attempts 11–17goals 3–0

  2. Hamilton – Siegenthaler19:27

    xG 0.63–0.82 (43%)attempts 11–28goals 1–0

  3. Hughes – Nemec16:08

    xG 0.66–1.52 (30%)attempts 12–31goals 1–0

Buffalo Sabres

Forward lines

  1. bestKozak – Ostlund – Benson9:05

    xG 0.73–0.15 (83%)attempts 18–3goals 0–1

  2. Greenway – Malenstyn – Krebs8:34

    xG 0.40–0.08 (83%)attempts 11–4goals 0–0

  3. Zucker – McLeod – Quinn12:32

    xG 0.86–0.69 (56%)attempts 19–11goals 0–3

  4. Tuch – Thompson – Doan8:13

    xG 0.17–0.76 (18%)attempts 7–9goals 0–1

Defence pairs

  1. bestBryson – Power11:11

    xG 0.87–0.07 (93%)attempts 21–4goals 0–0

  2. Dahlin – Power4:22

    xG 0.42–0.00 (100%)attempts 7–2goals 0–0

  3. Timmins – Byram12:51

    xG 0.80–0.57 (59%)attempts 12–7goals 0–1

How the game flowed

Model-based

Chance quality for each side, minute by minute, with pressure underneath.

Expected goals flow

Running total of expected goals for each team. Steep climbs are spells of pressure; dots are goals. Shaded bands mark power plays (team colour), 4-on-4 or 3-on-3 (grey) and empty nets.

BUF 3.5 xGNJD 2.2 xG
01234P1P2P3EndxG

Tempo: attempts, hits and takeaways per minute

BUFNJD

Win probability

Model-based

How each goal and each minute changed the likely winner.

Win probability

BUF's chance of winning through the game. Above the middle line BUF is favoured, below it NJD. Dots are goals.

Excitement 5/100 · #1284 of 1312 this seasonSwing 0.58 · 3 goals in reachComeback index 47% (winner's lowest chance)
NJD 100%5050%50BUF 100%P1P2P3EndBiggest swing +16 pts

Did the better team win?

Every shot replayed 10,000 times, scoring with its expected-goal probability.

Based on shot quality alone, Buffalo Sabres win this game 72% of the time.

BUF winsNJD wins

Simulated goal difference (BUF − NJD), 10,000 replays

-7
-6
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
+1
+2
+3
+4
+5
+6
+7

The outlined bar is the actual result (excluding the shootout).