Final
CBJ at BUF game report
Blue Jackets
1–5
Sabres
Tuesday, September 22, 2026 · 7:00 p.m. ET · KeyBank Center
Sabres beat the Blue Jackets 5–1 and earned it, out-chancing them 4.5–2.1 in expected goals and 14–5 in high-danger chances.
Team comparison
BUFCBJ
- 5Goals1
- 4.46Expected goals2.07
- 2.355-on-5 expected goals0.99
- 14High-danger chances5
- 35Shots on goal25
- 67Shot attempts48
- 515-on-5 shot attempts32
- 4:41Power-play time6:45
5-on-5 shares for BUF: 61.4% of shot attempts, 70.3% of expected goals.
Expected goals through the game
SabresBlue JacketsCircles mark goals
Each step is a shot; the bigger the step, the better the chance. A goal on a small step was a low-percentage finish.
Shot map
Blue Jackets shooting ←→ Sabres shootingBigger dot = better chance · filled = goal · blocked shots not shown
By strength
| BUF at… | Time | Attempts | xG | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 on 5 | 43:54 | 51–32 | 2.35–0.99 | 5–1 |
| Power play | 4:41 | 7–7 | 1.13–0.63 | 0–0 |
| Shorthanded | 6:45 | 3–1 | 0.37–0.00 | 0–0 |
| Other (4 on 4, 3 on 3, empty net) | 4:40 | 6–8 | 0.61–0.45 | 0–0 |
Read pairs as BUF–CBJ. “Power play” means BUF had the extra skater.
Goaltending
| Goalie | Saves | SV% | xGA | GSAx |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen BUF | 13/13 | 1.000 | 1.19 | +1.19 |
| Cam Talbot CBJ | 23/26 | .885 | 3.90 | +0.90 |
| Evan Gardner CBJ | 7/9 | .778 | 0.55 | -1.45 |
| Colten Ellis BUF | 11/12 | .917 | 0.88 | -0.12 |
GSAx above zero means the goalie stopped more than an average goalie would have, given the shots faced.
Most dangerous shooters
| Player | G | SOG | Att | HD | ixG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tage Thompson BUF | 1 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 0.96 |
| Jack Williams CBJ | 0 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0.54 |
| Josh Norris BUF | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0.46 |
| Peyton Krebs BUF | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0.42 |
| Olen Zellweger BUF | 0 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 0.40 |
| Zach Benson BUF | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0.36 |
| Noah Ostlund BUF | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0.34 |
| Beck Malenstyn BUF | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.30 |
| Dmitri Voronkov CBJ | 0 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0.28 |
| Rasmus Dahlin BUF | 0 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 0.26 |
Three stars
- ★N. OstlundBUF · 2G 0A
- ★★J. NorrisBUF · 1G 0A
- ★★★C. TimminsBUF · 1G 0A
Scoring
Period 2
- 10:12BUF J. Norris (from O. Power, K. Helenius)0–1
- 11:54BUF N. Ostlund (from Z. Benson, O. Power)0–2
- 12:22BUF N. Ostlund (from Z. Benson)0–3
Period 3
- 03:53BUF C. Timmins (from T. Thompson, J. Quinn)0–4
- 14:32BUF T. Thompson (from J. Doan, O. Power)0–5
- 16:19CBJ C. Ceulemans (from D. Voronkov, B. Buckberger)1–5