Final
CHI at BUF game report
Saturday, October 3, 2026 · 7:00 p.m. ET · KeyBank Center
Sabres beat the Blackhawks 4–3 and earned it, out-chancing them 4.5–2.6 in expected goals and 16–7 in high-danger chances.
- Came back from 2 down
Team comparison
- 4Goals3
- 4.46Expected goals2.56
- 3.575-on-5 expected goals2.07
- 16High-danger chances7
- 28Shots on goal15
- 64Shot attempts38
- 585-on-5 shot attempts32
- 4:36Power-play time2:03
5-on-5 shares for BUF: 64.4% of shot attempts, 63.4% of expected goals.
Expected goals through the game
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
By strength
| BUF at… | Time | Attempts | xG | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 on 5 | 50:44 | 58–32 | 3.57–2.07 | 3–3 |
| Power play | 4:36 | 3–1 | 0.34–0.00 | 0–0 |
| Shorthanded | 2:03 | 0–2 | 0.00–0.44 | 0–0 |
| Other (4 on 4, 3 on 3, empty net) | 2:37 | 3–3 | 0.55–0.05 | 1–0 |
Read pairs as BUF–CHI. “Power play” means BUF had the extra skater.
Goaltending
| Goalie | Saves | SV% | xGA | GSAx |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen BUF | 12/15 | .800 | 2.56 | -0.44 |
| Spencer Knight CHI | 24/28 | .857 | 4.46 | +0.46 |
GSAx above zero means the goalie stopped more than an average goalie would have, given the shots faced.
Player ratings
Out of 10, from each player's Game Score (goals, assists, shots, blocks, penalties, faceoffs and 5-on-5 shot and goal differential while on the ice) compared with every NHL game of the last two seasons. 6 is above average, 7 very good, 8 excellent. Goalies are rated on goals saved above expected. ★ = top three of the night. How ratings work
Average ratingSabres6.6Blackhawks5.5
| ★Top three of the night: Jack QuinnFBUF | 8.4 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 19:07 | 74.3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ★Top three of the night: Tage ThompsonFBUF | 8.0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 19:41 | 53.8 |
| ★Top three of the night: Rasmus DahlinDBUF | 7.8 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 25:23 | 72.4 |
| Anton FrondellFCHI | 7.6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 16:06 | 43.8 |
| Alex VlasicDCHI | 7.5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 22:33 | 45.7 |
| Mattias SamuelssonDBUF | 7.3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 24:11 | 64.7 |
| Louis CrevierDBUF | 7.3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 17:08 | 58.6 |
| Jiri KulichFBUF | 7.3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13:31 | 71.4 |
| Zach MetsaDBUF | 7.2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8:28 | 63.2 |
| Noah OstlundFBUF | 6.8 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17:23 | 71.4 |
| Teuvo TeravainenFCHI | 6.7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14:22 | 47.1 |
| Peyton KrebsFBUF | 6.7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 13:42 | 66.7 |
| Josh NorrisFBUF | 6.6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16:32 | 60.0 |
| Tyler BertuzziFCHI | 6.6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 16:18 | 41.2 |
| Owen PowerDBUF | 6.6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 25:12 | 62.2 |
| Zach BensonFBUF | 6.6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19:33 | 70.3 |
| Spencer KnightGCHI | 6.2 | 0 | 0 | — | 59:01 | — |
| Ryan DonatoFCHI | 6.1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9:25 | 38.5 |
| Olen ZellwegerDBUF | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15:31 | 66.7 |
| Oliver MooreFCHI | 6.0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 9:30 | 33.3 |
| Josh DoanFBUF | 5.9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18:06 | 55.6 |
| Konsta HeleniusFBUF | 5.9 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 14:39 | 64.7 |
| Ian ColeDCHI | 5.8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20:37 | 37.9 |
| Nick LardisFCHI | 5.6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7:41 | 28.6 |
| Sam CarrickFBUF | 5.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7:20 | 54.5 |
| Ukko-Pekka LuukkonenGBUF | 5.5 | 0 | 0 | — | 60:00 | — |
| Beck MalenstynFBUF | 5.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8:31 | 50.0 |
| Artyom LevshunovDCHI | 5.2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 24:40 | 41.9 |
| Ryan McLeodFBUF | 4.9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12:02 | 58.8 |
| Frank NazarFCHI | 4.9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 19:58 | 40.0 |
| Jordan GreenwayFCHI | 4.6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15:55 | 30.3 |
| Wyatt KaiserDCHI | 4.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22:58 | 31.0 |
| Roman KantserovFCHI | 4.6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18:48 | 35.7 |
| Ryan GreeneFCHI | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15:36 | 32.4 |
| Patrick KaneFCHI | 4.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19:01 | 36.0 |
| Kevin KorchinskiDCHI | 4.4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11:21 | 28.0 |
| Cole SmithFCHI | 4.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15:09 | 30.0 |
| Ethan Del MastroDCHI | 4.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15:01 | 25.8 |
Lines used
Each team's most-used forward lines and defence pairs at 5 on 5, from the NHL's shift charts · time together · shot attempts for–against · expected goals for–against
Sabres
Forward lines
- Quinn – Ostlund – Benson13:34 · 23–8 · xG 1.4–0.7
- Thompson – Norris – Doan13:16 · 14–9 · xG 0.7–0.2
- McLeod – Krebs – Helenius6:18 · 7–3 · xG 1.0–0.4
- Carrick – Malenstyn – Kulich5:31 · 5–2 · xG 0.2–0.3
Defence pairs
- Samuelsson – Dahlin16:58 · 21–6 · xG 1.0–0.2
- Power – Zellweger12:33 · 17–8 · xG 1.3–0.3
- Crevier – Metsa6:48 · 11–5 · xG 0.9–0.6
Blackhawks
Forward lines
- Kane – Nazar – Kantserov13:31 · 8–15 · xG 0.6–1.0
- Greenway – Smith – Greene12:27 · 8–21 · xG 0.7–0.9
- Teravainen – Bertuzzi – Frondell11:16 · 6–8 · xG 0.2–0.6
- Donato – Lardis – Moore5:51 · 4–8 · xG 0.3–0.9
Defence pairs
- Cole – Vlasic15:44 · 10–18 · xG 1.0–1.0
- Kaiser – Levshunov14:55 · 8–15 · xG 0.3–0.7
- Del Mastro – Korchinski8:36 · 6–17 · xG 0.4–1.6
Three stars
Scoring
Period 1
- 07:59CHI R. Donato (from A. Vlasic, N. Lardis)1–0
- 11:24CHI T. Bertuzzi (from A. Frondell, T. Teravainen)2–0
- 16:24BUF J. Quinn (from Z. Metsa)2–1
Period 2
- 05:41BUF T. Thompson (from L. Crevier, J. Norris)2–2
- 18:18CHI O. Moore (from A. Frondell, A. Vlasic)3–2
Period 3
- 06:10BUF R. Dahlin (from P. Krebs, M. Samuelsson)3–3
- 13:20BUF J.Kulich (from O. Power, T. Thompson)3–4