Game Recap: BOS 3, VAN 2 (OT), January 3, 2026

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Game Recap

BOS3

Final/OTSat, Jan 3, 2026Every game that night

VAN2

BOS beat VAN 3-2 in overtime, with the chances close: 3.29 expected goals to 2.98. VAN outshot BOS 34 to 22. F. Minten led the way with 2 points (2 G, 0 A). F. Minten had 6 shots on goal against our projection of 1.3. J. Swayman stopped 32 of 34.

Scoring

	1st	2nd	3rd	OT	T
BOS	1	1	0	1	3
VAN	0	2	0	0	2

1st 16:24BOSF. MintenPP0.22 xG
2nd 0:48VANE. Pettersson0.11 xG
2nd 7:25BOSE. LindholmPP0.28 xG
2nd 18:44VANF. HronekPP0.04 xG
OT 4:41BOSF. Minten0.30 xG

Team Stats

BOSVAN

22Shots on goal34

3.29Expected goals2.98

53Shot attempts69

165v5 shots on goal21

2/3Power play1/6

16Hits32

17Blocked shots12

12Penalty minutes6

15Giveaways13

3Takeaways6

Expected goals: the chance each unblocked shot had of going in, by our model, added up.

Expected Goals Over the Game

BOS 3.29 xGVAN 2.98 xGGoal

Each step up is a shot: how likely it was to go in. A team well above the other had the better chances, whatever the score.

Shot Map

BOS22 on goal, 3 scored

VAN33 on goal, 2 scored

GoalSavedMissedBlockedBigger: a better chance

Box Score

BOS Skaters

Player	Pos	G	A	P	SOG	HIT	BLK	+/-	PIM	TOI	PP TOI
D. Pastrnak	RW	0	2	2	2	0	1	0	0	22:07	2:20
F. Minten	C	2	0	2	6	1	0	0	0	20:30	1:07
E. Lindholm	C	1	0	1	3	0	2	0	0	18:49	2:21
A. Steeves	C	0	1	1	0	3	0	0	0	11:51	1:10
P. Zacha	C	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	2	18:50	2:24
M. Geekie	C	0	0	0	3	0	2	0	0	17:51	2:27
M. Khusnutdinov	C	0	0	0	0	0	0	-1	0	17:48	0:00
C. Mittelstadt	C	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	14:47	1:04
V. Arvidsson	LW	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	14:25	1:11
S. Kuraly	C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11:05	0:00
M. Kastelic	C	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	10:56	0:00
M. Eyssimont	C	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	4:59	0:00
C. McAvoy	D	0	1	1	0	2	2	-1	0	25:35	2:27
H. Lindholm	D	0	1	1	2	0	3	0	2	22:47	1:04
M. Lohrei	D	0	1	1	0	1	2	+1	0	16:26	0:00
N. Zadorov	D	0	0	0	0	1	0	-1	4	19:57	0:00
A. Peeke	D	0	0	0	1	2	2	0	0	18:17	0:00
J. Aspirot	D	0	0	0	0	3	1	0	0	18:09	0:00

Goalie	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
J. Swayman	34	32	2	.941	63:27	Win
J. Korpisalo	0	0	0	–	0:00

VAN Skaters

Player	Pos	G	A	P	SOG	HIT	BLK	+/-	PIM	TOI	PP TOI
E. Pettersson	C	1	0	1	4	0	0	+1	0	19:33	5:18
E. Kane	LW	0	1	1	1	1	0	0	0	14:19	3:46
L. Karlsson	C	0	1	1	3	3	0	+1	0	12:19	3:16
K. Sherwood	LW	0	0	0	1	9	1	-1	0	21:11	5:13
B. Boeser	RW	0	0	0	3	1	0	-1	0	21:09	5:19
J. DeBrusk	LW	0	0	0	7	1	0	+1	0	19:10	5:35
D. Kampf	C	0	0	0	2	1	1	0	0	16:36	0:09
D. O'Connor	LW	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	15:31	3:22
L. Ohgren	LW	0	0	0	1	4	2	0	0	12:47	0:12
M. Sasson	C	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	12:22	0:00
A. Räty	C	0	0	0	3	2	1	0	0	12:14	0:43
N. Hoglander	LW	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	12:07	0:07
F. Hronek	D	1	1	2	1	1	1	+1	0	30:01	3:33
Z. Buium	D	0	1	1	1	0	1	+1	0	17:38	3:09
M. Pettersson	D	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	4	21:31	0:11
T. Willander	D	0	0	0	2	1	2	-1	0	21:07	5:46
T. Myers	D	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	19:57	0:36
E. Pettersson	D	0	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	10:07	0:00

Goalie	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
K. Lankinen	22	19	3	.864	64:41	OT loss
T. Demko	0	0	0	–	0:00

Lines at 5-on-5

BOS

Line 1D. Pastrnak16:37F. Minten14:25M. Khusnutdinov13:21

Line 2V. Arvidsson13:09C. Mittelstadt13:43P. Zacha12:55

Line 3E. Lindholm10:36M. Geekie12:20A. Steeves9:35

Line 4S. Kuraly6:21M. Kastelic6:55M. Eyssimont4:59

Pair 1H. Lindholm14:56J. Aspirot15:45

Pair 2N. Zadorov16:21C. McAvoy16:06

Pair 3A. Peeke13:27M. Lohrei14:04

VAN

Line 1K. Sherwood13:17D. O'Connor11:18D. Kampf14:08

Line 2B. Boeser13:53M. Sasson10:54E. Kane9:42

Line 3J. DeBrusk10:36E. Pettersson10:59L. Karlsson8:35

Line 4N. Hoglander11:15L. Ohgren10:58A. Räty9:33

Pair 1F. Hronek20:45Z. Buium12:36

Pair 2M. Pettersson18:23T. Willander12:47

Pair 3T. Myers16:39E. Pettersson9:17

From the NHL's shift charts: the players on the ice together most at 5-on-5, with each one's own 5-on-5 time.

Storylines That Played Out

Old teamElias Lindholm BOS Faces VAN, his team until May 20241 G, 3 SOG
Old teamJake DeBrusk VAN Faces BOS, his team until May 20247 SOG
Old teamNikita Zadorov BOS Faces VAN, his team until May 20240 SOG
HometownFraser Minten BOS Plays in his hometown2 G, 6 SOG

As Tonight had them before puck drop, with what each player did.

How We Did

	We projected	It finished
Score	BOS 3.2, VAN 3.0	BOS 3, VAN 2
Total goals	6.1	5
Shots on goal	BOS 26.9, VAN 27.3	BOS 22, VAN 34
Win chance	BOS 53%	BOS won

Players

Player	SOG projected	SOG	Points projected	Points	Goal chance	Goals
BOS D. Pastrnak	3.4	2	1.25	2	40%	0
VAN J. DeBrusk	2.5	7	0.62	0	28%	0
VAN E. Kane	2.3	1	0.50	1	23%	0
BOS V. Arvidsson	2.3	1	0.59	0	21%	0
VAN B. Boeser	2.2	3	0.74	0	30%	0
VAN K. Sherwood	2.2	1	0.51	0	24%	0
VAN E. Pettersson	2.1	4	0.90	1	30%	1
BOS M. Geekie	2.1	3	0.83	0	30%	0
BOS E. Lindholm	1.8	3	0.66	1	21%	1
BOS C. McAvoy	1.7	0	0.59	1	11%	0
BOS H. Lindholm	1.6	2	0.41	1	9%	0
BOS M. Eyssimont	1.6	1	0.25	0	10%	0
VAN F. Hronek	1.5	1	0.55	2	7%	1
VAN L. Karlsson	1.5	3	0.42	1	18%	0
BOS P. Zacha	1.5	0	0.63	0	19%	0
VAN L. Ohgren	1.4	1	0.22	0	11%	0
VAN D. O'Connor	1.4	1	0.35	0	16%	0
BOS S. Kuraly	1.3	0	0.28	0	11%	0
BOS N. Zadorov	1.3	0	0.33	0	9%	0
BOS F. Minten	1.3	6	0.40	2	16%	2
BOS M. Kastelic	1.2	1	0.28	0	12%	0
BOS C. Mittelstadt	1.2	2	0.55	0	18%	0
VAN M. Sasson	1.2	1	0.28	0	16%	0
VAN N. Hoglander	1.2	0	0.35	0	15%	0
BOS A. Steeves	1.2	0	0.40	1	17%	0
VAN T. Myers	1.1	2	0.27	0	4%	0
BOS A. Peeke	1.1	1	0.23	0	5%	0
VAN A. Räty	1.0	3	0.33	0	14%	0
VAN D. Kampf	1.0	2	0.28	0	11%	0
VAN M. Pettersson	1.0	1	0.34	0	4%	0
VAN T. Willander	0.9	2	0.35	0	4%	0
VAN Z. Buium	0.9	1	0.41	1	7%	0
BOS M. Khusnutdinov	0.9	0	0.29	0	11%	0
BOS M. Lohrei	0.8	0	0.29	1	5%	0
BOS J. Aspirot	0.8	0	0.14	0	7%	0
VAN E. Pettersson	0.7	0	0.17	0	4%	0

Shots on goal: 19 of 36 players within one of their projection; they took 0.1 more than projected on average.

Our projections as they stood at puck drop. One game says little about a model; Model Notes has how it tests over thousands.