Game Recap: VGK 3, CGY 6, December 20, 2025

Go ad-free AND support the site for the 26-27 season for just $18. Sign up now!

Game Recap

VGK3

FinalSat, Dec 20, 2025Every game that night

CGY6

CGY beat VGK 6-3, with the chances close: 3.75 expected goals to 3.91. VGK outshot CGY 37 to 26. M. Backlund led the way with 3 points (2 G, 1 A). T. Hertl had 6 shots on goal against our projection of 2.5. D. Cooley stopped 34 of 37.

Scoring

	1st	2nd	3rd	T
VGK	1	1	1	3
CGY	3	2	1	6

1st 3:54CGYM. Backlund0.34 xG
1st 8:42CGYA. Klapka0.46 xG
1st 10:03VGKR. Smith0.19 xG
1st 15:45CGYR. Lomberg0.24 xG
2nd 8:38CGYM. Backlund0.24 xG
2nd 12:21CGYJ. FarabeeSH0.18 xG
2nd 14:34VGKK. Korczak0.14 xG
3rd 16:03VGKM. StonePP0.06 xG
3rd 19:15CGYJ. HuberdeauEN0.95 xG

Team Stats

VGKCGY

37Shots on goal26

3.91Expected goals3.75

71Shot attempts53

305v5 shots on goal23

1/2Power play0/0

27Hits14

13Blocked shots12

5Penalty minutes9

15Giveaways9

4Takeaways5

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

Expected Goals Over the Game

VGK 3.91 xGCGY 3.75 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

VGK37 on goal, 3 scored

CGY24 on goal, 6 scored

GoalSavedMissedBlockedBigger: a better chance

Box Score

VGK Skaters

Player	Pos	G	A	P	SOG	HIT	BLK	+/-	PIM	TOI	PP TOI
M. Marner	RW	0	2	2	1	0	0	-3	0	19:01	1:27
M. Stone	RW	1	1	2	3	0	0	-2	0	15:41	1:27
T. Hertl	C	0	1	1	6	0	0	-2	0	18:59	1:27
R. Smith	RW	1	0	1	2	0	2	-1	0	13:46	0:50
P. Dorofeyev	RW	0	0	0	1	1	1	-1	0	17:20	1:23
I. Barbashev	LW	0	0	0	3	3	0	-2	0	16:56	0:46
B. Saad	LW	0	0	0	4	0	0	-1	0	16:16	0:00
B. Bowman	RW	0	0	0	1	0	0	-1	0	14:47	0:46
B. Howden	C	0	0	0	1	2	0	-1	0	13:51	0:46
K. Kolesar	RW	0	0	0	1	8	1	0	0	13:12	0:00
C. Reinhardt	LW	0	0	0	1	1	1	-1	0	12:39	0:00
C. Sissons	C	0	0	0	2	2	1	0	0	12:32	0:00
N. Hanifin	D	0	1	1	4	1	0	-2	0	24:39	1:27
K. Korczak	D	1	0	1	3	1	0	0	0	21:08	0:00
Z. Whitecloud	D	0	1	1	1	2	1	-1	0	19:44	0:00
B. Hutton	D	0	0	0	2	1	3	-1	0	19:20	0:46
B. McNabb	D	0	0	0	1	1	0	-1	0	17:57	0:00
J. Lauzon	D	0	0	0	0	4	3	-1	5	13:31	0:00

Goalie	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
A. Schmid	25	20	5	.800	58:41	Loss
C. Hart	0	0	0	–	0:00

CGY Skaters

Player	Pos	G	A	P	SOG	HIT	BLK	+/-	PIM	TOI	PP TOI
M. Backlund	C	2	1	3	5	0	0	+2	0	19:24	0:00
C. Zary	C	0	3	3	1	0	1	+2	0	16:14	0:00
B. Coleman	LW	0	2	2	2	0	0	+2	0	17:00	0:00
J. Farabee	LW	1	0	1	2	1	2	+1	0	16:29	0:00
J. Huberdeau	LW	1	0	1	2	1	0	0	0	15:00	0:00
A. Klapka	RW	1	0	1	1	6	0	+1	0	12:47	0:00
R. Lomberg	LW	1	0	1	1	0	0	+1	5	10:50	0:00
J. Beecher	C	0	1	1	1	0	0	+2	0	10:36	0:00
Y. Sharangovich	C	0	0	0	1	0	2	+1	0	16:36	0:00
N. Kadri	C	0	0	0	0	0	1	+1	0	15:33	0:00
M. Frost	C	0	0	0	2	0	0	-1	2	13:45	0:00
M. Coronato	RW	0	0	0	1	0	0	-1	0	13:13	0:00
M. Weegar	D	0	3	3	2	3	3	+2	0	22:51	0:00
Y. Kuznetsov	D	0	1	1	0	2	0	+2	2	22:38	0:00
K. Bahl	D	0	0	0	1	0	0	+2	0	23:24	0:00
R. Andersson	D	0	0	0	1	1	2	+2	0	22:43	0:00
H. Brzustewicz	D	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	0	14:39	0:00
J. Hanley	D	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	14:05	0:00

Goalie	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
D. Cooley	37	34	3	.919	60:00	Win
D. Wolf	0	0	0	–	0:00

Lines at 5-on-5

VGK

Line 1I. Barbashev14:51B. Bowman14:01B. Saad16:16

Line 2T. Hertl16:13P. Dorofeyev14:38M. Marner16:15

Line 3M. Stone12:55B. Howden13:05R. Smith12:56

Line 4C. Sissons12:32K. Kolesar13:12C. Reinhardt12:39

Pair 1B. McNabb17:57K. Korczak21:08

Pair 2N. Hanifin21:53Z. Whitecloud19:44

Pair 3B. Hutton18:34J. Lauzon13:31

CGY

Line 1M. Backlund17:42C. Zary16:14B. Coleman15:17

Line 2Y. Sharangovich15:22N. Kadri15:05J. Farabee15:25

Line 3J. Huberdeau13:23M. Frost13:45M. Coronato13:13

Line 4R. Lomberg10:50J. Beecher10:01A. Klapka12:47

Pair 1M. Weegar22:00Y. Kuznetsov22:15

Pair 2K. Bahl20:15R. Andersson20:02

Pair 3J. Hanley14:05H. Brzustewicz14:39

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 teamRasmus Andersson VGK First game back in Calgary, his team until Jan 20261 SOG
Old teamNoah Hanifin VGK Faces CGY, his team until Mar 20241 A, 4 SOG

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

How We Did

	We projected	It finished
Score	VGK 2.9, CGY 2.6	VGK 3, CGY 6
Total goals	5.5	9
Shots on goal	VGK 27.9, CGY 28.0	VGK 37, CGY 26
Win chance	VGK 54%	CGY won

Players

Player	SOG projected	SOG	Points projected	Points	Goal chance	Goals
CGY N. Kadri	3.2	0	0.83	0	29%	0
VGK P. Dorofeyev	3.0	1	0.63	0	31%	0
VGK T. Hertl	2.5	6	0.70	1	28%	0
VGK M. Stone	2.3	3	0.94	2	27%	1
CGY B. Coleman	2.2	2	0.50	2	22%	0
CGY M. Coronato	2.2	1	0.52	0	21%	0
CGY M. Weegar	2.2	2	0.43	3	10%	0
CGY R. Andersson	2.1	1	0.47	0	11%	0
VGK N. Hanifin	2.0	4	0.40	1	9%	0
CGY M. Backlund	2.0	5	0.44	3	17%	2
CGY Y. Sharangovich	1.9	1	0.53	0	24%	0
CGY J. Farabee	1.8	2	0.40	1	18%	1
VGK M. Marner	1.8	1	1.01	2	26%	0
CGY M. Frost	1.7	2	0.47	0	17%	0
CGY J. Huberdeau	1.7	2	0.69	1	22%	1
VGK B. Bowman	1.6	1	0.46	0	17%	0
CGY C. Zary	1.6	1	0.40	3	17%	0
VGK B. Saad	1.5	4	0.32	0	16%	0
VGK I. Barbashev	1.5	3	0.57	0	21%	0
VGK B. Howden	1.4	1	0.40	0	19%	0
VGK R. Smith	1.4	2	0.36	1	15%	1
VGK B. Hutton	1.3	2	0.21	0	5%	0
CGY A. Klapka	1.1	1	0.24	1	11%	1
VGK C. Sissons	1.0	2	0.23	0	9%	0
VGK B. McNabb	1.0	1	0.22	0	4%	0
CGY Y. Kuznetsov	1.0	0	0.22	1	6%	0
CGY H. Brzustewicz	1.0	3	0.11	0	3%	0
CGY K. Bahl	0.9	1	0.19	0	4%	0
VGK K. Korczak	0.9	3	0.21	1	3%	1
CGY R. Lomberg	0.9	1	0.13	1	7%	1
VGK K. Kolesar	0.8	1	0.20	0	8%	0
VGK Z. Whitecloud	0.8	1	0.18	1	5%	0
VGK J. Lauzon	0.8	0	0.11	0	3%	0
VGK C. Reinhardt	0.8	1	0.17	0	8%	0
CGY J. Beecher	0.6	1	0.12	1	7%	0
CGY J. Hanley	0.6	0	0.11	0	2%	0

Shots on goal: 25 of 36 players within one of their projection; they took 0.2 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.