NHL Line Combinations
Which lines tilt the ice when they are out there? Every forward line and defense pair a club has used in its last three games, ranked by its share of the five-on-five scoring chances while those skaters were on the ice together.
2026-27 seasonregular season and playoffs, from the league's shift charts
Defense pairstop 60 of 86 · at least 14 five-on-five minutes together
Gudas – Balinskis (Panthers) have the best share of the chances among qualifying defense pairs: 89.4% of the five-on-five expected goals in 21 minutes together. The most-used is Pettersson – Durzi (Rangers) at 54 minutes and 42.5%. 45 of the 86 are above 50%.
| # | Together | GP | 5v5 TOI | xG share | xGF/60 | xGA/60 | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Gudas · Balinskis | 2 | 20:38 | 89.4% | 3.72 | 0.44 | 1–1 |
| 2 |  Fowler · Carlo | 2 | 14:01 | 81.3% | 5.01 | 1.16 | 2–0 |
| 3 |  Chiarot · Sandin-Pellikka | 2 | 18:00 | 76.7% | 6.18 | 1.87 | 1–0 |
| 4 |  Burns · Manson | 2 | 15:00 | 75.0% | 4.91 | 1.63 | 2–0 |
| 5 |  Heiskanen · Harley | 2 | 15:44 | 74.6% | 1.97 | 0.67 | 0–0 |
| 6 |  Brodin · Maatta | 2 | 22:37 | 71.5% | 1.79 | 0.71 | 1–0 |
| 7 |  Hamilton · Siegenthaler | 2 | 29:38 | 71.1% | 5.12 | 2.08 | 1–2 |
| 8 |  Slavin · Chatfield | 3 | 42:20 | 69.8% | 3.79 | 1.64 | 0–2 |
| 9 |  Girard · Korczak | 2 | 28:04 | 69.7% | 3.49 | 1.52 | 5–0 |
| 10 | Jones · Mikkola | 3 | 42:36 | 69.7% | 2.25 | 0.98 | 1–0 |
| 11 |  Schenn · Pettersson | 3 | 22:50 | 67.8% | 2.05 | 0.98 | 3–2 |
| 12 |  Ekholm · Bouchard | 3 | 38:37 | 67.1% | 3.42 | 1.67 | 3–2 |
| 13 |  Liljegren · Fehérváry | 2 | 14:03 | 65.3% | 4.33 | 2.30 | 2–2 |
| 14 |  Montour · Evans | 3 | 50:38 | 63.7% | 3.23 | 1.84 | 4–1 |
| 15 |  Werenski · Mateychuk | 2 | 34:51 | 63.4% | 2.86 | 1.66 | 2–2 |
| 16 |  Ekman-Larsson · Stecher | 3 | 31:05 | 63.3% | 3.21 | 1.86 | 1–0 |
| 17 | Karlsson · Carlile | 2 | 21:03 | 62.7% | 3.56 | 2.12 | 1–1 |
| 18 |  Weegar · Sergachev | 3 | 42:32 | 62.6% | 3.77 | 2.26 | 1–2 |
| 19 | Toews · Makar | 2 | 18:39 | 61.5% | 2.62 | 1.64 | 0–0 |
| 20 | Lindgren · Ottavainen | 1 | 14:03 | 61.3% | 4.77 | 3.02 | 4–0 |
| 21 |  Lindholm · Borgen | 3 | 40:59 | 60.9% | 3.27 | 2.10 | 3–1 |
| 22 | Schmidt · Marino | 3 | 42:16 | 60.5% | 2.86 | 1.87 | 1–0 |
| 23 | Pesce · Hughes | 2 | 26:19 | 59.6% | 3.24 | 2.19 | 0–3 |
| 24 | Letang · van Riemsdyk | 2 | 23:27 | 58.9% | 2.37 | 1.65 | 1–1 |
| 25 |  McNabb · Theodore | 2 | 29:04 | 58.8% | 2.42 | 1.70 | 1–0 |
| 26 |  Gavrikov · Fox | 4 | 47:19 | 58.3% | 2.96 | 2.11 | 2–1 |
| 27 | Hanifin · Lauzon | 2 | 29:04 | 58.2% | 2.97 | 2.13 | 1–3 |
| 28 |  DeMelo · Morrissey | 2 | 21:56 | 58.2% | 3.71 | 2.66 | 0–0 |
| 29 |  McDonagh · Cernak | 2 | 19:34 | 56.8% | 2.34 | 1.78 | 0–2 |
| 30 |  Pelech · Schaefer | 2 | 21:33 | 56.6% | 2.40 | 1.84 | 1–1 |
| 31 |  Whitecloud · Bahl | 3 | 27:56 | 56.4% | 1.46 | 1.13 | 0–2 |
| 32 |  Carrier · Hutson | 2 | 20:13 | 56.3% | 2.27 | 1.76 | 2–2 |
| 33 | Rielly · Raddysh | 3 | 37:09 | 56.0% | 2.81 | 2.21 | 1–1 |
| 34 |  Hinds · Warren | 2 | 17:54 | 56.0% | 1.19 | 0.93 | 1–0 |
| 35 | Carlson · Moser | 2 | 22:20 | 55.6% | 2.19 | 1.75 | 1–0 |
| 36 | Dillon · Chisholm | 2 | 21:48 | 55.3% | 1.70 | 1.38 | 1–0 |
| 37 |  Skjei · Perbix | 2 | 25:51 | 54.7% | 2.24 | 1.85 | 1–1 |
| 38 | Lundkvist · Harley | 2 | 17:05 | 52.9% | 2.33 | 2.08 | 0–0 |
| 39 | Clifton · Zadorov | 3 | 44:08 | 52.5% | 1.89 | 1.71 | 1–0 |
| 40 | Aspirot · Lohrei | 3 | 40:26 | 52.2% | 2.45 | 2.24 | 1–1 |
| 41 | Peeke · Simashev | 3 | 31:20 | 51.4% | 2.50 | 2.36 | 2–1 |
| 42 |  Samuelsson · Dahlin | 2 | 30:10 | 51.2% | 2.38 | 2.26 | 1–3 |
| 43 | Spurgeon · Hughes | 2 | 26:24 | 51.0% | 2.12 | 2.04 | 0–1 |
| 44 | Desharnais · Hutson | 2 | 18:15 | 50.8% | 3.14 | 3.04 | 1–0 |
| 45 | Murphy · Shea | 3 | 29:43 | 50.5% | 2.94 | 2.88 | 5–3 |
| 46 | Matheson · Dobson | 2 | 24:57 | 49.3% | 2.50 | 2.57 | 1–2 |
| 47 | Bogosian · Hunt | 2 | 16:42 | 49.0% | 1.71 | 1.78 | 2–1 |
| 48 | Andersson · Wotherspoon | 2 | 29:43 | 48.3% | 2.76 | 2.95 | 1–3 |
| 49 | Middleton · Parekh | 3 | 38:41 | 47.4% | 2.68 | 2.97 | 0–2 |
| 50 | Kulikov · Forsling | 1 | 14:11 | 46.8% | 1.43 | 1.63 | 0–0 |
| 51 | Seider · Johansson | 2 | 21:32 | 46.6% | 1.17 | 1.34 | 0–0 |
| 52 |  Cole · Vlasic | 3 | 17:49 | 46.3% | 2.41 | 2.80 | 1–3 |
| 53 | Faulk · Johansson | 2 | 22:34 | 46.3% | 2.01 | 2.33 | 0–0 |
| 54 | Tanev · McCabe | 3 | 33:08 | 46.3% | 1.99 | 2.31 | 2–3 |
| 55 | Bahl · Nemec | 3 | 17:13 | 44.6% | 3.16 | 3.93 | 0–3 |
| 56 | LaCombe · Luneau | 2 | 37:11 | 44.5% | 2.04 | 2.54 | 2–0 |
| 57 | Soucy · Andrae | 2 | 15:10 | 43.6% | 1.94 | 2.52 | 0–0 |
| 58 | Roy · Chychrun | 2 | 21:41 | 43.6% | 2.02 | 2.62 | 1–0 |
| 59 | Pettersson · Durzi | 4 | 53:58 | 42.5% | 2.12 | 2.87 | 2–0 |
| 60 |  Trouba · Allan | 2 | 25:23 | 41.2% | 1.71 | 2.44 | 0–1 |
How this is measured
The league's shift charts say who was on the ice every second. Each stretch of five-on-five play with three forwards and two defensemen a side is credited to that forward line and that defense pair, along with the expected goals each team created in it (from our shot model) and the goals actually scored. A line's xG share is its team's part of those expected goals: above 50% it out-chanced whoever it faced.
Only combinations used in the club's last three games are listed, so a trio broken up weeks ago does not sit on the board, and only those with at least the stated minutes together, because a share over a few shifts is noise. Ice time with four forwards or during a line change counts for nobody. The number does not adjust for who the line played against or where its shifts started. More →