How LineCombos Works

LineCombos shows which NHL players actually played together: forward lines, defense pairs, power play and penalty kill units for all 32 teams, from the most recent game, the last five games and the whole season.

Where the data comes from

Every number comes from the NHL's public game records: the shift charts, the official time-on-ice reports published after each game, the box scores, the play-by-play rosters, and the team schedules and rosters. Only regular-season games are used.

Before a game is used, the ice time we rebuild for every player must match the official box score within 2 seconds. When the shift chart is missing or does not match, the game is rebuilt from the time-on-ice reports instead. A game that matches neither is retried at every update for up to seven days; if it still does not match, it is left out.

How lines are calculated

• Each game is replayed second by second to find who was on the ice for both teams.
• At 5-on-5, the three forwards on the ice form a line and the two defensemen form a pair. Every second adds to that line and that pair.
• On the power play (5-on-4, 5-on-3 and 4-on-3) and on the penalty kill, all skaters on the ice count as one unit.
• A combination needs at least 10 seconds together in a game to count for that game.
• For each time window, combinations are ranked by time together. A team shows up to four lines and three pairs that share no players, and up to two power play units and two penalty kill units. Each must have at least 3% of the team's time in that situation.
• NEW, ▲ and ▼ compare the last game with the game before it.

When pages update

The site is rebuilt twice a day, at 09:30 and 17:30 UTC, so the previous night's games are in by the morning. The time of the last update is at the bottom of every page.

Limitations

• Lines show who played together in past games. They are not a confirmed lineup for tonight.
• When a defenseman plays a shift at forward, or a forward plays defense, those seconds do not count toward any line or pair, so that combination may be missing.
• Players listed as not in the last game may be injured or healthy scratches; the records do not say which.
• Starting goalies are not predicted. The goalie section only shows who started past games.

Contact

Questions or corrections: [email protected]