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Ice Lab

Sun, Feb 20, 2011·HSBC Arena, Buffalo

Washington Capitals 2, Buffalo Sabres 1

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, Washington Capitals win this game 82% of the time.

BUF winsWSH wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3Total
WSH01611815239
BUF08110011129

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

Every goal, with the change it made to the home team's win probability.

  1. P2 6:09WSHMathieu PerreaultAssists: Matt Hendricks, Jason Chimera · Wrist, 0.08 xG1–0
  2. P2 8:52BUFJason PominvillePPAssists: Thomas Vanek, Tim Connolly · Slap, 0.05 xG1–1
  3. P3 10:20WSHMarcus JohanssonPPGWGAssists: Mathieu Perreault, Alex Ovechkin · Tip-in, 0.19 xG2–1
Penalties (7)
  1. P1 11:13BUFJochen Hecht: Elbowing2 min
  2. P1 13:39BUFTyler Myers: Boarding2 min
  3. P1 14:05BUFPaul Gaustad: Cross checking2 min
  4. P1 18:06BUFShaone Morrisonn: Cross checking2 min
  5. P2 8:20WSHBrooks Laich: Interference goalkeeper2 min · PPG
  6. P3 2:23WSHMathieu Perreault: Hooking2 min
  7. P3 9:15BUFShaone Morrisonn: Interference2 min · PPG

Replay

Watch the game unfold on the ice: every shot, hit, turnover and faceoff appears as it happened, then fades. Drag the timeline to jump; goals are marked on it.

WSH00 SOG · 0.0 xG

20:00

P1

0.0 xG · 0 SOG0BUF
47% to win53% to win
← WSH attackBUF attack →
  1. P1 20:00Gaustad won the faceoff against Backstrom
  • Goal
  • Shot
  • Miss
  • Block
  • Hit
  • Takeaway
  • Giveaway
  • Faceoff
  • Penalty

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

WSHBUF
39Shots on goal29
3.6Expected goals1.6
68Shot attempts51
24Faceoffs won29
5Power plays2
4Penalty minutes10
10Hits17
12Blocked shots17
6Giveaways7
7Takeaways1

Line combinations that worked

Model-based

Each team's forward lines and defence pairs at 5-on-5 (two minutes or more together), best first by expected goals for minus against.

Washington Capitals

Forward lines

  1. bestBradley – Steckel – Gordon8:37

    xG 0.42–0.06 (87%)attempts 9–5goals 0–0

  2. Laich – Semin – Johansson10:36

    xG 0.23–0.23 (51%)attempts 11–12goals 0–0

  3. Chimera – Hendricks – Perreault7:41

    xG 0.14–0.27 (34%)attempts 5–6goals 1–0

  4. Knuble – Ovechkin – Backstrom11:50

    xG 0.22–0.54 (29%)attempts 10–11goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestHannan – Schultz16:35

    xG 0.54–0.37 (59%)attempts 16–16goals 1–0

  2. Sloan – Schultz2:12

    xG 0.08–0.06 (57%)attempts 2–4goals 0–0

  3. Erskine – Sloan11:15

    xG 0.29–0.33 (46%)attempts 10–12goals 0–0

Buffalo Sabres

Forward lines

  1. bestHecht – Pominville – Vanek10:35

    xG 0.66–0.33 (66%)attempts 16–11goals 0–0

  2. Connolly – Stafford – Ennis10:45

    xG 0.39–0.29 (57%)attempts 11–5goals 0–1

  3. Niedermayer – Grier – Gaustad9:16

    xG 0.21–0.15 (58%)attempts 9–8goals 0–0

  4. McCormick – Kaleta – Gerbe3:42

    xG 0.00–0.13 (0%)attempts 0–6goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestMorrisonn – Weber13:10

    xG 0.42–0.20 (68%)attempts 8–11goals 0–0

  2. Butler – Myers14:53

    xG 0.43–0.35 (55%)attempts 16–10goals 0–0

  3. Leopold – Montador15:07

    xG 0.36–0.53 (41%)attempts 16–15goals 0–1

How the game flowed

Model-based

Chance quality for each side, minute by minute, with pressure underneath.

Expected goals flow

Running total of expected goals for each team. Steep climbs are spells of pressure; dots are goals. Shaded bands mark power plays (team colour), 4-on-4 or 3-on-3 (grey) and empty nets.

BUF 1.6 xGWSH 3.6 xG
01234P1P2P3EndxG

Tempo: attempts, hits and takeaways per minute

BUFWSH

Win probability

Model-based

How each goal and each minute changed the likely winner.

Win probability

BUF's chance of winning through the game. Above the middle line BUF is favoured, below it WSH. Dots are goals.

Excitement 36/100 · #765 of 1230 this seasonSwing 1.23 · 3 goals in reachComeback index 47% (winner's lowest chance)
WSH 100%5050%50BUF 100%P1P2P3EndBiggest swing +31 pts

Did the better team win?

Every shot replayed 10,000 times, scoring with its expected-goal probability.

Based on shot quality alone, Washington Capitals win this game 82% of the time.

BUF winsWSH wins

Simulated goal difference (BUF − WSH), 10,000 replays

-7
-6
-5
-4
-3
-2
-1
0
+1
+2
+3
+4
+5
+6
+7

The outlined bar is the actual result (excluding the shootout).