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Ice Lab

Sat, Dec 7, 2013·Centre Bell, Montreal

Buffalo Sabres 2, Montréal Canadiens 3

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, Montréal Canadiens win this game 68% of the time.

MTL winsBUF wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3Total
BUF0511218225
MTL0431104319

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P2 0:19MTLBrandon PrustAssists: Ryan White, Travis Moen · Wrist, 0.09 xG0–1
  2. P2 8:35BUFTyler EnnisAssists: Christian Ehrhoff, Cody Hodgson · Slap, 0.06 xG1–1
  3. P2 17:44MTLTomas PlekanecAssists: Brandon Prust, Travis Moen · Wrist, 0.09 xG1–2
  4. P2 18:07MTLAlex GalchenyukGWGAssists: Andrei Markov, Tomas Plekanec · Wrist, 0.06 xG1–3
  5. P3 4:04BUFZemgus GirgensonsAssists: Tyler Ennis, Henrik Tallinder · Wrist, 0.22 xG2–3
Penalties (2)
  1. P2 11:26BUFMark Pysyk: Slashing2 min
  2. P3 11:08MTLP.K. Subban: Holding the stick2 min

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.

BUF00 SOG · 0.0 xG

20:00

P1

0.0 xG · 0 SOG0MTL
48% to win52% to win
← BUF attackMTL attack →
  1. P1 20:00Leino won the faceoff against Desharnais
  • Goal
  • Shot
  • Miss
  • Block
  • Hit
  • Takeaway
  • Giveaway
  • Faceoff
  • Penalty

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

BUFMTL
25Shots on goal19
1.5Expected goals2.4
48Shot attempts41
29Faceoffs won25
1Power plays1
2Penalty minutes2
46Hits26
12Blocked shots16
4Giveaways14
5Takeaways6

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.

Buffalo Sabres

Forward lines

  1. bestMoulson – Stafford – Hodgson15:32

    xG 0.54–0.28 (66%)attempts 16–10goals 0–0

  2. McCormick – Foligno – Flynn8:09

    xG 0.17–0.10 (64%)attempts 8–1goals 0–0

  3. Ott – D'Agostini – Leino9:20

    xG 0.20–0.24 (46%)attempts 7–7goals 0–2

  4. Ennis – Adam – Girgensons12:14

    xG 0.26–0.39 (40%)attempts 9–11goals 0–1

Defence pairs

  1. bestTallinder – Myers16:27

    xG 0.68–0.31 (69%)attempts 16–7goals 1–1

  2. Ehrhoff – McBain18:50

    xG 0.55–0.59 (48%)attempts 14–19goals 1–1

  3. Weber – Pysyk15:42

    xG 0.23–0.34 (41%)attempts 15–7goals 0–1

Montréal Canadiens

Forward lines

  1. bestDesharnais – Pacioretty – Gallagher14:04

    xG 0.53–0.17 (76%)attempts 10–10goals 0–0

  2. Gionta – Plekanec – Galchenyuk7:17

    xG 0.46–0.22 (68%)attempts 6–4goals 1–0

  3. Moen – Prust – White10:25

    xG 0.32–0.15 (68%)attempts 9–9goals 1–0

  4. Brière – Eller – Galchenyuk3:37

    xG 0.01–0.02 (21%)attempts 2–2goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. Murray – Diaz13:42

    xG 0.39–0.38 (51%)attempts 11–8goals 0–0

  2. Gorges – Emelin16:21

    xG 0.17–0.31 (36%)attempts 9–11goals 0–0

  3. Markov – Subban18:54

    xG 0.36–0.52 (41%)attempts 8–18goals 3–2

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.

MTL 2.4 xGBUF 1.5 xG
00.511.522.5P1P2P3EndxG

Tempo: attempts, hits and takeaways per minute

MTLBUF

Win probability

Model-based

How each goal and each minute changed the likely winner.

Win probability

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

Excitement 39/100 · #683 of 1230 this seasonSwing 1.34 · 5 goals in reachComeback index 50% (winner's lowest chance)
BUF 100%5050%50MTL 100%P1P2P3EndBiggest swing +26 pts

Did the better team win?

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

Based on shot quality alone, Montréal Canadiens win this game 68% of the time.

MTL winsBUF wins

Simulated goal difference (MTL − BUF), 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).