Skip to content
Ice Lab

Tue, Jan 28, 2014·First Niagara Center, Buffalo

Washington Capitals 5, Buffalo Sabres 4 (OT)

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, Washington Capitals win this game 60% of the time.

BUF winsWSH wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3OTTotal
WSH2132160511535
BUF1102411300427

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P1 3:49WSHAlex OvechkinPPAssists: Nicklas Backstrom, Troy Brouwer · Slap, 0.07 xG1–0
  2. P1 4:42WSHAlex OvechkinAssists: Mike Green, Marcus Johansson · Deflected, 0.09 xG2–0
  3. P1 13:45BUFChristian EhrhoffAssists: Matt Moulson, Tyler Ennis · Wrist, 0.14 xG2–1
  4. P2 1:41BUFCody HodgsonPPAssists: Matt Moulson, Tyler Ennis · Wrist, 0.04 xG2–2
  5. P2 10:09WSHMike GreenAssists: Dmitry Orlov, Jay Beagle · Wrap-around, 0.04 xG3–2
  6. P2 11:11BUFPhil VaroneAssists: Marcus Foligno, Brian Flynn · Wrist, 0.14 xG3–3
  7. P2 16:57WSHTroy BrouwerPPAssists: Martin Erat, Alex Ovechkin · Slap, 0.11 xG4–3
  8. P3 6:48BUFCody HodgsonUnassisted · Backhand, 0.08 xG4–4
  9. OT 1:00WSHMike GreenGWGAssists: Alex Ovechkin, Martin Erat · Wrist, 0.16 xG5–4
Penalties (5)
  1. P1 3:18BUFMatt Ellis: Tripping2 min · PPG
  2. P2 0:52WSHDmitry Orlov: Tripping2 min · PPG
  3. P2 5:41BUFMike Weber: Interference2 min
  4. P2 15:14BUFHenrik Tallinder: Hooking2 min · PPG
  5. P3 2:53WSHMike Green: Hooking2 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.

WSH00 SOG · 0.0 xG

20:00

P1

0.0 xG · 0 SOG0BUF
48% to win52% to win
← WSH attackBUF attack →
  1. P1 20:00Ott won the faceoff against Laich
  • Goal
  • Shot
  • Miss
  • Block
  • Hit
  • Takeaway
  • Giveaway
  • Faceoff
  • Penalty

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

WSHBUF
35Shots on goal27
2.8Expected goals2.3
55Shot attempts53
28Faceoffs won36
3Power plays2
4Penalty minutes6
10Hits22
15Blocked shots10
7Giveaways10
2Takeaways3

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. bestChimera – Beagle – Wilson6:28

    xG 0.61–0.04 (93%)attempts 6–3goals 0–0

  2. Erat – Laich – Brouwer11:30

    xG 0.39–0.20 (66%)attempts 12–6goals 1–0

  3. Chimera – Ward – Beagle3:30

    xG 0.05–0.03 (61%)attempts 2–5goals 0–0

  4. Ward – Fehr – Wellman6:13

    xG 0.03–0.06 (33%)attempts 4–4goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestGreen – Orlov19:58

    xG 1.14–0.42 (73%)attempts 20–15goals 2–0

  2. Alzner – Carlson17:08

    xG 0.64–0.86 (43%)attempts 17–9goals 0–2

  3. Erskine – Carrick13:18

    xG 0.46–0.91 (34%)attempts 10–22goals 0–1

Buffalo Sabres

Forward lines

  1. bestMoulson – Ennis – Girgensons12:18

    xG 1.09–0.76 (59%)attempts 15–11goals 1–0

  2. Ott – Leino – Hodgson12:30

    xG 0.44–0.25 (63%)attempts 12–9goals 1–0

  3. Foligno – Varone – Flynn12:37

    xG 0.44–0.59 (43%)attempts 11–11goals 1–1

  4. Konopka – Ellis – Scott4:56

    xG 0.03–0.20 (13%)attempts 2–5goals 0–1

Defence pairs

  1. bestEhrhoff – Ruhwedel15:33

    xG 0.86–0.59 (59%)attempts 15–15goals 2–1

  2. Tallinder – Sulzer15:26

    xG 0.36–0.46 (44%)attempts 8–13goals 1–0

  3. Tallinder – Ruhwedel2:37

    xG 0.00–0.13 (0%)attempts 1–2goals 0–0

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 2.3 xGWSH 2.8 xG
0123P1P2P3OTEndxG

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 93/100 · #64 of 1230 this seasonSwing 2.19 · 9 goals in reach · 2-goal lead cutComeback index 48% (winner's lowest chance)
WSH 100%5050%50BUF 100%P1P2P3OTEndBiggest swing +27 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 60% 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).