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Ice Lab

Wed, Feb 5, 2014·First Niagara Center, Buffalo

Pittsburgh Penguins 5, Buffalo Sabres 1

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, Pittsburgh Penguins win this game 67% of the time.

BUF winsPIT wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3Total
PIT11321526534
BUF1110905125

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P1 5:58BUFDrew StaffordAssists: Tyler Ennis · Wrist, 0.26 xG0–1
  2. P1 15:01PITHarry ZolnierczykAssists: Craig Adams, Sidney Crosby · Wrist, 0.13 xG1–1
  3. P2 2:08PITSidney CrosbyPPGWGAssists: Matt Niskanen · Wrist, 0.20 xG2–1
  4. P2 17:48PITEvgeni MalkinUnassisted · Wrist, 0.18 xG3–1
  5. P3 5:22PITBrian GibbonsAssists: Brandon Sutter · Wrist, 0.02 xG4–1
  6. P3 12:12PITJames NealAssists: Evgeni Malkin, Brooks Orpik · Wrist, 0.06 xG5–1
Penalties (9)
  1. P1 3:14BUFAlexander Sulzer: Tripping2 min
  2. P1 12:17BUFJohn Scott: Fighting5 min
  3. P1 12:17PITDeryk Engelland: Fighting5 min
  4. P1 17:38PITMatt Niskanen: High sticking2 min
  5. P2 1:41BUFJamie McBain: Tripping2 min · PPG
  6. P2 4:08BUFMike Weber: Holding the stick2 min
  7. P2 19:24BUFJohn Scott: Unsportsmanlike conduct2 min
  8. P2 19:24PITTanner Glass: Unsportsmanlike conduct2 min
  9. P3 19:13BUFMatt Ellis: Boarding2 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.

PIT00 SOG · 0.0 xG

20:00

P1

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

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

PITBUF
34Shots on goal25
2.9Expected goals2.0
60Shot attempts52
26Faceoffs won26
4Power plays1
9Penalty minutes15
21Hits26
17Blocked shots14
4Giveaways6
2Takeaways8

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.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Forward lines

  1. bestJokinen – Malkin – Neal10:04

    xG 0.68–0.23 (75%)attempts 12–6goals 2–0

  2. Sutter – Gibbons – Megna3:25

    xG 0.25–0.03 (88%)attempts 5–3goals 1–0

  3. Glass – Sutter – Megna3:58

    xG 0.34–0.13 (72%)attempts 6–6goals 0–0

  4. Kunitz – Crosby – Gibbons5:37

    xG 0.18–0.12 (60%)attempts 7–6goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestNiskanen – Maatta13:22

    xG 0.96–0.31 (75%)attempts 20–16goals 1–0

  2. Orpik – Martin12:51

    xG 0.68–0.42 (62%)attempts 16–9goals 3–0

  3. Scuderi – Bortuzzo8:40

    xG 0.11–0.23 (32%)attempts 3–10goals 0–0

Buffalo Sabres

Forward lines

  1. bestOtt – D'Agostini – Hodgson10:49

    xG 0.48–0.14 (78%)attempts 12–6goals 0–1

  2. Ellis – Scott – Varone8:24

    xG 0.30–0.06 (83%)attempts 7–5goals 0–0

  3. Stafford – Omark – Ennis11:25

    xG 0.71–0.51 (58%)attempts 15–12goals 1–1

  4. Foligno – Flynn – Girgensons10:43

    xG 0.21–0.58 (27%)attempts 6–12goals 0–1

Defence pairs

  1. bestEhrhoff – Sulzer16:58

    xG 0.80–0.37 (68%)attempts 21–13goals 0–2

  2. Tallinder – Ruhwedel16:12

    xG 0.65–0.82 (44%)attempts 15–17goals 1–0

  3. Weber – McBain12:43

    xG 0.13–0.74 (15%)attempts 8–13goals 0–2

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.

BUF 2.0 xGPIT 2.9 xG
0123P1P2P3EndxG

Tempo: attempts, hits and takeaways per minute

BUFPIT

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 PIT. Dots are goals.

Excitement 29/100 · #795 of 1230 this seasonSwing 0.99 · 5 goals in reachComeback index 28% (winner's lowest chance)
PIT 100%5050%50BUF 100%P1P2P3EndBiggest swing +21 pts

Did the better team win?

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

Based on shot quality alone, Pittsburgh Penguins win this game 67% of the time.

BUF winsPIT wins

Simulated goal difference (BUF − PIT), 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).