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Ice Lab

Sat, Nov 22, 2014·Verizon Center, Washington

Buffalo Sabres 2, Washington Capitals 1

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, Buffalo Sabres win this game 59% of the time.

WSH winsBUF wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3Total
BUF04110112226
WSH011020113144

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P2 10:15BUFMatt MoulsonAssists: Tyler Ennis, Zemgus Girgensons · Wrist, 0.43 xG1–0
  2. P3 5:54WSHMatt NiskanenPPAssists: Nicklas Backstrom, Marcus Johansson · Slap, 0.05 xG1–1
  3. P3 12:18BUFTorrey MitchellGWGAssists: Brian Gionta, Mike Weber · Wrist, 0.41 xG2–1
Penalties (4)
  1. P1 17:18WSHMichael Latta: Fighting5 min
  2. P1 17:18BUFMarcus Foligno: Fighting5 min
  3. P3 5:26BUFMike Weber: Hooking2 min · PPG
  4. P3 15:32WSHNicklas Backstrom: Tripping2 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 SOG0WSH
46% to win54% to win
← BUF attackWSH attack →
  1. P1 20:00Backstrom won the faceoff against Girgensons
  • Goal
  • Shot
  • Miss
  • Block
  • Hit
  • Takeaway
  • Giveaway
  • Faceoff
  • Penalty

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

BUFWSH
26Shots on goal44
3.6Expected goals3.1
46Shot attempts76
24Faceoffs won36
1Power plays1
7Penalty minutes7
32Hits32
21Blocked shots15
16Giveaways14
5Takeaways5

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. bestGionta – Mitchell – Flynn11:03

    xG 0.93–0.31 (75%)attempts 11–14goals 1–0

  2. Stafford – Hodgson – Deslauriers12:22

    xG 0.78–0.65 (54%)attempts 11–17goals 0–0

  3. Moulson – Ennis – Girgensons12:51

    xG 0.71–0.66 (52%)attempts 9–15goals 1–0

  4. McCormick – Stewart – Foligno4:10

    xG 0.03–0.00 (100%)attempts 3–2goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestMeszaros – Weber13:59

    xG 1.09–0.46 (70%)attempts 8–13goals 1–0

  2. Ristolainen – Zadorov16:54

    xG 1.24–0.71 (64%)attempts 20–17goals 1–0

  3. Strachan – Meszaros3:24

    xG 0.00–0.28 (0%)attempts 0–8goals 0–0

Washington Capitals

Forward lines

  1. bestOvechkin – Backstrom – Wilson16:58

    xG 0.86–0.19 (82%)attempts 33–8goals 0–0

  2. Fehr – Brouwer – Johansson3:03

    xG 0.29–0.07 (80%)attempts 5–1goals 0–0

  3. Fehr – Latta – Kuznetsov5:23

    xG 0.08–0.12 (38%)attempts 6–4goals 0–0

  4. Chimera – Ward – Beagle10:53

    xG 0.90–1.18 (43%)attempts 11–11goals 0–2

Defence pairs

  1. bestNiskanen – Alzner14:26

    xG 0.66–0.26 (72%)attempts 17–6goals 0–0

  2. Orpik – Carlson17:41

    xG 1.31–1.12 (54%)attempts 27–15goals 0–1

  3. Green – Schmidt10:30

    xG 0.36–0.19 (65%)attempts 12–10goals 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.

WSH 3.1 xGBUF 3.6 xG
01234P1P2P3EndxG

Tempo: attempts, hits and takeaways per minute

WSHBUF

Win probability

Model-based

How each goal and each minute changed the likely winner.

Win probability

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

Excitement 21/100 · #945 of 1230 this seasonSwing 1.07 · 3 goals in reachComeback index 46% (winner's lowest chance)
BUF 100%5050%50WSH 100%P1P2P3EndBiggest swing +33 pts

Did the better team win?

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

Based on shot quality alone, Buffalo Sabres win this game 59% of the time.

WSH winsBUF wins

Simulated goal difference (WSH − 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).