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Ice Lab

Thu, Feb 5, 2015·First Niagara Center, Buffalo

St. Louis Blues 3, Buffalo Sabres 0

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, St. Louis Blues win this game 56% of the time.

BUF winsSTL wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3Total
STL06114210330
BUF070907023

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P2 18:04STLDmitrij JaskinGWGAssists: Chris Butler, Ty Rattie · Wrap-around, 0.03 xG1–0
  2. P3 14:22STLVladimir TarasenkoAssists: David Backes, Alexander Steen · Wrist, 0.12 xG2–0
  3. P3 18:43STLJaden SchwartzENAssists: Paul Stastny, Jake Allen · Wrist, 0.60 xG3–0
Penalties (3)
  1. P1 18:03STLIan Cole: Hooking2 min
  2. P2 14:47STLIan Cole: Hooking2 min
  3. P3 5:59BUFNicolas Deslauriers: 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.

STL00 SOG · 0.0 xG

20:00

P1

0.0 xG · 0 SOG0BUF
46% to win54% to win
← STL attackBUF attack →
  1. P1 20:00Goc won the faceoff against Girgensons
  • Goal
  • Shot
  • Miss
  • Block
  • Hit
  • Takeaway
  • Giveaway
  • Faceoff
  • Penalty

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

STLBUF
30Shots on goal23
3.1Expected goals2.7
58Shot attempts42
33Faceoffs won16
1Power plays2
4Penalty minutes2
13Hits22
14Blocked shots15
5Giveaways2
2Takeaways1

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.

St. Louis Blues

Forward lines

  1. bestSteen – Backes – Tarasenko3:54

    xG 0.28–0.03 (90%)attempts 5–4goals 1–0

  2. Stastny – Oshie – Schwartz4:25

    xG 0.20–0.08 (71%)attempts 3–1goals 0–0

  3. Ott – Goc – Reaves8:19

    xG 0.10–0.00 (100%)attempts 5–2goals 0–0

  4. Berglund – Rattie – Jaskin8:56

    xG 0.34–0.30 (53%)attempts 12–5goals 1–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestBouwmeester – Pietrangelo18:13

    xG 0.71–0.52 (58%)attempts 11–13goals 0–0

  2. Butler – Gunnarsson17:03

    xG 0.50–0.40 (56%)attempts 21–13goals 1–0

  3. Jackman – Cole14:48

    xG 0.93–1.02 (48%)attempts 18–9goals 1–0

Buffalo Sabres

Forward lines

  1. Ellis – Kaleta – Deslauriers6:14

    xG 0.20–0.15 (57%)attempts 3–5goals 0–0

  2. Stafford – Hodgson – Flynn9:31

    xG 0.27–0.36 (43%)attempts 8–13goals 0–0

  3. Gionta – Moulson – Mitchell14:22

    xG 0.07–0.43 (15%)attempts 8–12goals 0–1

  4. Stewart – Ennis – Girgensons12:48

    xG 0.32–0.91 (26%)attempts 6–16goals 0–1

Defence pairs

  1. bestBenoit – Ristolainen12:39

    xG 1.06–0.71 (60%)attempts 13–18goals 0–0

  2. Benoit – Strachan2:03

    xG 0.00–0.00attempts 0–1goals 0–0

  3. Strachan – Weber18:51

    xG 0.33–0.55 (38%)attempts 13–18goals 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 2.7 xGSTL 3.1 xG
0123P1P2P3EndxG

Tempo: attempts, hits and takeaways per minute

BUFSTL

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 STL. Dots are goals.

Excitement 7/100 · #1138 of 1230 this seasonSwing 0.66 · 3 goals in reachComeback index 46% (winner's lowest chance)
STL 100%5050%50BUF 100%P1P2P3EndBiggest swing +23 pts

Did the better team win?

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

Based on shot quality alone, St. Louis Blues win this game 56% of the time.

BUF winsSTL wins

Simulated goal difference (BUF − STL), 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).