Skip to content
Ice Lab

Mon, Dec 28, 2015·First Niagara Center, Buffalo

Washington Capitals 2, Buffalo Sabres 0

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, Washington Capitals win this game 50% of the time.

BUF winsWSH wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3Total
WSH0927010226
BUF01001209031

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P2 0:19WSHAlex OvechkinGWGAssists: Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie · Wrist, 0.18 xG1–0
  2. P2 12:55WSHJay BeagleAssists: Tom Wilson · Wrist, 0.12 xG2–0
Penalties (6)
  1. P1 5:17BUFMike Weber: Interference2 min
  2. P2 5:57WSHJay Beagle: Slashing2 min
  3. P2 10:49WSHMichael Latta: Fighting5 min
  4. P2 10:49BUFNicolas Deslauriers: Fighting5 min
  5. P2 14:10WSHTaylor Chorney: Interference2 min
  6. P3 7:50WSHTom Wilson: Interference2 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
47% to win54% to win
← WSH attackBUF attack →
  1. P1 20:00O'Reilly won the faceoff against Backstrom
  • Goal
  • Shot
  • Miss
  • Block
  • Hit
  • Takeaway
  • Giveaway
  • Faceoff
  • Penalty

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

WSHBUF
26Shots on goal31
1.8Expected goals1.8
50Shot attempts56
24Faceoffs won30
1Power plays3
11Penalty minutes7
20Hits21
12Blocked shots8
9Giveaways6
2Takeaways9

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. bestOvechkin – Oshie – Backstrom13:32

    xG 0.39–0.24 (62%)attempts 11–11goals 1–0

  2. Laich – Latta – Burakovsky4:34

    xG 0.15–0.05 (75%)attempts 7–2goals 0–0

  3. Laich – Kuznetsov – Burakovsky3:32

    xG 0.10–0.01 (89%)attempts 3–1goals 0–0

  4. Chimera – Beagle – Wilson10:14

    xG 0.30–0.28 (52%)attempts 6–6goals 1–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestChorney – Carrick7:44

    xG 0.47–0.10 (82%)attempts 10–1goals 1–0

  2. Alzner – Schmidt2:08

    xG 0.05–0.00 (100%)attempts 2–1goals 0–0

  3. Orlov – Schmidt16:12

    xG 0.42–0.58 (42%)attempts 14–17goals 0–0

Buffalo Sabres

Forward lines

  1. bestMcGinn – O'Reilly – Reinhart14:20

    xG 0.42–0.35 (54%)attempts 15–12goals 0–1

  2. Ennis – Kane – Larsson2:12

    xG 0.01–0.00 (100%)attempts 2–0goals 0–0

  3. Gionta – Larsson – Girgensons7:53

    xG 0.16–0.22 (41%)attempts 6–6goals 0–0

  4. Legwand – Moulson – Deslauriers6:03

    xG 0.05–0.15 (24%)attempts 3–6goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestBogosian – McCabe16:44

    xG 0.53–0.34 (61%)attempts 16–12goals 0–0

  2. Franson – Weber11:49

    xG 0.23–0.32 (41%)attempts 5–10goals 0–0

  3. Gorges – Ristolainen16:03

    xG 0.40–0.96 (30%)attempts 15–20goals 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 1.8 xGWSH 1.8 xG
00.511.52P1P2P3EndxG

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 9/100 · #1148 of 1230 this seasonSwing 0.73 · 2 goals in reachComeback index 43% (winner's lowest chance)
WSH 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, Washington Capitals win this game 50% 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).