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Ice Lab

Mon, Dec 5, 2016·Verizon Center, Washington

Buffalo Sabres 2, Washington Capitals 3 (OT)

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, Buffalo Sabres win this game 61% of the time.

WSH winsBUF wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3OTTotal
BUF171160901233
WSH091711611333

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P1 5:59BUFZemgus GirgensonsAssists: Derek Grant, Rasmus Ristolainen · Backhand, 0.10 xG1–0
  2. P2 5:23WSHJay BeagleAssists: Brooks Orpik, Daniel Winnik · Tip-in, 0.12 xG1–1
  3. P2 15:23BUFKyle OkposoAssists: Ryan O'Reilly, William Carrier · Wrist, 0.16 xG2–1
  4. P3 13:42WSHMarcus JohanssonPPAssists: John Carlson, Justin Williams · Tip-in, 0.13 xG2–2
  5. OT 2:38WSHMarcus JohanssonGWGAssists: Dmitry Orlov, Evgeny Kuznetsov · Slap, 0.10 xG2–3
Penalties (6)
  1. P1 14:40BUFEvander Kane: Slashing2 min
  2. P1 17:28BUFWilliam Carrier: Slashing2 min
  3. P2 17:22WSHAlex Ovechkin: Slashing2 min
  4. P3 3:55WSHMatt Niskanen: Tripping2 min
  5. P3 13:37BUFEvander Kane: Hooking2 min · PPG
  6. P3 16:48WSHJay Beagle: 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
44% to win56% to win
← BUF attackWSH attack →
  1. P1 20:00Beagle won the faceoff against Larsson
  • Goal
  • Shot
  • Miss
  • Block
  • Hit
  • Takeaway
  • Giveaway
  • Faceoff
  • Penalty

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

BUFWSH
33Shots on goal33
3.4Expected goals2.7
62Shot attempts68
29Faceoffs won26
3Power plays3
6Penalty minutes6
39Hits24
18Blocked shots17
9Giveaways9
6Takeaways12

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. bestOkposo – O'Reilly – Carrier11:02

    xG 0.90–0.24 (79%)attempts 11–8goals 1–0

  2. Moulson – Grant – Girgensons4:05

    xG 0.54–0.11 (83%)attempts 5–3goals 1–0

  3. Kane – Reinhart – Eichel11:58

    xG 0.31–0.29 (52%)attempts 8–17goals 0–0

  4. Gionta – Foligno – Larsson9:29

    xG 0.41–0.54 (43%)attempts 9–10goals 0–1

Defence pairs

  1. bestMcCabe – Ristolainen18:23

    xG 1.10–0.66 (62%)attempts 19–19goals 1–0

  2. Franson – Guhle12:36

    xG 0.41–0.14 (74%)attempts 9–13goals 1–0

  3. Ristolainen – Guhle3:04

    xG 0.01–0.01 (37%)attempts 1–1goals 0–0

Washington Capitals

Forward lines

  1. bestWinnik – Beagle – Wilson10:05

    xG 0.47–0.32 (60%)attempts 11–8goals 1–0

  2. Ovechkin – Beagle – Kuznetsov2:36

    xG 0.18–0.06 (76%)attempts 3–1goals 0–0

  3. Williams – Backstrom – Johansson2:02

    xG 0.03–0.00 (100%)attempts 4–1goals 0–0

  4. Kuznetsov – Burakovsky – Vrana9:32

    xG 0.22–0.34 (39%)attempts 9–9goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestCarlson – Orlov12:21

    xG 0.50–0.34 (59%)attempts 15–10goals 0–0

  2. Niskanen – Orlov4:11

    xG 0.24–0.15 (62%)attempts 5–2goals 0–0

  3. Orpik – Niskanen2:44

    xG 0.03–0.01 (76%)attempts 2–1goals 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 2.7 xGBUF 3.4 xG
01234P1P2P3OTEndxG

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 73/100 · #301 of 1230 this seasonSwing 2.01 · 5 goals in reachComeback index 17% (winner's lowest chance)
BUF 100%5050%50WSH 100%P1P2P3OTEndBiggest swing +36 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 61% 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).