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Ice Lab

Sat, Jan 21, 2017·Centre Bell, Montreal

Buffalo Sabres 3, Montréal Canadiens 2 (OT)

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, Buffalo Sabres win this game 52% of the time.

MTL winsBUF wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3OTTotal
BUF0141911411338
MTL092190703238

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P2 3:54MTLArtturi LehkonenAssists: Paul Byron · Wrist, 0.18 xG0–1
  2. P2 4:50BUFBrian GiontaAssists: Evander Kane · Wrist, 0.27 xG1–1
  3. P2 8:50MTLPhillip DanaultAssists: Jeff Petry, Max Pacioretty · Tip-in, 0.14 xG1–2
  4. P3 11:53BUFCody FransonAssists: Ryan O'Reilly · Slap, 0.03 xG2–2
  5. OT 1:48BUFZach BogosianGWGAssists: Ryan O'Reilly, Evander Kane · Slap, 0.06 xG3–2
Penalties (4)
  1. P1 19:48MTLAlexander Radulov: Hooking2 min
  2. P2 11:26MTLAlexei Emelin: Boarding2 min
  3. P2 17:26BUFJustin Falk: Slashing2 min
  4. P3 13:26MTLMark Barberio: Delaying game puck over glass2 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 SOG0MTL
44% to win56% to win
← BUF attackMTL attack →
  1. P1 20:00O'Reilly won the faceoff against Plekanec
  • Goal
  • Shot
  • Miss
  • Block
  • Hit
  • Takeaway
  • Giveaway
  • Faceoff
  • Penalty

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

BUFMTL
38Shots on goal38
3.3Expected goals3.1
63Shot attempts55
28Faceoffs won27
3Power plays1
2Penalty minutes6
29Hits7
8Blocked shots20
15Giveaways15
3Takeaways7

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 – Kane – Girgensons12:10

    xG 0.93–0.66 (58%)attempts 10–11goals 1–0

  2. Moulson – O'Reilly – Carrier3:48

    xG 0.16–0.01 (92%)attempts 4–2goals 0–0

  3. Foligno – Reinhart – Eichel11:25

    xG 0.27–0.55 (33%)attempts 12–8goals 0–1

  4. Okposo – Ennis – O'Reilly13:02

    xG 0.20–0.76 (21%)attempts 12–12goals 1–1

Defence pairs

  1. bestFedun – Ristolainen13:56

    xG 1.12–0.88 (56%)attempts 13–13goals 1–1

  2. Falk – Nelson7:23

    xG 0.30–0.31 (50%)attempts 7–8goals 0–0

  3. Falk – Ristolainen4:13

    xG 0.05–0.07 (41%)attempts 5–2goals 0–0

Montréal Canadiens

Forward lines

  1. bestPlekanec – Byron – Lehkonen9:57

    xG 0.60–0.24 (71%)attempts 12–8goals 1–1

  2. Radulov – Pacioretty – Danault14:44

    xG 0.65–0.40 (62%)attempts 9–13goals 1–0

  3. Mitchell – Flynn – de la Rose6:43

    xG 0.20–0.04 (82%)attempts 8–5goals 0–0

  4. Shaw – Galchenyuk – Andrighetto11:34

    xG 0.82–1.09 (43%)attempts 10–16goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestPetry – Beaulieu17:54

    xG 0.99–0.59 (63%)attempts 16–15goals 1–1

  2. Weber – Emelin14:20

    xG 0.57–0.49 (54%)attempts 16–17goals 0–1

  3. Barberio – Redmond8:53

    xG 0.53–0.50 (51%)attempts 7–12goals 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.

MTL 3.1 xGBUF 3.3 xG
0123P1P2P3OTEndxG

Tempo: attempts, hits and takeaways per minute

MTLBUF

Win probability

Model-based

How each goal and each minute changed the likely winner.

Win probability

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

Excitement 77/100 · #259 of 1230 this seasonSwing 2.08 · 5 goals in reachComeback index 10% (winner's lowest chance)
BUF 100%5050%50MTL 100%P1P2P3OTEndBiggest swing +38 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 52% of the time.

MTL winsBUF wins

Simulated goal difference (MTL − 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).