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Ice Lab

Tue, Jan 31, 2017·Centre Bell, Montreal

Buffalo Sabres 2, Montréal Canadiens 5

Expected result

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

MTL winsBUF wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3Total
BUF011010218239
MTL11731315535

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P1 17:27MTLMax PaciorettyAssists: Alexander Radulov, Phillip Danault · Wrist, 0.09 xG0–1
  2. P2 7:48MTLMax PaciorettyAssists: Alexander Radulov, Phillip Danault · Snap, 0.10 xG0–2
  3. P2 11:12MTLDavid DesharnaisGWGAssists: Sven Andrighetto · Wrist, 0.10 xG0–3
  4. P2 18:38MTLPaul ByronAssists: Andrei Markov, Tomas Plekanec · Snap, 0.17 xG0–4
  5. P3 3:24MTLMax PaciorettyUnassisted · Wrist, 0.14 xG0–5
  6. P3 16:04BUFDmitry KulikovAssists: Cal O'Reilly · Slap, 0.01 xG1–5
  7. P3 17:48BUFBrian GiontaPPAssists: Cody Franson, Evander Kane · Wrist, 0.51 xG2–5
Penalties (4)
  1. P1 2:52BUFTaylor Fedun: Tripping2 min
  2. P1 5:33MTLGreg Pateryn: Holding2 min
  3. P3 16:32MTLAlexei Emelin: Cross checking2 min · PPG
  4. P3 19:48MTLAndrew Shaw: Too many men on the ice2 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 Danault
  • Goal
  • Shot
  • Miss
  • Block
  • Hit
  • Takeaway
  • Giveaway
  • Faceoff
  • Penalty

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

BUFMTL
39Shots on goal35
3.5Expected goals2.9
65Shot attempts69
26Faceoffs won25
3Power plays1
2Penalty minutes6
31Hits16
21Blocked shots16
18Giveaways17
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.

Buffalo Sabres

Forward lines

  1. bestGionta – Kane – Girgensons6:05

    xG 0.47–0.28 (63%)attempts 6–7goals 0–1

  2. Ennis – Girgensons – Carrier2:31

    xG 0.20–0.07 (74%)attempts 6–2goals 0–0

  3. Moulson – Reinhart – Eichel2:12

    xG 0.00–0.00attempts 0–0goals 0–0

  4. Okposo – O'Reilly – Kane5:17

    xG 0.07–0.07 (48%)attempts 6–3goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestKulikov – Ristolainen19:39

    xG 1.07–0.57 (65%)attempts 19–14goals 1–0

  2. Franson – Fedun5:41

    xG 0.03–0.05 (34%)attempts 3–2goals 0–0

  3. Falk – Fedun8:08

    xG 0.30–0.34 (46%)attempts 7–12goals 0–0

Montréal Canadiens

Forward lines

  1. bestRadulov – Pacioretty – Danault13:30

    xG 0.88–0.31 (74%)attempts 19–13goals 3–0

  2. Mitchell – Flynn – Carr9:18

    xG 0.77–0.22 (77%)attempts 14–8goals 0–0

  3. Desharnais – Shaw – Andrighetto12:35

    xG 0.29–0.66 (31%)attempts 10–7goals 1–1

  4. Plekanec – Byron – Lehkonen10:56

    xG 0.44–0.83 (35%)attempts 13–11goals 1–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestPateryn – Beaulieu16:59

    xG 0.99–0.86 (53%)attempts 25–13goals 1–0

  2. Markov – Nesterov14:01

    xG 0.58–0.49 (54%)attempts 11–11goals 2–0

  3. Weber – Emelin19:25

    xG 0.83–0.80 (51%)attempts 21–22goals 1–1

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 2.9 xGBUF 3.5 xG
01234P1P2P3EndxG

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 60/100 · #452 of 1230 this seasonSwing 0.50 · 5 goals in reach · 2-goal lead cutComeback index 55% (winner's lowest chance)
BUF 100%5050%50MTL 100%P1P2P3EndBiggest swing +19 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.

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).