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Ice Lab

Tue, Nov 7, 2017·KeyBank Center, Buffalo

Washington Capitals 1, Buffalo Sabres 3

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, Buffalo Sabres win this game 79% of the time.

BUF winsWSH wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3Total
WSH04110011125
BUF0151928332

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P2 2:39BUFEvander KaneAssists: Jack Eichel · Snap, 0.18 xG0–1
  2. P2 17:44WSHAlex OvechkinAssists: Devante Smith-Pelly, Brooks Orpik · Wrist, 0.05 xG1–1
  3. P3 3:22BUFBenoit PouliotGWGUnassisted · Wrist, 0.05 xG1–2
  4. P3 19:40BUFEvander KaneENAssists: Jason Pominville · Wrist, 0.59 xG1–3
Penalties (7)
  1. P1 4:25WSHAlex Ovechkin: Tripping2 min
  2. P1 10:59BUFJordan Nolan: Slashing2 min
  3. P1 18:59WSHBrooks Orpik: Roughing2 min
  4. P2 12:33BUFJake McCabe: Fighting5 min
  5. P2 12:33WSHTom Wilson: Fighting5 min
  6. P3 4:12WSHEvgeny Kuznetsov: Slashing2 min
  7. P3 7:01WSHJohn Carlson: 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.

WSH00 SOG · 0.0 xG

20:00

P1

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

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

WSHBUF
25Shots on goal32
1.3Expected goals2.8
43Shot attempts50
29Faceoffs won31
1Power plays4
13Penalty minutes7
22Hits19
8Blocked shots12
7Giveaways7
5Takeaways6

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. Ovechkin – Kuznetsov – Smith-Pelly13:09

    xG 0.55–0.55 (50%)attempts 15–12goals 1–0

  2. Eller – Wilson – Stephenson5:51

    xG 0.09–0.18 (33%)attempts 5–3goals 0–1

  3. Beagle – Chiasson – Walker4:52

    xG 0.00–0.14 (0%)attempts 1–3goals 0–0

  4. Oshie – Backstrom – Vrana8:48

    xG 0.17–0.43 (28%)attempts 7–6goals 0–1

Defence pairs

  1. Carlson – Djoos2:01

    xG 0.01–0.06 (16%)attempts 1–2goals 0–0

  2. Chorney – Djoos8:19

    xG 0.11–0.19 (38%)attempts 5–6goals 0–0

  3. Orlov – Djoos4:27

    xG 0.01–0.13 (5%)attempts 3–3goals 0–0

Buffalo Sabres

Forward lines

  1. bestPouliot – Okposo – O'Reilly11:26

    xG 0.71–0.14 (84%)attempts 13–9goals 1–1

  2. Pominville – Kane – Eichel11:15

    xG 0.40–0.24 (63%)attempts 6–10goals 1–0

  3. Griffith – Baptiste – Reinhart7:40

    xG 0.18–0.09 (68%)attempts 6–3goals 0–0

  4. Nolan – Larsson – Girgensons8:24

    xG 0.07–0.15 (32%)attempts 6–5goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestFedun – McCabe14:49

    xG 0.67–0.15 (82%)attempts 12–11goals 0–0

  2. Redmond – Antipin11:50

    xG 0.37–0.19 (66%)attempts 6–11goals 2–0

  3. Scandella – Fedun2:00

    xG 0.10–0.08 (56%)attempts 4–1goals 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.

BUF 2.8 xGWSH 1.3 xG
-0.500.511.522.53P1P2P3EndxG

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 32/100 · #872 of 1271 this seasonSwing 1.16 · 4 goals in reachComeback index 53% (winner's lowest chance)
WSH 100%5050%50BUF 100%P1P2P3EndBiggest swing +26 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 79% 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).