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Ice Lab

Sat, Nov 25, 2017·Centre Bell, Montreal

Buffalo Sabres 0, Montréal Canadiens 3

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, Montréal Canadiens win this game 80% of the time.

MTL winsBUF wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3Total
BUF010015011036
MTL1141913326

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P1 12:54MTLJeff PetryPPGWGAssists: Jonathan Drouin, Alex Galchenyuk · Slap, 0.03 xG0–1
  2. P2 13:58MTLAlex GalchenyukAssists: Paul Byron, Jonathan Drouin · Wrist, 0.26 xG0–2
  3. P3 8:27MTLPaul ByronSHUnassisted · Backhand, 0.26 xG0–3
Penalties (4)
  1. P1 12:40BUFJason Pominville: Hooking2 min · PPG
  2. P1 13:36MTLTomas Plekanec: Delaying game2 min
  3. P2 8:51BUFSeth Griffith: Hooking2 min
  4. P3 7:52MTLAndrew Shaw: Slashing2 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
46% to win54% 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
36Shots on goal26
2.6Expected goals4.5
78Shot attempts52
34Faceoffs won26
2Power plays2
4Penalty minutes4
26Hits21
15Blocked shots30
4Giveaways23
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.

Buffalo Sabres

Forward lines

  1. bestPominville – Kane – Eichel11:21

    xG 0.89–0.10 (90%)attempts 21–6goals 0–0

  2. Okposo – O'Reilly – Nolan2:51

    xG 0.06–0.06 (48%)attempts 4–2goals 0–0

  3. O'Reilly – Girgensons – Reinhart2:25

    xG 0.00–0.01 (0%)attempts 1–2goals 0–0

  4. Larsson – Griffith – Girgensons2:20

    xG 0.00–0.02 (0%)attempts 3–1goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestScandella – Ristolainen15:39

    xG 1.34–0.96 (58%)attempts 23–21goals 0–1

  2. McCabe – Antipin13:14

    xG 0.19–0.17 (52%)attempts 16–8goals 0–0

  3. Gorges – Beaulieu12:47

    xG 0.21–0.85 (20%)attempts 14–11goals 0–0

Montréal Canadiens

Forward lines

  1. bestByron – Galchenyuk – Drouin10:19

    xG 0.77–0.10 (88%)attempts 12–9goals 1–0

  2. Plekanec – Gallagher – Hudon13:06

    xG 0.62–0.17 (79%)attempts 10–17goals 0–0

  3. Pacioretty – Shaw – Danault12:40

    xG 0.52–0.20 (73%)attempts 11–9goals 0–0

  4. Deslauriers – Froese – de la Rose5:22

    xG 0.05–0.55 (9%)attempts 4–13goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestPetry – Alzner13:42

    xG 0.61–0.28 (68%)attempts 11–24goals 0–0

  2. Benn – Mete3:05

    xG 0.30–0.10 (74%)attempts 3–7goals 0–0

  3. Benn – Morrow11:18

    xG 0.34–0.15 (70%)attempts 15–8goals 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 4.5 xGBUF 2.6 xG
012345P1P2P3EndxG

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 3/100 · #1228 of 1271 this seasonSwing 0.53 · 3 goals in reachComeback index 54% (winner's lowest chance)
BUF 100%5050%50MTL 100%P1P2P3EndBiggest swing +21 pts

Did the better team win?

Every shot replayed 10,000 times, scoring with its expected-goal probability.

Based on shot quality alone, Montréal Canadiens win this game 80% 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).