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Ice Lab

Mon, Feb 19, 2018·KeyBank Center, Buffalo

Washington Capitals 3, Buffalo Sabres 2

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, Washington Capitals win this game 75% of the time.

BUF winsWSH wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3Total
WSH01421016330
BUF01007217234

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P2 1:18WSHAlex OvechkinAssists: Christian Djoos, John Carlson · Deflected, 0.12 xG1–0
  2. P2 13:33WSHJohn CarlsonAssists: T.J. Oshie, Jakub Vrana · Snap, 0.44 xG2–0
  3. P3 12:42BUFKyle OkposoAssists: Scott Wilson, Evan Rodrigues · Tip-in, 0.05 xG2–1
  4. P3 19:34WSHEvgeny KuznetsovENGWGUnassisted · Backhand, 0.70 xG3–1
  5. P3 19:56BUFEvander KaneAssists: Ryan O'Reilly, Sam Reinhart · Wrist, 0.18 xG3–2
Penalties (4)
  1. P1 17:53BUFJohan Larsson: Tripping2 min
  2. P1 18:54WSHBrett Connolly: Interference2 min
  3. P2 13:33WSHEvgeny Kuznetsov: High sticking2 min
  4. P3 4:14WSHNicklas Backstrom: 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.

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 O'Reilly
  • Goal
  • Shot
  • Miss
  • Block
  • Hit
  • Takeaway
  • Giveaway
  • Faceoff
  • Penalty

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

WSHBUF
30Shots on goal34
3.7Expected goals2.2
55Shot attempts56
35Faceoffs won33
1Power plays3
6Penalty minutes2
14Hits21
10Blocked shots9
11Giveaways4
2Takeaways4

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. bestOshie – Kuznetsov – Vrana9:49

    xG 0.83–0.41 (67%)attempts 7–8goals 1–0

  2. Eller – Connolly – Burakovsky9:18

    xG 0.58–0.33 (64%)attempts 11–10goals 0–1

  3. Ovechkin – Backstrom – Wilson13:21

    xG 0.70–0.47 (60%)attempts 17–13goals 0–0

  4. Beagle – Smith-Pelly – Stephenson9:10

    xG 0.34–0.16 (67%)attempts 9–4goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestCarlson – Orlov2:04

    xG 0.86–0.09 (91%)attempts 6–2goals 1–0

  2. Carlson – Djoos14:02

    xG 0.51–0.10 (84%)attempts 12–7goals 1–0

  3. Orpik – Bowey13:55

    xG 0.73–0.43 (63%)attempts 13–12goals 0–1

Buffalo Sabres

Forward lines

  1. bestO'Reilly – Kane – Reinhart4:59

    xG 0.50–0.18 (73%)attempts 15–4goals 0–0

  2. Larsson – Girgensons – Reinhart7:04

    xG 0.24–0.15 (61%)attempts 6–5goals 0–0

  3. Pominville – O'Reilly – Kane10:42

    xG 0.46–0.42 (52%)attempts 10–12goals 0–0

  4. Pominville – Larsson – Girgensons3:51

    xG 0.02–0.02 (51%)attempts 1–1goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. Scandella – Ristolainen18:43

    xG 0.64–0.73 (47%)attempts 22–19goals 0–1

  2. Gorges – Nelson13:06

    xG 0.30–0.59 (34%)attempts 6–13goals 1–0

  3. Falk – Beaulieu12:49

    xG 0.35–1.34 (21%)attempts 10–16goals 0–1

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.

BUF 2.2 xGWSH 3.7 xG
01234P1P2P3EndxG

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 29/100 · #908 of 1271 this seasonSwing 0.97 · 5 goals in reachComeback index 42% (winner's lowest chance)
WSH 100%5050%50BUF 100%P1P2P3EndBiggest swing +22 pts

Did the better team win?

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

Based on shot quality alone, Washington Capitals win this game 75% 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).