Skip to content
Ice Lab

Mon, Dec 3, 2018·Bridgestone Arena, Nashville

Buffalo Sabres 1, Nashville Predators 2

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, Nashville Predators win this game 60% of the time.

NSH winsBUF wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3Total
BUF081708123
NSH1111806225

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P1 16:25NSHRyan EllisPPAssists: Roman Josi, Ryan Johansen · Slap, 0.07 xG0–1
  2. P2 5:20BUFSam ReinhartUnassisted · Backhand, 0.23 xG1–1
  3. P2 16:34NSHKevin FialaGWGAssists: Craig Smith, Mattias Ekholm · Wrist, 0.02 xG1–2
Penalties (6)
  1. P1 11:41NSHMiikka Salomaki: Holding2 min
  2. P1 15:04BUFNathan Beaulieu: Tripping2 min · PPG
  3. P2 1:50NSHDan Hamhuis: Tripping2 min
  4. P2 13:26NSHAustin Watson: Hooking2 min
  5. P2 17:27NSHRyan Hartman: Tripping2 min
  6. P2 18:19BUFJeff Skinner: 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 SOG0NSH
46% to win54% to win
← BUF attackNSH attack →
  1. P1 20:00Jarnkrok won the faceoff against Larsson
  • Goal
  • Shot
  • Miss
  • Block
  • Hit
  • Takeaway
  • Giveaway
  • Faceoff
  • Penalty

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

BUFNSH
23Shots on goal25
2.4Expected goals3.0
53Shot attempts56
30Faceoffs won32
4Power plays2
4Penalty minutes8
17Hits24
16Blocked shots15
16Giveaways7
6Takeaways10

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. bestSkinner – Reinhart – Eichel12:46

    xG 0.95–0.34 (74%)attempts 11–9goals 1–0

  2. Berglund – Larsson – Girgensons8:05

    xG 0.28–0.15 (65%)attempts 8–8goals 0–1

  3. Sobotka – Elie – Rodrigues8:25

    xG 0.32–0.39 (45%)attempts 8–12goals 0–0

  4. Okposo – Thompson – Mittelstadt10:01

    xG 0.07–0.24 (23%)attempts 5–9goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestBeaulieu – Nelson10:34

    xG 0.45–0.12 (79%)attempts 14–2goals 0–0

  2. Ristolainen – Pilut14:26

    xG 0.83–0.68 (55%)attempts 11–22goals 1–0

  3. Ristolainen – Dahlin2:55

    xG 0.00–0.12 (0%)attempts 0–3goals 0–0

Nashville Predators

Forward lines

  1. bestWatson – Salomaki – Sissons9:43

    xG 0.35–0.09 (81%)attempts 8–3goals 0–0

  2. Bonino – Grimaldi – Gaudreau5:15

    xG 0.15–0.00 (100%)attempts 4–4goals 0–0

  3. Smith – Jarnkrok – Tolvanen7:47

    xG 0.27–0.30 (47%)attempts 7–6goals 0–0

  4. Johansen – Hartman – Fiala11:28

    xG 0.29–0.97 (23%)attempts 7–16goals 0–1

Defence pairs

  1. bestJosi – Ellis17:35

    xG 1.01–0.67 (60%)attempts 19–14goals 0–1

  2. Weber – Irwin11:28

    xG 0.23–0.37 (39%)attempts 13–12goals 0–0

  3. Hamhuis – Ekholm16:04

    xG 0.19–0.44 (31%)attempts 11–10goals 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.

NSH 3.0 xGBUF 2.4 xG
0123P1P2P3EndxG

Tempo: attempts, hits and takeaways per minute

NSHBUF

Win probability

Model-based

How each goal and each minute changed the likely winner.

Win probability

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

Excitement 21/100 · #984 of 1271 this seasonSwing 1.09 · 3 goals in reachComeback index 49% (winner's lowest chance)
BUF 100%5050%50NSH 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, Nashville Predators win this game 60% of the time.

NSH winsBUF wins

Simulated goal difference (NSH − 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).