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Ice Lab

Thu, Dec 27, 2018·Enterprise Center, St. Louis

Buffalo Sabres 1, St. Louis Blues 4

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, St. Louis Blues win this game 83% of the time.

STL winsBUF wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3Total
BUF01011209131
STL06311115432

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P2 2:03STLRobert ThomasAssists: Vince Dunn, Tyler Bozak · Wrist, 0.16 xG0–1
  2. P2 10:01STLJay BouwmeesterGWGAssists: David Perron, Alexander Steen · Wrist, 0.10 xG0–2
  3. P2 10:55STLPatrick MaroonAssists: Robert Thomas, Robert Bortuzzo · Backhand, 0.13 xG0–3
  4. P2 17:25BUFJack EichelPPAssists: Rasmus Ristolainen, Sam Reinhart · Wrist, 0.05 xG1–3
  5. P3 13:47STLRyan O'ReillyAssists: Alexander Steen, David Perron · Wrist, 0.09 xG1–4
Penalties (3)
  1. P1 5:16STLJoel Edmundson: Tripping2 min
  2. P2 6:29BUFMarco Scandella: Tripping2 min
  3. P2 16:45STLJoel Edmundson: Tripping2 min · PPG

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 SOG0STL
46% to win54% to win
← BUF attackSTL attack →
  1. P1 20:00Eichel won the faceoff against O'Reilly
  • Goal
  • Shot
  • Miss
  • Block
  • Hit
  • Takeaway
  • Giveaway
  • Faceoff
  • Penalty

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

BUFSTL
31Shots on goal32
2.0Expected goals4.2
51Shot attempts56
23Faceoffs won26
2Power plays1
2Penalty minutes4
18Hits22
7Blocked shots14
8Giveaways7
11Takeaways6

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. bestLarsson – Girgensons – Thompson6:57

    xG 0.19–0.06 (76%)attempts 7–2goals 0–0

  2. Skinner – Reinhart – Eichel14:50

    xG 0.76–0.91 (45%)attempts 16–14goals 0–1

  3. Okposo – Thompson – Mittelstadt4:52

    xG 0.15–0.39 (28%)attempts 4–5goals 0–0

  4. Okposo – Elie – Mittelstadt5:54

    xG 0.18–0.49 (27%)attempts 4–8goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. McCabe – Dahlin6:33

    xG 0.14–0.26 (36%)attempts 6–5goals 0–0

  2. Bogosian – Scandella4:59

    xG 0.45–0.69 (39%)attempts 7–9goals 0–0

  3. Scandella – McCabe8:33

    xG 0.21–0.69 (24%)attempts 3–9goals 0–1

St. Louis Blues

Forward lines

  1. bestSchenn – Tarasenko – Schwartz13:04

    xG 1.52–0.39 (80%)attempts 17–12goals 0–0

  2. Maroon – Bozak – Thomas11:50

    xG 0.97–0.27 (79%)attempts 11–10goals 2–0

  3. Steen – Perron – O'Reilly14:29

    xG 0.98–0.42 (70%)attempts 15–11goals 2–0

  4. Nolan – Sundqvist – Barbashev10:14

    xG 0.46–0.41 (53%)attempts 8–7goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestBouwmeester – Bortuzzo16:27

    xG 1.57–0.30 (84%)attempts 16–10goals 1–0

  2. Butler – Dunn15:18

    xG 1.34–0.49 (73%)attempts 15–15goals 2–0

  3. Edmundson – Parayko17:57

    xG 0.69–0.60 (54%)attempts 13–15goals 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.

STL 4.2 xGBUF 2.0 xG
01234P1P2P3EndxG

Tempo: attempts, hits and takeaways per minute

STLBUF

Win probability

Model-based

How each goal and each minute changed the likely winner.

Win probability

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

Excitement 24/100 · #945 of 1271 this seasonSwing 0.68 · 5 goals in reachComeback index 52% (winner's lowest chance)
BUF 100%5050%50STL 100%P1P2P3EndBiggest swing +20 pts

Did the better team win?

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

Based on shot quality alone, St. Louis Blues win this game 83% of the time.

STL winsBUF wins

Simulated goal difference (STL − 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).