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Ice Lab

Sun, Mar 31, 2019·KeyBank Center, Buffalo

Columbus Blue Jackets 4, Buffalo Sabres 0

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, Columbus Blue Jackets win this game 71% of the time.

BUF winsCBJ wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3Total
CBJ313111012436
BUF012013013038

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P1 7:14CBJPierre-Luc DuboisGWGAssists: Seth Jones, Zach Werenski · Deflected, 0.10 xG1–0
  2. P1 13:46CBJOliver BjorkstrandAssists: Pierre-Luc Dubois, Nick Foligno · Slap, 0.04 xG2–0
  3. P1 17:47CBJNick FolignoAssists: Ryan Dzingel · Wrap-around, 0.12 xG3–0
  4. P2 15:31CBJJosh AndersonAssists: Pierre-Luc Dubois, Ryan Dzingel · Slap, 0.05 xG4–0
Penalties (3)
  1. P1 11:46BUFZemgus Girgensons: Interference2 min
  2. P1 15:11CBJDean Kukan: Hooking2 min
  3. P1 15:29BUFVictor Olofsson: Holding2 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.

CBJ00 SOG · 0.0 xG

20:00

P1

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

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

CBJBUF
36Shots on goal38
3.2Expected goals2.1
53Shot attempts57
31Faceoffs won26
2Power plays1
2Penalty minutes4
16Hits16
11Blocked shots5
5Giveaways8
3Takeaways4

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.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Forward lines

  1. bestJenner – Bjorkstrand – Wennberg12:05

    xG 0.98–0.23 (81%)attempts 10–11goals 0–0

  2. Dzingel – Anderson – Dubois10:53

    xG 0.68–0.35 (66%)attempts 12–7goals 2–0

  3. Dubinsky – Foligno – Nash14:05

    xG 0.31–0.35 (47%)attempts 7–14goals 0–0

  4. Atkinson – Duchene – Panarin11:43

    xG 0.35–0.88 (29%)attempts 8–21goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestHarrington – Kukan15:23

    xG 0.93–0.51 (64%)attempts 13–13goals 0–0

  2. Savard – Nutivaara20:09

    xG 0.83–0.56 (60%)attempts 10–21goals 0–0

  3. Jones – Werenski15:11

    xG 0.65–0.45 (59%)attempts 15–14goals 3–0

Buffalo Sabres

Forward lines

  1. bestReinhart – Olofsson – Eichel15:50

    xG 0.87–0.38 (70%)attempts 18–7goals 0–0

  2. Okposo – Skinner – Rodrigues15:06

    xG 0.60–0.83 (42%)attempts 22–12goals 0–0

  3. Wilson – Sheary – Mittelstadt11:27

    xG 0.13–0.43 (23%)attempts 10–8goals 0–0

  4. Larsson – Girgensons – Nylander6:41

    xG 0.06–0.72 (8%)attempts 2–11goals 0–2

Defence pairs

  1. Nelson – Pilut13:56

    xG 0.36–0.75 (32%)attempts 10–14goals 0–1

  2. Borgen – Dahlin16:07

    xG 0.39–0.84 (32%)attempts 13–13goals 0–1

  3. McCabe – Montour17:14

    xG 0.54–1.14 (32%)attempts 15–17goals 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 2.1 xGCBJ 3.2 xG
0123P1P2P3EndxG

Tempo: attempts, hits and takeaways per minute

BUFCBJ

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 CBJ. Dots are goals.

Excitement 3/100 · #1207 of 1271 this seasonSwing 0.56 · 3 goals in reachComeback index 46% (winner's lowest chance)
CBJ 100%5050%50BUF 100%P1P2P3EndBiggest swing +18 pts

Did the better team win?

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

Based on shot quality alone, Columbus Blue Jackets win this game 71% of the time.

BUF winsCBJ wins

Simulated goal difference (BUF − CBJ), 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).