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Ice Lab

Tue, Jan 7, 2020·T-Mobile Arena, Paradise

Pittsburgh Penguins 4, Vegas Golden Knights 3

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, Vegas Golden Knights win this game 72% of the time.

VGK winsPIT wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3Total
PIT281414416
VGK01321219334

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P1 2:53PITEvgeni MalkinAssists: Bryan Rust, Dominik Kahun · Backhand, 0.12 xG1–0
  2. P1 7:10PITPatric HornqvistAssists: Jack Johnson, Kris Letang · Wrist, 0.22 xG2–0
  3. P2 4:18PITDominik KahunPPAssists: John Marino, Juuso Riikola · Backhand, 0.08 xG3–0
  4. P2 7:11VGKMax PaciorettyAssists: Nicolas Hague · Wrist, 0.04 xG3–1
  5. P2 14:18VGKPaul StastnyPPAssists: Shea Theodore, Mark Stone · Tip-in, 0.05 xG3–2
  6. P3 2:15PITBrandon TanevGWGAssists: Kris Letang, Teddy Blueger · Wrist, 0.17 xG4–2
  7. P3 12:45VGKReilly SmithAssists: Chandler Stephenson, Nate Schmidt · Wrist, 0.08 xG4–3
Penalties (5)
  1. P1 9:08PITJohn Marino: Broken stick2 min
  2. P2 2:22VGKNicolas Hague: Holding the stick2 min · PPG
  3. P2 13:18PITJack Johnson: Tripping2 min · PPG
  4. P3 3:05VGKTomas Nosek: Delaying game puck over glass2 min
  5. P3 17:17PITEvgeni Malkin: Tripping2 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.

PIT00 SOG · 0.0 xG

20:00

P1

0.0 xG · 0 SOG0VGK
45% to win55% to win
← PIT attackVGK attack →
  1. P1 20:00Malkin won the faceoff against Karlsson
  • Goal
  • Shot
  • Miss
  • Block
  • Hit
  • Takeaway
  • Giveaway
  • Faceoff
  • Penalty

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

PITVGK
16Shots on goal34
2.1Expected goals3.4
32Shot attempts72
33Faceoffs won30
2Power plays3
6Penalty minutes4
25Hits28
17Blocked shots7
5Giveaways8
5Takeaways10

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.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Forward lines

  1. bestHornqvist – McCann – Simon11:17

    xG 0.52–0.27 (66%)attempts 10–7goals 1–0

  2. Blueger – Tanev – Aston-Reese11:01

    xG 0.26–0.17 (60%)attempts 5–11goals 1–1

  3. Agozzino – Galchenyuk – Lafferty6:41

    xG 0.06–0.13 (33%)attempts 3–5goals 0–0

  4. Malkin – Rust – Kahun13:46

    xG 0.71–1.51 (32%)attempts 10–23goals 1–1

Defence pairs

  1. bestRuhwedel – Pettersson2:04

    xG 0.07–0.01 (85%)attempts 1–2goals 0–0

  2. Ruhwedel – Riikola11:08

    xG 0.15–0.38 (28%)attempts 7–13goals 0–0

  3. Pettersson – Marino16:05

    xG 0.21–0.49 (31%)attempts 7–13goals 0–0

Vegas Golden Knights

Forward lines

  1. bestStastny – Pacioretty – Stone16:04

    xG 1.82–0.49 (79%)attempts 28–7goals 1–1

  2. Smith – Karlsson – Stephenson10:42

    xG 0.47–0.40 (54%)attempts 13–3goals 1–1

  3. Reaves – Nosek – Roy5:09

    xG 0.02–0.05 (29%)attempts 4–3goals 0–0

  4. Eakin – Carrier – Tuch8:45

    xG 0.21–0.42 (34%)attempts 7–7goals 0–1

Defence pairs

  1. bestMcNabb – Schmidt15:29

    xG 1.21–0.86 (58%)attempts 16–13goals 0–2

  2. Holden – Theodore17:10

    xG 0.62–0.40 (61%)attempts 21–7goals 0–0

  3. Engelland – Hague11:01

    xG 0.18–0.27 (40%)attempts 9–6goals 1–1

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.

VGK 3.4 xGPIT 2.1 xG
01234P1P2P3EndxG

Tempo: attempts, hits and takeaways per minute

VGKPIT

Win probability

Model-based

How each goal and each minute changed the likely winner.

Win probability

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

Excitement 70/100 · #329 of 1082 this seasonSwing 1.27 · 7 goals in reach · 2-goal lead cutComeback index 45% (winner's lowest chance)
PIT 100%5050%50VGK 100%P1P2P3EndBiggest swing +19 pts

Did the better team win?

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

Based on shot quality alone, Vegas Golden Knights win this game 72% of the time.

VGK winsPIT wins

Simulated goal difference (VGK − PIT), 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).