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Ice Lab

Thu, Jan 16, 2020·American Airlines Center, Dallas

Buffalo Sabres 4, Dallas Stars 1

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, Buffalo Sabres win this game 75% of the time.

DAL winsBUF wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3Total
BUF181529422
DAL0811605129

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P1 7:01BUFJimmy VeseyAssists: Sam Reinhart, Jack Eichel · Wrist, 0.15 xG1–0
  2. P2 4:28DALJamie BennAssists: Miro Heiskanen, Tyler Seguin · Wrist, 0.18 xG1–1
  3. P2 16:10BUFRasmus DahlinGWGAssists: Henri Jokiharju, Kyle Okposo · Wrist, 0.02 xG2–1
  4. P3 17:44BUFMichael FrolikENAssists: Curtis Lazar, Rasmus Ristolainen · Wrist, 0.65 xG3–1
  5. P3 19:50BUFZemgus GirgensonsENAssists: Kyle Okposo · Wrist, 0.67 xG4–1
Penalties (6)
  1. P1 1:04BUFJack Eichel: Tripping2 min
  2. P1 8:26DALEsa Lindell: High sticking2 min
  3. P2 8:04DALJoel Kiviranta: Tripping2 min
  4. P2 9:00BUFRasmus Dahlin: Hooking2 min
  5. P2 17:44BUFRasmus Ristolainen: Hooking2 min
  6. P3 16:25BUFLawrence Pilut: Interference2 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 SOG0DAL
45% to win55% to win
← BUF attackDAL attack →
  1. P1 20:00Eichel won the faceoff against Dickinson
  • Goal
  • Shot
  • Miss
  • Block
  • Hit
  • Takeaway
  • Giveaway
  • Faceoff
  • Penalty

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

BUFDAL
22Shots on goal29
3.5Expected goals2.2
47Shot attempts59
30Faceoffs won33
2Power plays4
8Penalty minutes4
16Hits28
14Blocked shots14
11Giveaways14
10Takeaways8

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. bestFrolik – Johansson – Lazar3:28

    xG 0.24–0.00 (100%)attempts 5–0goals 0–0

  2. Girgensons – Reinhart – Eichel7:12

    xG 0.38–0.22 (64%)attempts 6–7goals 0–0

  3. Frolik – Johansson – Sheary3:56

    xG 0.28–0.28 (50%)attempts 6–8goals 0–0

  4. Vesey – Reinhart – Eichel4:51

    xG 0.15–0.23 (40%)attempts 2–4goals 1–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestBogosian – Dahlin4:29

    xG 0.31–0.04 (89%)attempts 8–3goals 1–0

  2. McCabe – Montour4:46

    xG 0.15–0.05 (73%)attempts 3–3goals 0–0

  3. Jokiharju – Pilut5:20

    xG 0.12–0.09 (56%)attempts 2–4goals 0–0

Dallas Stars

Forward lines

  1. bestRadulov – Benn – Seguin12:00

    xG 0.51–0.25 (67%)attempts 15–10goals 1–0

  2. Perry – Dowling – Gurianov8:15

    xG 0.24–0.09 (74%)attempts 5–6goals 0–0

  3. Pavelski – Hintz – Kiviranta8:13

    xG 0.46–0.52 (47%)attempts 13–9goals 0–0

  4. Comeau – Cogliano – Dickinson11:17

    xG 0.36–0.53 (40%)attempts 8–7goals 0–1

Defence pairs

  1. bestSekera – Polak8:49

    xG 0.41–0.03 (94%)attempts 10–4goals 0–0

  2. Oleksiak – Heiskanen5:21

    xG 0.50–0.42 (54%)attempts 12–6goals 1–1

  3. Lindell – Heiskanen2:35

    xG 0.04–0.00 (100%)attempts 4–0goals 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.

DAL 2.2 xGBUF 3.5 xG
01234P1P2P3EndxG

Tempo: attempts, hits and takeaways per minute

DALBUF

Win probability

Model-based

How each goal and each minute changed the likely winner.

Win probability

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

Excitement 35/100 · #722 of 1082 this seasonSwing 1.19 · 5 goals in reachComeback index 43% (winner's lowest chance)
BUF 100%5050%50DAL 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, Buffalo Sabres win this game 75% of the time.

DAL winsBUF wins

Simulated goal difference (DAL − 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).