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Ice Lab

Sat, Mar 6, 2021·SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose

Vegas Golden Knights 4, San Jose Sharks 0

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, Vegas Golden Knights win this game 73% of the time.

SJS winsVGK wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3Total
VGK11421414432
SJS080907024

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P1 15:02VGKMark StoneGWGAssists: Chandler Stephenson, Max Pacioretty · Wrist, 0.06 xG1–0
  2. P2 5:01VGKAlex TuchUnassisted · Wrist, 0.04 xG2–0
  3. P2 16:38VGKAlex TuchUnassisted · Backhand, 0.15 xG3–0
  4. P3 11:03VGKReilly SmithAssists: Jonathan Marchessault, Alex Pietrangelo · Wrist, 0.05 xG4–0
Penalties (3)
  1. P2 9:03SJSMario Ferraro: Slashing2 min
  2. P3 12:03SJSKurtis Gabriel: Charging2 min
  3. P3 16:34VGKZach Whitecloud: 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.

VGK00 SOG · 0.0 xG

20:00

P1

0.0 xG · 0 SOG0SJS
46% to win54% to win
← VGK attackSJS attack →
  1. P1 20:00Couture won the faceoff against Stephenson
  • Goal
  • Shot
  • Miss
  • Block
  • Hit
  • Takeaway
  • Giveaway
  • Faceoff
  • Penalty

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

VGKSJS
32Shots on goal24
3.2Expected goals1.9
62Shot attempts57
25Faceoffs won22
2Power plays1
2Penalty minutes4
29Hits35
19Blocked shots17
4Giveaways4
12Takeaways6

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.

Vegas Golden Knights

Forward lines

  1. bestTuch – Roy – Glass10:23

    xG 0.93–0.03 (97%)attempts 14–2goals 1–0

  2. Pacioretty – Stephenson – Tuch3:52

    xG 0.32–0.04 (88%)attempts 4–5goals 1–0

  3. Pacioretty – Stone – Stephenson8:16

    xG 0.74–0.56 (57%)attempts 13–8goals 1–0

  4. Smith – Karlsson – Marchessault12:01

    xG 0.64–0.59 (52%)attempts 15–12goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestMartinez – Theodore16:08

    xG 0.72–0.37 (66%)attempts 15–10goals 1–0

  2. Hague – Whitecloud13:25

    xG 0.48–0.26 (65%)attempts 14–12goals 0–0

  3. Holden – Pietrangelo15:05

    xG 0.86–0.66 (57%)attempts 17–12goals 2–0

San Jose Sharks

Forward lines

  1. bestMarleau – Nieto – Donato3:04

    xG 0.07–0.00 (100%)attempts 3–0goals 0–0

  2. Nieto – Gabriel – Kellman7:41

    xG 0.31–0.28 (52%)attempts 6–8goals 0–0

  3. Gabriel – Gregor – Kellman2:02

    xG 0.00–0.17 (0%)attempts 1–2goals 0–0

  4. Balcers – Gambrell – Leonard9:39

    xG 0.41–0.64 (39%)attempts 12–14goals 0–1

Defence pairs

  1. bestBurns – Vlasic2:02

    xG 0.05–0.00 (100%)attempts 3–0goals 0–0

  2. Burns – Karlsson2:16

    xG 0.12–0.11 (52%)attempts 4–3goals 0–0

  3. Burns – Simek3:25

    xG 0.16–0.18 (47%)attempts 4–5goals 0–1

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.

SJS 1.9 xGVGK 3.2 xG
0123P1P2P3EndxG

Tempo: attempts, hits and takeaways per minute

SJSVGK

Win probability

Model-based

How each goal and each minute changed the likely winner.

Win probability

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

Excitement 3/100 · #827 of 868 this seasonSwing 0.55 · 3 goals in reachComeback index 46% (winner's lowest chance)
VGK 100%5050%50SJS 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, Vegas Golden Knights win this game 73% of the time.

SJS winsVGK wins

Simulated goal difference (SJS − VGK), 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).