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Ice Lab

Thu, Apr 15, 2021·Capital One Arena, Washington

Buffalo Sabres 5, Washington Capitals 2

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, Buffalo Sabres win this game 82% of the time.

WSH winsBUF wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3Total
BUF11231315530
WSH1819012229

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P1 18:50BUFSam ReinhartAssists: Dylan Cozens, Henri Jokiharju · Tip-in, 0.07 xG1–0
  2. P1 19:37WSHDmitry OrlovAssists: T.J. Oshie · Slap, 0.03 xG1–1
  3. P2 1:36BUFVictor OlofssonUnassisted · Wrist, 0.06 xG2–1
  4. P2 5:42BUFCasey MittelstadtSHGWGAssists: Anders Bjork · Wrist, 0.03 xG3–1
  5. P2 9:59WSHAnthony ManthaAssists: John Carlson, Nicklas Backstrom · Tip-in, 0.13 xG3–2
  6. P2 13:23BUFAnders BjorkAssists: Dylan Cozens · Slap, 0.04 xG4–2
  7. P3 19:17BUFTage ThompsonENAssists: Rasmus Asplund · Wrist, 0.71 xG5–2
Penalties (7)
  1. P1 10:48WSHNicklas Backstrom: Interference2 min
  2. P2 3:45BUFMatt Irwin: High sticking2 min
  3. P3 0:35BUFHenri Jokiharju: Tripping2 min
  4. P3 9:34BUFRasmus Dahlin: Hooking2 min
  5. P3 14:01BUFMatt Irwin: Roughing2 min
  6. P3 14:01WSHTom Wilson: Roughing2 min
  7. P3 15:38WSHNicklas Backstrom: Cross checking2 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 SOG0WSH
46% to win54% to win
← BUF attackWSH attack →
  1. P1 20:00Backstrom won the faceoff against Cozens
  • Goal
  • Shot
  • Miss
  • Block
  • Hit
  • Takeaway
  • Giveaway
  • Faceoff
  • Penalty

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

BUFWSH
30Shots on goal29
4.9Expected goals2.7
49Shot attempts60
19Faceoffs won30
2Power plays3
8Penalty minutes6
13Hits28
14Blocked shots10
5Giveaways15
8Takeaways5

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. bestSkinner – Reinhart – Olofsson7:59

    xG 0.65–0.25 (72%)attempts 5–7goals 1–0

  2. Bjork – Cozens – Ruotsalainen9:34

    xG 0.21–0.09 (70%)attempts 9–4goals 1–0

  3. Eakin – Rieder – Asplund2:33

    xG 0.02–0.09 (18%)attempts 1–4goals 0–0

  4. Asplund – Thompson – Mittelstadt8:09

    xG 0.30–0.60 (33%)attempts 6–11goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestJokiharju – Dahlin16:20

    xG 1.05–0.60 (64%)attempts 16–14goals 1–0

  2. Irwin – Miller11:56

    xG 0.96–0.67 (59%)attempts 10–17goals 1–0

  3. Ristolainen – Bryson13:47

    xG 0.51–0.37 (58%)attempts 11–10goals 1–1

Washington Capitals

Forward lines

  1. bestOvechkin – Kuznetsov – Wilson9:52

    xG 0.65–0.51 (56%)attempts 14–9goals 0–0

  2. Eller – Sheary – Sprong8:06

    xG 0.47–0.36 (57%)attempts 10–6goals 0–1

  3. Hagelin – Eller – Sprong2:32

    xG 0.04–0.00 (100%)attempts 2–0goals 0–0

  4. Oshie – Backstrom – Mantha11:14

    xG 0.18–0.25 (42%)attempts 9–8goals 1–1

Defence pairs

  1. bestCarlson – Orlov13:09

    xG 0.84–0.38 (69%)attempts 18–6goals 1–0

  2. Carlson – Dillon2:02

    xG 0.19–0.04 (83%)attempts 3–2goals 0–0

  3. Chara – Jensen11:04

    xG 0.38–0.65 (37%)attempts 10–9goals 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.

WSH 2.7 xGBUF 4.9 xG
012345P1P2P3EndxG

Tempo: attempts, hits and takeaways per minute

WSHBUF

Win probability

Model-based

How each goal and each minute changed the likely winner.

Win probability

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

Excitement 55/100 · #377 of 868 this seasonSwing 1.37 · 7 goals in reachComeback index 46% (winner's lowest chance)
BUF 100%5050%50WSH 100%P1P2P3EndBiggest swing +21 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 82% of the time.

WSH winsBUF wins

Simulated goal difference (WSH − 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).