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Ice Lab

Sat, Dec 10, 2022·PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh

Buffalo Sabres 1, Pittsburgh Penguins 3

Expected result

Based on shot quality alone, Pittsburgh Penguins win this game 67% of the time.

PIT winsBUF wins

By period

Goals and shots on goal in each period.

TeamP1P2P3Total
BUF09012117138
PIT21201019331

Goals, with shots on goal in grey.

Scoring

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

  1. P1 4:22PITRickard RakellPPAssists: Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby · Snap, 0.12 xG0–1
  2. P1 6:51PITSidney CrosbyGWGAssists: Jake Guentzel, Brian Dumoulin · Backhand, 0.07 xG0–2
  3. P3 11:00BUFPeyton KrebsAssists: Casey Fitzgerald, Zemgus Girgensons · Tip-in, 0.10 xG1–2
  4. P3 18:22PITSidney CrosbyAssists: Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust · Snap, 0.08 xG1–3
Penalties (6)
  1. P1 1:01BUFTage Thompson: Hooking2 min
  2. P1 3:21BUFVictor Olofsson: High sticking2 min · PPG
  3. P1 12:26PITJake Guentzel: Interference2 min
  4. P1 16:16PITBrian Dumoulin: Interference2 min
  5. P3 5:28PITKris Letang: Holding2 min
  6. P3 19:59BUFRasmus Dahlin: Slashing2 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 SOG0PIT
49% to win51% to win
← BUF attackPIT attack →
  1. P1 20:00Crosby won the faceoff against Cozens
  • Goal
  • Shot
  • Miss
  • Block
  • Hit
  • Takeaway
  • Giveaway
  • Faceoff
  • Penalty

The numbers

Team totals, side by side.

BUFPIT
38Shots on goal31
3.2Expected goals4.3
70Shot attempts53
23Faceoffs won28
3Power plays3
6Penalty minutes6
38Hits43
7Blocked shots17
7Giveaways8
2Takeaways9

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. bestCozens – Quinn – Peterka12:37

    xG 0.75–0.37 (67%)attempts 16–8goals 0–1

  2. Tuch – Thompson – Mittelstadt11:53

    xG 0.62–0.30 (67%)attempts 13–6goals 0–1

  3. Okposo – Girgensons – Krebs8:02

    xG 0.30–0.42 (41%)attempts 10–7goals 1–0

  4. Olofsson – Asplund – Jost9:21

    xG 0.45–1.10 (29%)attempts 10–13goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestSamuelsson – Dahlin9:38

    xG 0.78–0.17 (82%)attempts 12–5goals 0–0

  2. Dahlin – Power10:09

    xG 0.63–0.15 (81%)attempts 15–2goals 0–1

  3. Fitzgerald – Bryson3:51

    xG 0.29–0.00 (100%)attempts 7–0goals 0–0

Pittsburgh Penguins

Forward lines

  1. bestMalkin – Zucker – Rust7:11

    xG 0.58–0.24 (70%)attempts 9–4goals 0–0

  2. Carter – Zucker – Kapanen2:05

    xG 0.41–0.10 (80%)attempts 2–1goals 0–1

  3. Archibald – Blueger – Poehling9:09

    xG 0.48–0.44 (52%)attempts 9–9goals 0–0

  4. Malkin – Rust – McGinn2:06

    xG 0.03–0.07 (30%)attempts 1–7goals 0–0

Defence pairs

  1. bestPetry – Pettersson13:38

    xG 0.85–0.40 (68%)attempts 11–16goals 0–0

  2. Dumoulin – Rutta14:43

    xG 0.90–0.64 (58%)attempts 17–12goals 1–0

  3. Letang – Joseph16:13

    xG 0.40–1.10 (27%)attempts 8–20goals 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.

PIT 4.3 xGBUF 3.2 xG
012345P1P2P3EndxG

Tempo: attempts, hits and takeaways per minute

PITBUF

Win probability

Model-based

How each goal and each minute changed the likely winner.

Win probability

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

Excitement 18/100 · #1137 of 1312 this seasonSwing 0.95 · 4 goals in reachComeback index 50% (winner's lowest chance)
BUF 100%5050%50PIT 100%P1P2P3EndBiggest swing +16 pts

Did the better team win?

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

Based on shot quality alone, Pittsburgh Penguins win this game 67% of the time.

PIT winsBUF wins

Simulated goal difference (PIT − 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).