xJawn NHL expected goals

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SJS 3 – 4 DET

San Jose Sharks at Detroit Red Wings

Final / SO · Oct 17, 2026
2026-27 · regular season
The call
DET 56.9% ✓
expected 2.86–3.27 · DET won 3–4 in SO
actual xG
4.86–2.89
xG share, predicted → actual
SJS 47% → 63%53% → 37% DET
Today's puzzle Remember Some Guys — name the skater from the shape of his career. Three clues, one guess a day. Play →
Adjusts with rink filters

Strength and score are read from SJS's side, the same minutes at both ends: PP = SJS power play · PK = DET power play · Leading = SJS ahead · ST = each club's own power play.

SJS attacks◀ all strengths
DET attacksall strengths ▶
× goal• on net ◦ missed· blocked hover any attempt for the shooter, its xG and everything the model saw
How to read this map

One rink, both teams: SJS attacks the left net, DET the right. Every attempt is a Gaussian bump of height = its model xG. The controls switch the surface (xG heatmap ↔ vs league) and the markers; vs league compares this game against a typical NHL team-game under the same filter (2026-27 regular season, 139 games), so a 5v5 view is measured against league 5v5.

A strength or score filter is read from SJS's side and mirrored for DET: “SJS PP” shows SJS's power-play attempts on the left and DET's shorthanded attempts on the right — the same minutes of the game at both ends. Empty-net attempts are excluded unless you include them. The Player control narrows the map and the rows beneath it to the attempts by either club while one player was on the ice (for a goalie, while he was in net); his own attempts wear a blue ring. vs league switches off while a player is picked — the league baseline is a whole team-game, which one player's slice is not. Hover any attempt for the shooter, the result, its xG, and the inputs behind it: clock, strength, score, shot type, distance, angle, handedness, rush/rebound, what happened just before, and the goalie or the blocker.

What each side produced

all strengths · regular season
SJS DET
bars share a scale within each row · the longer bar is the row's leader
Goalson the map
3 3
Expected goals
4.86 2.89
xG%share of xG
63% 37%
High-dangerattempts ≥ 0.20 xG
4 1
Shots on goal
34 27
Attempts
80 57
xG by period · whole game 1st1.9–1.02nd1.0–0.63rd1.1–1.1OT0.9–0.1

The Red Wings beat the Sharks 4–3 in a shootout at home despite being out-created 4.9–2.9 in expected goals. That is a finishing-and-goaltending win. The Sharks power play made 2.2 xG on 24 attempts.

Counts come from the shot table behind the map: empty-net attempts and the shootout are excluded, so the goals here can trail the official final by an empty-netter or the shootout's deciding goal. Same numbers as the post-game cards.

As the game went

cumulative SJS − DET xG · bands = power plays · lines = goals
1ST2ND3RDOT+0.5−0.5+1−1+1.5−1.5+2−2SJS AHEAD ▲DET AHEAD ▼
How to read this

One line: cumulative SJS minus DET expected goals. Above zero SJS is ahead on chances, below zero DET is. Shaded bands are power plays in the side's colour; vertical lines are goals.

Skaters

on-ice xG · sorted by net · one game
How to read this

Every skater, sorted by net on-ice expected goals: on-ice xG against to the left of zero, for to the right, his own attempts as the solid bar, a hash at the net. The slim track under the name is ice time.

SJS
against for own net ice time
0.50.5111.51.5222.52.5333.53.50Will SmithF25:11+3.15Macklin CelebriniF26:54+3.11Alexander WennbergF23:00+1.79Ivar StenbergF17:30+1.77Dmitry OrlovD20:09+1.71Igor ChernyshovF13:42+0.92Michael KesselringD20:23+0.61Nolan AllanD14:15+0.08Mason MarchmentF14:49+0.07Tyler ToffoliF12:03-0.10Zack OstapchukF11:09-0.21Sam DickinsonD16:48-0.31Barclay GoodrowF11:41-0.32Michael MisaF11:29-0.39Kiefer SherwoodF12:55-0.43Darnell NurseD21:47-0.46Collin GrafF14:03-0.67Jacob TroubaD22:15-0.74
DET
against for own net ice time
0.50.5111.51.5222.52.50Viktor ArvidssonF20:58+0.79Lucas RaymondF20:02+0.75Alex DeBrincatF19:16+0.65Michael Brandsegg-NygårdF17:02+0.56Dylan LarkinF24:39+0.21Andreas EnglundD9:02+0.02Keegan KolesarF5:18-0.15Nate DanielsonF13:17-0.22Albert JohanssonD14:10-0.26Anton JohanssonD11:44-0.48Emmitt FinnieF18:45-0.48Moritz SeiderD29:46-0.58Sheldon DriesF10:12-0.71Justin FaulkD19:43-0.84Ben ChiarotD22:42-1.07Michael RasmussenF18:34-1.19William WallinderD12:41-1.59Andrew CoppF20:53-1.75

Lines & pairs

most-used 5v5 units · when they played · on-ice xG
How to read this

The forward lines and defence pairs that actually played together most at 5v5, each with when it was on the ice across the game clock (period and power-play bands behind the strip) and on-ice xG against/for while the whole unit was out.

SJS
on ice power play penalty kill xGA xGF
FORWARD LINESL1Will SmithMacklin CelebriniIgor Chernyshov11:36+0.75L2Tyler ToffoliAlexander WennbergMason Marchment8:42-0.10L3Kiefer SherwoodMichael MisaIvar Stenberg7:53-0.31L4Barclay GoodrowZack OstapchukCollin Graf5:34+0.33DEFENCE PAIRSD1Darnell NurseMichael Kesselring14:20+0.25D2Jacob TroubaSam Dickinson12:57-0.33D3Dmitry OrlovNolan Allan10:43+0.051ST2ND3RDOT011
DET
on ice power play penalty kill xGA xGF
FORWARD LINESL1Dylan LarkinViktor ArvidssonLucas Raymond16:01+0.83L2Alex DeBrincatEmmitt FinnieMichael Brandsegg-Nygård10:00-0.09L3Andrew CoppMichael RasmussenNate Danielson8:34-0.29SPARESheldon Dries10:12-0.71SPAREKeegan Kolesar5:18-0.15DEFENCE PAIRSD1Ben ChiarotMoritz Seider20:19-1.17D2Justin FaulkWilliam Wallinder7:14-1.16D3Albert JohanssonAnton Johansson5:17-0.20SPAREAndreas Englund9:02+0.021ST2ND3RDOT01.751.75

Matchups

5v5 · every skater against every skater, goalies first · hover a cell
SJS won the chances DET won them full colour = a margin of 0.75 xG or more taller = more time together (full height at 12:00) on together, dead even never on together G = goalie: his row or column is each skater against the whole other team
NedeljkovicSmithCelebriniChernyshovToffoliWennbergMarchmentSherwoodMisaStenbergGoodrowOstapchukGrafNurseKesselringTroubaDickinsonOrlovAllanGibsonLarkinArvidssonRaymondDeBrincatFinnieBrandsegg-NygårdCoppRasmussenDanielsonDriesKolesarChiarotSeiderFaulkWallinderJohanssonJohanssonEnglundGL1L2L3L4D1D2D3GL1L2L3FD1D2D3D
How to read this

Rows are SJS's skaters, columns DET's, grouped the way they played: forward lines (L1 = the line that played together most), then defence pairs. Each cell covers the five-on-five time those two players shared the ice. Its colour is the club that out-chanced the other in that time — expected goals for minus against — and the stronger the colour, the bigger the margin. Each cell is also raised: the taller the block, the longer the two shared the ice, up to full height at 12:00 of five-on-five time. A grey cell means they met and it came out even; an open, flat one means they never met at five-on-five.

The first row and column are the goalies. A goalie is in net for every five-on-five second, so a skater's cell against the other side's goalie is all of that skater's five-on-five time against that team — the rest of his row or column added up — and the corner where the two goalies meet is the game's five-on-five. Those cells cover far more time than any pair, so they reach full colour sooner and stand at full height, a wall along each edge of the grid. A goalie change adds a second goalie row or column, each covering his own time.

Linemates share the ice, so a line against a line reads as a block. The margin is a total, not a rate: a long matchup has room to build a big gap and a thirty-second one does not — which is what the height is there to show: a tall, strong cell is the game's story; a short, strong one is a moment. Hover (or tap) any cell for the exact time together, the xG each way, attempts and goals. One game — a strong cell is what happened, not what would happen again.

Goals

xG = the chance, before it went in
TeamScorerPeriodTimexG
SJSDmitry Orlov 1st17:59 PP 0.04
SJSMacklin Celebrini 2nd4:55 0.16
SJSIvar Stenberg 3rd2:48 PP 0.18
DETJustin Faulk 1st12:47 PP 0.03
DETEmmitt Finnie 3rd5:00 0.11
DETAlex DeBrincat 3rd18:27 PP 0.27

The prediction, scored

Before puck drop the engine made DET a 56.9% favorite, expecting a 2.86–3.27 game — DET won 3–4, so the call landed. Every number in this section was issued before the game and is never re-graded.

pred. xGactual xG pred. 5v5actual 5v5 pred. STactual PP
SJS 2.864.86 1.642.05 0.932.19
DET 3.272.89 2.041.55 1.061.21

Predicted 5v5 / special-teams portions come from the predicted map's strength splits (one shared scale per team pins the all-strengths total to its expected goals), so they don't sum exactly — the remainder is 4v4, 3v3, and other mixed states. The actual columns are the card's own counts (empty-net attempts excluded); the actual PP column is power-play xG only, the same bucket the predicted map's special-teams view draws.

The pregame score grid

The likeliest finals the engine saw before the game, with what actually happened marked — ■ SJS · ■ DET.

Likeliest finals (SJS–DET)probability
3–3 7.0% what happened — regulation ended tied; DET won in SO
2–2 6.8% tied after regulation — OT/SO decides
2–4 4.5%
4–4 4.1% tied after regulation — OT/SO decides
1–3 3.8%
5.8%3.8%016.5%12.5%123.4%20.2%222.1%21.9%315.8%18.0%49.1%12.0%54.4%6.6%61.8%3.1%70.9%1.9%8+

Scoreline odds are the engine's own grid: each team's goals as a Poisson count, with the fitted adjustment for how often games end tied after regulation (ρ = 0.35), so these odds and the headline win probability come from the same numbers. The OT/SO layer is a separate fitted model and is already inside the headline win probability.

The pregame read

The engine made DET a 56.9% favorite — DET controls 53.4% of the predicted xG. Of SJS's 2.86 expected goals, 1.64 should come at 5v5 and 0.93 on the power play; DET projects 2.04 at 5v5 and 1.06 on the power play. The logistic challenger put the home side at 57.1%, Elo at 61.5%.

Where the engine expected the goals

The predicted surface, issued before puck drop — not this game's shots (those are the card's map above). SJS attacks the left net, DET the right; each end multiplies where the attacking team generates xG this season by where its opponent concedes it, scaled so each end totals the engine's expected goals. Actual shots lays the game's unblocked attempts on top: × goals, • on net, ◦ missed.

Tale of the tape

How each team fares on its own, season to date: per-game xG rates with league rank (of 32). Rank 1 is best on every row — orange ranks sit in the top third of the league, gray in the bottom third.

SJSDET
2.90 (17th) Offense
xG for / game
3.15 (10th)
3.61 (31st) Defense
xG against / game
3.34 (26th)
0.90 (6th) Power play
PP xG / game
0.95 (2nd)
1.14 (32nd) Penalty kill
PP xG conceded / game
0.98 (28th)

Season-to-date form as of the site's latest build, shown for context — the ratings the engine actually used were its own as-of-game-day state. Replay this matchup in the lab →