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MTL 2 – 1 WPG

Montréal Canadiens at Winnipeg Jets

Final · Oct 25, 2026
2026-27 · regular season
The call
MTL 53.2% ✓
expected 3.00–2.80 · MTL won 2–1
actual xG
3.73–3.95
xG share, predicted → actual
MTL 52% → 49%48% → 51% WPG
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 MTL's side, the same minutes at both ends: PP = MTL power play · PK = WPG power play · Leading = MTL ahead · ST = each club's own power play.

MTL attacks◀ all strengths
WPG 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: MTL attacks the left net, WPG 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, 184 games), so a 5v5 view is measured against league 5v5.

A strength or score filter is read from MTL's side and mirrored for WPG: “MTL PP” shows MTL's power-play attempts on the left and WPG'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
MTL WPG
bars share a scale within each row · the longer bar is the row's leader
Goalson the map
2 1
Expected goals
3.73 3.95
xG%share of xG
49% 51%
High-dangerattempts ≥ 0.20 xG
5 2
Shots on goal
21 34
Attempts
56 73
xG by period · whole game 1st0.9–1.62nd1.6–0.83rd1.2–1.5

The Canadiens beat the Jets 2–1 on the road in a game the chances called about even, MTL 3.7 to WPG 3.9 in expected goals. The Jets power play made 1.6 xG on 18 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 MTL − WPG xG · bands = power plays · lines = goals
1ST2ND3RD+0.5−0.5+1−1MTL AHEAD ▲WPG AHEAD ▼
How to read this

One line: cumulative MTL minus WPG expected goals. Above zero MTL is ahead on chances, below zero WPG 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.

MTL
against for own net ice time
0.50.5111.51.5220Kirby DachF13:15+1.01Florian XhekajF10:17+1.00Lane HutsonD21:12+0.98Noah DobsonD19:25+0.87Jake EvansF18:06+0.55Cole CaufieldF15:50+0.47Alexandre TexierF12:26+0.38Juraj SlafkovskýF16:22+0.33Zachary BolducF11:42+0.32Oliver KapanenF14:18+0.13Arber XhekajD10:18-0.05Phillip DanaultF18:58-0.32Kaiden GuhleD23:10-0.71Alexandre CarrierD20:32-0.72Mike MathesonD25:37-0.80Chris KreiderF11:27-0.94Alex NewhookF15:01-1.18Josh AndersonF14:32-1.51
WPG
against for own net ice time
0.50.5111.51.5222.52.5330Cole PerfettiF24:01+1.85Kyle ConnorF24:23+1.80Mark ScheifeleF25:04+1.74Neal PionkD25:21+0.86Dylan SambergD20:14+0.38Elias SalomonssonD17:39+0.05Morgan BarronF10:24+0.01Dawson MercerF15:22-0.11Cole KoepkeF9:12-0.21Haydn FleuryD16:50-0.29Gabriel VilardiF18:32-0.31Nino NiederreiterF9:14-0.34Adam LowryF13:37-0.39Isak RosénF15:35-0.40Dylan DeMeloD15:55-0.66Mario FerraroD17:19-0.69Alex IafalloF12:07-0.90Viggo BjörckF10:46-1.16

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.

MTL
on ice power play penalty kill xGA xGF
FORWARD LINESL1Cole CaufieldOliver KapanenJuraj Slafkovský12:23+0.34L2Chris KreiderJosh AndersonAlex Newhook9:08-0.68L3Phillip DanaultAlexandre TexierZachary Bolduc8:41+0.56L4Jake EvansKirby DachFlorian Xhekaj7:26+1.00DEFENCE PAIRSD1Mike MathesonKaiden Guhle16:27-0.16D2Noah DobsonLane Hutson14:56+1.47D3Alexandre CarrierArber Xhekaj9:04+0.031ST2ND3RD01.751.75
WPG
on ice power play penalty kill xGA xGF
FORWARD LINESL1Mark ScheifeleKyle ConnorCole Perfetti22:52+1.85L2Adam LowryDawson MercerIsak Rosén9:22-0.28L3Gabriel VilardiAlex IafalloViggo Björck7:44-1.31L4Nino NiederreiterMorgan BarronCole Koepke6:59-0.29DEFENCE PAIRSD1Dylan SambergNeal Pionk18:15+0.37D2Mario FerraroElias Salomonsson13:05-0.71D3Dylan DeMeloHaydn Fleury12:44-0.721ST2ND3RD033

Matchups

5v5 · every skater against every skater, goalies first · hover a cell
MTL won the chances WPG 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
FowlerCaufieldKapanenSlafkovskýKreiderAndersonNewhookDanaultTexierBolducEvansDachXhekajMathesonGuhleDobsonHutsonCarrierXhekajSkinnerScheifeleConnorPerfettiLowryMercerRosénVilardiIafalloBjörckNiederreiterBarronKoepkeSambergPionkFerraroSalomonssonDeMeloFleuryGL1L2L3L4D1D2D3GL1L2L3L4D1D2D3
How to read this

Rows are MTL's skaters, columns WPG'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
MTLLane Hutson 2nd7:19 0.13
MTLKaiden Guhle 2nd11:04 0.00
WPGIsak Rosén 3rd15:24 0.12

The prediction, scored

Before puck drop the engine made MTL a 53.2% favorite, expecting a 3.00–2.80 game — MTL won 2–1, 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
MTL 3.003.73 2.133.12 0.570.00
WPG 2.803.95 1.752.39 0.821.56

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 — ■ MTL · ■ WPG.

Likeliest finals (MTL–WPG)probability
2–2 7.6% tied after regulation — OT/SO decides
3–3 7.1% tied after regulation — OT/SO decides
4–2 4.2%
3–1 4.0%
4–4 3.7% tied after regulation — OT/SO decides
2–1 2.6% what happened
5.0%6.1%014.9%17.1%122.2%23.7%222.1%22.0%316.7%15.5%410.2%8.8%55.2%4.2%62.3%1.7%71.2%0.8%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 MTL a 53.2% favorite — WPG controls 48.3% of the predicted xG. Of MTL's 3.00 expected goals, 2.13 should come at 5v5 and 0.57 on the power play; WPG projects 1.75 at 5v5 and 0.82 on the power play. The logistic challenger put the home side at 44.2%, Elo at 52.9%.

Why MTL 53.2%
win chance× expected goals
home ice −3.4 MTL ×1.00 · WPG ×1.08
5v5 play +3.1 MTL ×1.02 · WPG ×0.96
goaltending +1.7 MTL ×0.97 · WPG ×0.93
special teams +1.2 MTL ×1.02 · WPG ×0.99
finishing +0.9 MTL ×1.03 · WPG ×1.01
schedule +0.2 MTL ×1.00 · WPG ×1.00

Win chance is in points toward MTL (bars right of the line push toward MTL, left toward WPG). Each win-chance number is one-at-a-time: that piece reset to league average (neutral ice, a typical night's rest) on both sides and the game re-priced; the pieces interact, so they don't add up to the call. The multipliers are exact: a league-average team on neutral ice, on a typical night's rest, would expect 2.89 goals in this game, and each side's expected goals is that times its column of multipliers. Special teams reads small because the engine's power-play terms fit near zero, not because special teams don't matter.

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). MTL attacks the left net, WPG 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.

MTLWPG
3.20 (8th) Offense
xG for / game
2.82 (22nd)
2.86 (15th) Defense
xG against / game
3.14 (20th)
0.64 (24th) Power play
PP xG / game
0.69 (18th)
0.84 (23rd) Penalty kill
PP xG conceded / game
0.67 (12th)

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 →