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Game Recap
COL5
Final/SOFri, Mar 6, 2026Every game that night
DAL4

COL beat DAL 5-4 in a shootout despite fewer good chances: 3.21 expected goals to 4.06. COL outshot DAL 29 to 21. M. Necas led the way with 4 points (1 G, 3 A). D. Toews had 5 shots on goal against our projection of 1.6. S. Wedgewood stopped 10 of 10.

Scoring

1st2nd3rdSOT
COL21115
DAL31004
  1. 1st 3:33COLC. MakarPP0.10 xG
  2. 1st 7:11DALM. HeiskanenPP0.03 xG
  3. 1st 10:39DALW. Johnston0.15 xG
  4. 1st 16:07DALJ. Hryckowian0.36 xG
  5. 1st 19:58COLN. MacKinnonPP0.13 xG
  6. 2nd 1:52DALJ. Benn0.18 xG
  7. 2nd 8:06COLM. Necas0.08 xG
  8. 3rd 19:45COLV. Nichushkin0.12 xG

Team Stats

COLDAL
29Shots on goal21
3.21Expected goals4.06
57Shot attempts48
175v5 shots on goal16
2/5Power play1/4
24Hits19
11Blocked shots17
6Penalty minutes10
15Giveaways14
2Takeaways8

Expected goals: the chance each unblocked shot had of going in, by our model, added up.

Expected Goals Over the Game

COL 3.21 xGDAL 4.06 xGGoal

012341st2nd3rdOTCOL goal, 3:33DAL goal, 7:11DAL goal, 10:39DAL goal, 16:07COL goal, 19:58DAL goal, 1:52COL goal, 8:06COL goal, 19:45

Each step up is a shot: how likely it was to go in. A team well above the other had the better chances, whatever the score.

Shot Map

COL28 on goal, 4 scored
DAL20 on goal, 4 scored

GoalSavedMissedBlockedBigger: a better chance

Box Score

COL Skaters

PlayerPosGAPSOGHITBLK+/-PIMTOIPP TOI
M. NecasC134520+1026:556:24
N. MacKinnonC123201+1027:216:24
B. NelsonC0112010024:506:20
G. LandeskogLW011221+1022:545:39
V. NichushkinRW1013110019:150:53
R. ColtonC00021000013:461:38
P. KellyC000011-1012:460:00
J. DruryC000010-1211:380:00
J. KivirantaLW0001000010:540:00
N. RoyC000110008:460:00
G. BrindleyC000211-107:070:54
Z. BardakovC000000-106:090:00
C. MakarD112212-1027:466:24
D. ToewsD000511-2023:430:58
B. BurnsD0001000017:120:51
S. MalinskiD0000000017:120:00
B. KulakD0000120216:070:00
J. MansonD0001200215:360:00
GoalieSASVGASV%TOI
M. Blackwood1174.63621:47
S. Wedgewood101001.00041:01Win

DAL Skaters

PlayerPosGAPSOGHITBLK+/-PIMTOIPP TOI
W. JohnstonC1121100024:145:10
J. RobertsonLW0223010022:125:21
J. HryckowianC112231+1220:221:38
M. BourqueC022101+1217:101:38
J. BennLW101230-1015:273:47
S. SteelC000121+1217:471:25
M. DucheneC000300-1017:415:10
A. ErneLW0000200012:090:16
R. HintzC000121+1011:261:15
O. BäckC000011+1210:530:03
C. BlackwellC0000000010:370:00
N. BastianRW000020028:160:00
M. HeiskanenD112201+1031:465:16
E. LindellD0001030025:481:16
T. HarleyD000103-1023:361:41
N. LundkvistD0001020015:460:09
L. BichselD000110+1012:370:10
I. LyubushkinD000122+1010:200:00
GoalieSASVGASV%TOI
J. Oettinger29254.86264:36OT loss
C. DeSmith000–0:00

Lines at 5-on-5

COL

Line 2B. Nelson10:24R. Colton11:48V. Nichushkin11:51
Line 3J. Drury9:48Z. Bardakov6:09P. Kelly9:34
Line 4J. Kiviranta8:56N. Roy8:31
Pair 1B. Kulak14:44S. Malinski15:04
Pair 2D. Toews16:14C. Makar13:46
Pair 3B. Burns13:47J. Manson13:11

DAL

Line 2M. Duchene10:59S. Steel12:23J. Benn9:29
Line 3J. Hryckowian13:48M. Bourque13:41A. Erne10:23
Pair 1E. Lindell16:54M. Heiskanen16:16
Pair 2T. Harley16:47N. Lundkvist15:13
Pair 3L. Bichsel11:05I. Lyubushkin10:20

From the NHL's shift charts: the players on the ice together most at 5-on-5, with each one's own 5-on-5 time.

Storylines That Played Out

  • Old teamJoel Kiviranta DAL Faces COL, his team until May 20261 SOG
  • Old teamScott Wedgewood COL Faces DAL, his team until Jun 202410 saves on 10, the win

As Tonight had them before puck drop, with what each player did.

How We Did

We projectedIt finished
ScoreCOL 3.2, DAL 3.0COL 5, DAL 4
Total goals6.29
Shots on goalCOL 29.3, DAL 25.8COL 29, DAL 21
Win chanceCOL 52%COL won

Players

PlayerSOG projectedSOGPoints projectedPointsGoal chanceGoals
COL N. MacKinnon4.121.40339%1
DAL J. Robertson3.130.95235%0
COL C. Makar2.720.91223%1
COL M. Necas2.551.02429%1
COL G. Landeskog2.420.80128%0
DAL W. Johnston2.410.72231%1
COL B. Nelson2.420.81132%0
DAL R. Hintz2.210.73028%0
DAL M. Bourque2.110.44219%0
COL V. Nichushkin2.030.62126%1
COL S. Malinski1.900.3106%0
COL B. Burns1.810.3308%0
COL R. Colton1.820.35015%0
DAL M. Heiskanen1.720.5928%1
COL D. Toews1.650.4209%0
COL J. Manson1.610.3307%0
DAL M. Duchene1.630.63024%0
DAL T. Harley1.610.4609%0
DAL J. Benn1.420.51118%1
COL P. Kelly1.400.33014%0
COL J. Drury1.300.32012%0
DAL N. Lundkvist1.210.2305%0
DAL S. Steel1.210.38012%0
COL B. Kulak1.200.1904%0
DAL C. Blackwell1.100.20010%0
COL N. Roy1.010.35014%0
DAL J. Hryckowian1.020.33214%1
DAL E. Lindell1.010.3006%0
DAL A. Erne0.900.1709%0
COL G. Brindley0.920.1909%0
DAL N. Bastian0.800.17010%0
COL J. Kiviranta0.810.1909%0
DAL L. Bichsel0.710.1706%0
DAL I. Lyubushkin0.610.1502%0
DAL O. Bäck0.600.1708%0
COL Z. Bardakov0.500.1705%0

Shots on goal: 23 of 36 players within one of their projection; they took 0.2 fewer than projected on average.

Our projections as they stood at puck drop. One game says little about a model; Model Notes has how it tests over thousands.