Game Recap: PIT 3, VAN 2, January 25, 2026

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Game Recap

PIT3

FinalSun, Jan 25, 2026Every game that night

VAN2

PIT beat VAN 3-2 despite fewer good chances: 3.18 expected goals to 4.47. B. Kindel led the way with 2 points (2 G, 0 A). B. Kindel had 5 shots on goal against our projection of 1.7. S. Skinner stopped 30 of 32.

Scoring

	1st	2nd	3rd	T
PIT	0	3	0	3
VAN	0	0	2	2

2nd 5:24PITE. Malkin0.14 xG
2nd 8:41PITB. Kindel0.15 xG
2nd 17:22PITB. Kindel0.08 xG
3rd 6:29VANJ. DeBrusk0.33 xG
3rd 14:00VANT. Blueger0.14 xG

Team Stats

PITVAN

25Shots on goal32

3.18Expected goals4.47

55Shot attempts67

255v5 shots on goal22

0/0Power play0/1

27Hits25

14Blocked shots13

4Penalty minutes0

18Giveaways15

2Takeaways7

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

Expected Goals Over the Game

PIT 3.18 xGVAN 4.47 xGGoal

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

PIT25 on goal, 3 scored

VAN31 on goal, 2 scored

GoalSavedMissedBlockedBigger: a better chance

Box Score

PIT Skaters

Player	Pos	G	A	P	SOG	HIT	BLK	+/-	PIM	TOI	PP TOI
B. Kindel	C	2	0	2	5	0	1	+2	0	13:28	0:00
E. Chinakhov	RW	0	1	1	0	1	0	+1	0	16:33	0:00
E. Malkin	C	1	0	1	5	0	1	+1	0	16:01	0:00
T. Novak	C	0	1	1	1	0	0	+1	0	14:35	0:00
A. Mantha	RW	0	1	1	0	2	0	+1	2	12:29	0:00
J. Brazeau	RW	0	1	1	1	3	0	+2	0	11:39	0:00
B. Rust	RW	0	0	0	2	2	1	-1	2	17:53	0:00
S. Crosby	C	0	0	0	0	2	0	-1	0	16:43	0:00
R. Rakell	RW	0	0	0	0	5	1	-1	0	16:20	0:00
B. Lizotte	C	0	0	0	1	0	0	-1	0	13:58	0:00
N. Acciari	C	0	0	0	2	2	0	-1	0	13:56	0:00
C. Dewar	C	0	0	0	1	3	1	0	0	13:55	0:00
B. Kulak	D	0	1	1	1	2	0	0	0	24:04	0:00
R. Shea	D	0	1	1	3	0	0	0	0	19:27	0:00
K. Letang	D	0	0	0	1	2	2	0	0	26:28	0:00
E. Karlsson	D	0	0	0	1	0	1	+1	0	23:57	0:00
P. Wotherspoon	D	0	0	0	1	3	5	+1	0	23:40	0:00
J. St. Ivany	D	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2:54	0:00

Goalie	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
S. Skinner	32	30	2	.938	60:00	Win
A. Silovs	0	0	0	–	0:00

VAN Skaters

Player	Pos	G	A	P	SOG	HIT	BLK	+/-	TOI	PP TOI
E. Pettersson	C	0	1	1	1	5	2	-1	18:32	0:49
E. Kane	LW	0	1	1	3	0	0	-1	16:21	0:57
L. Ohgren	LW	0	1	1	0	0	2	+1	16:05	1:10
J. DeBrusk	LW	1	0	1	5	3	1	0	15:54	0:50
T. Blueger	C	1	0	1	3	5	0	+1	15:31	0:01
D. O'Connor	LW	0	0	0	3	1	1	0	18:40	0:01
B. Boeser	RW	0	0	0	5	1	0	0	18:10	1:02
C. Garland	RW	0	0	0	4	1	1	+1	17:03	1:09
F. Chytil	C	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	16:59	1:10
L. Karlsson	C	0	0	0	2	0	0	-2	11:28	0:49
M. Sasson	C	0	0	0	1	1	1	-1	9:39	0:00
N. Hoglander	LW	0	0	0	1	1	1	-1	9:11	0:01
F. Hronek	D	0	1	1	1	1	1	+2	26:57	0:01
M. Pettersson	D	0	0	0	0	2	2	+1	22:26	0:01
T. Myers	D	0	0	0	1	0	0	-1	20:42	0:00
E. Pettersson	D	0	0	0	0	4	0	0	17:26	0:00
Z. Buium	D	0	0	0	1	0	1	-2	15:41	1:59
P. Joseph	D	0	0	0	0	0	0	-2	15:05	0:00

Goalie	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
K. Lankinen	25	22	3	.880	58:10	Loss
N. Tolopilo	0	0	0	–	0:00

Lines at 5-on-5

PIT

Line 1S. Crosby16:12B. Rust16:55R. Rakell15:54

Line 2E. Malkin16:01E. Chinakhov16:33T. Novak14:35

Line 3B. Kindel13:28J. Brazeau11:39A. Mantha12:29

Line 4B. Lizotte12:09N. Acciari11:06C. Dewar11:03

Pair 1K. Letang25:03B. Kulak21:32

Pair 2P. Wotherspoon22:29E. Karlsson22:39

Pair 3R. Shea18:09J. Ivany2:54

VAN

Line 1B. Boeser15:44D. O'Connor17:15F. Chytil15:23

Line 2J. DeBrusk14:38E. Pettersson16:19E. Kane14:58

Line 3C. Garland15:28L. Ohgren14:55T. Blueger15:30

Line 4M. Sasson9:39N. Hoglander9:10L. Karlsson9:15

Pair 1M. Pettersson21:59F. Hronek25:32

Pair 2T. Myers20:16E. Pettersson17:26

Pair 3P. Joseph15:05Z. Buium12:18

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 teamArturs Silovs PIT Faces VAN, his team until Mar 20250 saves on 0
Old teamDrew O'Connor VAN Faces PIT, his team until Jan 20253 SOG
HometownBen Kindel PIT Plays near home (born in Coquitlam)2 G, 5 SOG

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

How We Did

	We projected	It finished
Score	PIT 3.5, VAN 3.1	PIT 3, VAN 2
Total goals	6.6	5
Shots on goal	PIT 29.1, VAN 26.8	PIT 25, VAN 32
Win chance	PIT 55%	PIT won

Players

Player	SOG projected	SOG	Points projected	Points	Goal chance	Goals
PIT R. Rakell	2.6	0	0.80	0	28%	0
PIT B. Rust	2.5	2	0.85	0	30%	0
VAN F. Chytil	2.3	1	0.49	0	21%	0
PIT S. Crosby	2.3	0	1.10	0	33%	0
VAN E. Kane	2.3	3	0.51	1	25%	0
VAN J. DeBrusk	2.2	5	0.56	1	26%	1
PIT E. Malkin	2.2	5	0.89	1	25%	1
VAN B. Boeser	2.1	5	0.69	0	30%	0
PIT E. Karlsson	2.0	1	0.71	0	15%	0
VAN E. Pettersson	1.8	1	0.79	1	28%	0
VAN C. Garland	1.8	4	0.53	0	20%	0
PIT K. Letang	1.8	1	0.55	0	12%	0
VAN L. Karlsson	1.8	2	0.55	0	20%	0
PIT B. Kindel	1.7	5	0.38	2	14%	2
PIT E. Chinakhov	1.7	0	0.43	1	18%	0
VAN D. O'Connor	1.6	3	0.38	0	17%	0
VAN L. Ohgren	1.6	0	0.23	1	12%	0
PIT A. Mantha	1.5	0	0.55	1	20%	0
PIT T. Novak	1.5	1	0.51	1	18%	0
PIT J. Brazeau	1.4	1	0.45	1	19%	0
PIT C. Dewar	1.4	1	0.35	0	14%	0
VAN F. Hronek	1.4	1	0.54	1	8%	0
PIT B. Kulak	1.3	1	0.27	1	7%	0
VAN T. Blueger	1.3	3	0.36	1	12%	1
VAN T. Myers	1.2	1	0.26	0	5%	0
VAN N. Hoglander	1.1	1	0.33	0	15%	0
VAN M. Sasson	1.0	1	0.27	0	16%	0
PIT N. Acciari	1.0	2	0.23	0	10%	0
VAN Z. Buium	1.0	1	0.38	0	8%	0
VAN M. Pettersson	1.0	0	0.32	0	4%	0
PIT B. Lizotte	1.0	1	0.34	0	14%	0
PIT P. Wotherspoon	0.9	1	0.25	0	4%	0
PIT J. Ivany	0.9	0	0.23	0	3%	0
PIT R. Shea	0.8	3	0.26	1	5%	0
VAN P. Joseph	0.8	0	0.16	0	3%	0
VAN E. Pettersson	0.6	0	0.18	0	4%	0

Shots on goal: 21 of 36 players within one of their projection; they took 0.0 more 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.