hockeystats.io

Vegas Golden KnightsVGK 0–5 Final Pittsburgh PenguinsPIT

Sunday, March 1, 2026

Final 1st2nd3rd T SOG
Vegas Golden KnightsVGK 000 0 22
Pittsburgh PenguinsPIT 131 5 22
Playoff odds, % Change
PIT +2.3
VGK -1.8
CBJ -0.7
WSH -0.5
NSH +0.4

How the result moved each team's playoff odds, calculated Mar 1, 2026 12:33 PM EST.

Highlights

Scoring

1st Period
14:56 PIT Ben Kindel (15) Anthony Mantha (24) · wrist xG 0.05 0–1 ▶
2nd Period
5:47 PIT Egor Chinakhov (13) Tommy Novak (21), Justin Brazeau (13) · wrist xG 0.11 0–2 ▶
9:34 PIT Bryan Rust (20)PP Erik Karlsson (33), Evgeni Malkin (34) · wrist xG 0.30 0–3 ▶
15:06 PIT Rickard Rakell (11)PP Erik Karlsson (34), Bryan Rust (23) · wrist xG 0.52 0–4 ▶
3rd Period
14:59 PIT Justin Brazeau (16) Ben Kindel (14), Kris Letang (24) · wrist xG 0.03 0–5 ▶

Score away–home after each goal; season totals in parentheses.

Shot quality

Expected goals (xG) rate every unblocked shot by how often shots like it go in, from where it was taken, the shot type, the strength and what happened just before it. How it works

VGK 41%Deserve to win59% PIT
VGKPIT
1.97Expected goals2.42
0Goals (no shootout)5
1.58Expected goals, 5 on 50.88
55Shot attempts47
35Unblocked attempts30
22Shots on goal22

Game notes

What stood out as the game went on, from the play-by-play and the shifts. Time on the bench is counted in 5-on-5 play outside the penalty box; the note says the player sat, not why. Goals saved are against the shots' expected goals (xG).

2nd Period
14:00 VGK No shift No shift · Stone, 30:22 on the bench
No shift after 19:17 of the 1st; 6 shifts (6:06) before that
15:10 PIT xG swing xG swing · Out-chanced VGK 1.46–0.28
In xG over 10 minutes, 5:10 to 15:10 of the 2nd; goals 3–0
3rd Period
14:59 VGK Goalie Goalie · Hill −2.6 goals saved
5 goals on 2.42 xG, 22 shots on goal

Shot map

VGK shoots ←Bigger circle: higher xG; filled: goal→ PIT shoots
Jeremy Lauzon: wrist, 100 ft, xG 0.00 (P1 0:45) Brayden McNabb: slap, 45 ft, xG 0.05 (P1 1:17) Brayden McNabb: wrist, 37 ft, xG 0.06 (P1 1:40) Pavel Dorofeyev: slap, 45 ft, xG 0.06 (P1 2:14) Noah Hanifin: wrist, 33 ft, xG 0.01 (P1 3:49) Bryan Rust: wrist, 8 ft, xG 0.15 (P1 6:32) Tommy Novak: tip-in, 11 ft, xG 0.03 (P1 8:27) Egor Chinakhov: backhand, 16 ft, xG 0.06 (P1 8:39) Egor Chinakhov: slap, 42 ft, xG 0.02 (P1 8:54) Erik Karlsson: wrist, 65 ft, xG 0.01 (P1 11:51) Kris Letang: wrist, 61 ft, xG 0.01 (P1 13:02) Braeden Bowman: wrist, 27 ft, xG 0.02 (P1 15:20) Tomas Hertl: tip-in, 17 ft, xG 0.05 (P1 15:31) Ben Kindel: tip-in, 8 ft, xG 0.09 (P1 19:24) Brandon Saad: wrist, 45 ft, xG 0.01 (P2 0:12) Brandon Saad: wrist, 18 ft, xG 0.25 (P2 0:33) Erik Karlsson: wrist, 47 ft, xG 0.03 (P2 0:52) Ryan Shea: wrist, 186 ft, xG 0.00 (P2 1:31) Rasmus Andersson: snap, 48 ft, xG 0.01 (P2 2:22) Pavel Dorofeyev: snap, 32 ft, xG 0.05 (P2 2:37) Shea Theodore: wrist, 50 ft, xG 0.00 (P2 2:41) Evgeni Malkin: slap, 41 ft, xG 0.07 (P2 4:14) Anthony Mantha: wrist, 35 ft, xG 0.06 (P2 4:44) Evgeni Malkin: wrist, 31 ft, xG 0.06 (P2 7:22) Egor Chinakhov: wrist, 22 ft, xG 0.08 (P2 7:27) Tomas Hertl: wrist, 8 ft, xG 0.03 (P2 8:07) Samuel Girard: slap, 59 ft, xG 0.02 (P2 8:28) Rickard Rakell: wrist, 19 ft, xG 0.05 (P2 8:33) Anthony Mantha: wrist, 30 ft, xG 0.11 (P2 9:14) Erik Karlsson: slap, 50 ft, xG 0.03 (P2 9:17) Pavel Dorofeyev: wrist, 39 ft, xG 0.05 (P2 10:19) Tomas Hertl: wrist, 34 ft, xG 0.07 (P2 12:44) Tomas Hertl: tip-in, 12 ft, xG 0.10 (P2 13:09) Rasmus Andersson: slap, 53 ft, xG 0.03 (P2 13:33) Bryan Rust: wrist, 30 ft, xG 0.06 (P2 14:53) Rickard Rakell: tip-in, 7 ft, xG 0.12 (P2 15:03) Kaedan Korczak: wrist, 62 ft, xG 0.01 (P2 15:29) Jack Eichel: wrist, 43 ft, xG 0.04 (P2 15:50) Reilly Smith: wrist, 28 ft, xG 0.08 (P2 17:01) Rasmus Andersson: wrist, 42 ft, xG 0.02 (P2 17:04) Ivan Barbashev: wrist, 27 ft, xG 0.09 (P2 17:17) Kris Letang: wrist, 38 ft, xG 0.01 (P3 0:38) Shea Theodore: wrist, 45 ft, xG 0.03 (P3 0:56) Shea Theodore: slap, 59 ft, xG 0.03 (P3 1:10) Avery Hayes: wrist, 35 ft, xG 0.03 (P3 1:40) Jeremy Lauzon: slap, 45 ft, xG 0.05 (P3 2:06) Tomas Hertl: backhand, 6 ft, xG 0.05 (P3 3:47) Brandon Saad: snap, 28 ft, xG 0.08 (P3 3:52) Erik Karlsson: wrist, 42 ft, xG 0.05 (P3 5:41) Evgeni Malkin: wrist, 25 ft, xG 0.08 (P3 5:53) Ben Kindel: snap, 19 ft, xG 0.15 (P3 6:56) Shea Theodore: wrist, 47 ft, xG 0.02 (P3 7:49) Reilly Smith: tip-in, 8 ft, xG 0.01 (P3 7:52) Reilly Smith: wrist, 11 ft, xG 0.07 (P3 7:53) Reilly Smith: wrist, 5 ft, xG 0.18 (P3 7:55) Kris Letang: slap, 41 ft, xG 0.05 (P3 10:13) Mitch Marner: tip-in, 19 ft, xG 0.07 (P3 11:55) Braeden Bowman: tip-in, 9 ft, xG 0.08 (P3 13:04) Mitch Marner: wrist, 8 ft, xG 0.17 (P3 15:37) Brayden McNabb: slap, 53 ft, xG 0.02 (P3 17:29) Ben Kindel: GOAL, wrist, 39 ft, xG 0.05 (P1 14:56) Egor Chinakhov: GOAL, wrist, 25 ft, xG 0.11 (P2 5:47) Bryan Rust: GOAL, wrist, 14 ft, xG 0.30 (P2 9:34) Rickard Rakell: GOAL, wrist, 5 ft, xG 0.52 (P2 15:06) Justin Brazeau: GOAL, wrist, 45 ft, xG 0.03 (P3 14:59)
About these numbers

xG comes from hockeystats.io's own model, a gradient-boosted tree model trained on every unblocked shot from the 2021-22 to 2025-26 regular seasons using the NHL's public play-by-play. Each shot's value is the share of similar shots that became goals. A team's xG is the sum over its shots; "deserve to win" asks how often the team would outscore its opponent if every shot went in at exactly that rate. Blocked shots count as attempts but have no xG (the NHL records where they were blocked, not where they were taken), so the map leaves them out.

Box score

Vegas Golden Knights

Skater GAP+/− AttxG HitBlkTOI
Forwards
93 Mitch Marner 000 -1 20.25 0018:35
9 Jack Eichel 000 -2 20.04 1218:34
48 Tomas Hertl 000 -1 60.30 2018:30
16 Pavel Dorofeyev 000 0 50.16 0017:34
20 Brandon Saad 000 0 40.34 0016:28
42 Braeden Bowman 000 -1 20.09 0016:18
49 Ivan Barbashev 000 -1 20.09 2015:58
19 Reilly Smith 000 -2 40.35 0014:52
55 Keegan Kolesar 000 -1 20.00 9113:53
15 Colton Sissons 000 0 00.00 2013:05
29 Cole Reinhardt 000 0 00.00 3010:18
61 Mark Stone 000 0 00.00 0006:06
Defense
3 Brayden McNabb 000 -1 60.13 2321:09
15 Noah Hanifin 000 -2 20.01 0119:57
27 Shea Theodore 000 0 80.08 0219:55
4 Rasmus Andersson 000 -2 50.06 1119:07
5 Jeremy Lauzon 000 -1 30.05 6218:11
6 Kaedan Korczak 000 0 20.01 0216:02
Goalie SAGA SVSV% xGA GSAx
Adin Hill 22517 .773 2.42 -2.58

Pittsburgh Penguins

Skater GAP+/− AttxG HitBlkTOI
Forwards
71 Evgeni Malkin 011 0 40.20 1018:07
17 Bryan Rust 112 0 30.50 2017:08
67 Rickard Rakell 101 0 30.69 1216:50
52 Noel Acciari 000 0 10.00 0216:04
18 Tommy Novak 011 +1 10.03 0015:07
59 Egor Chinakhov 101 +1 60.27 0014:50
81 Ben Kindel 112 +2 90.30 0214:23
46 Blake Lizotte 000 0 00.00 0014:08
19 Connor Dewar 000 0 10.00 2214:07
39 Anthony Mantha 011 +2 30.17 2014:04
85 Avery Hayes 000 0 30.03 1013:18
16 Justin Brazeau 112 +3 10.03 1213:01
Defense
65 Erik Karlsson 022 +2 50.12 1121:58
75 Connor Clifton 000 0 00.00 5119:32
58 Kris Letang 011 +1 40.07 0018:40
29 Parker Wotherspoon 000 +2 00.00 3218:33
6 Ryan Shea 000 +1 10.00 0418:12
49 Samuel Girard 000 0 20.02 0017:58
Goalie SAGA SVSV% xGA GSAx
Arturs Silovs 22022 1.000 1.97 +1.97

Skaters by time on ice. Goalie lines count shots with the goalie in net, from the NHL play-by-play.

Player ratings

What each player added to the result, in goals, from most to least. Hover a number for what it's made of.

Vegas Golden Knights

Player Rating Points Shots On ice Pen FO Other GSAx TOI
16 Pavel Dorofeyev R +0.87 0.00 +0.10 +0.79 0.00 0.00 -0.02 — 17:34
20 Brandon Saad L +0.77 0.00 +0.22 +0.58 0.00 -0.01 -0.02 — 16:28
6 Kaedan Korczak D +0.69 0.00 +0.01 +0.61 0.00 0.00 +0.08 — 16:02
27 Shea Theodore D +0.65 0.00 +0.05 +0.48 0.00 0.00 +0.12 — 19:55
48 Tomas Hertl C +0.54 0.00 +0.20 +0.30 0.00 +0.07 -0.02 — 18:30
93 Mitch Marner R +0.53 0.00 +0.16 +0.50 -0.15 +0.04 -0.02 — 18:35
3 Brayden McNabb D +0.47 0.00 +0.09 +0.25 0.00 0.00 +0.13 — 21:09
55 Keegan Kolesar R +0.32 0.00 0.00 +0.27 0.00 0.00 +0.05 — 13:53
19 Reilly Smith R +0.16 0.00 +0.23 +0.08 -0.15 0.00 0.00 — 14:52
61 Mark Stone R -0.04 0.00 0.00 -0.04 0.00 0.00 0.00 — 6:06
4 Rasmus Andersson D -0.05 0.00 +0.04 -0.16 0.00 0.00 +0.07 — 19:07
10 Colton Sissons C -0.08 0.00 0.00 -0.10 0.00 +0.04 -0.02 — 13:05
15 Noah Hanifin D -0.15 0.00 +0.01 -0.19 0.00 0.00 +0.03 — 19:57
49 Ivan Barbashev L -0.19 0.00 +0.06 -0.37 +0.15 -0.01 -0.02 — 15:58
42 Braeden Bowman R -0.21 0.00 +0.06 -0.26 0.00 0.00 -0.02 — 16:18
5 Jeremy Lauzon D -0.22 0.00 +0.03 -0.35 0.00 0.00 +0.10 — 18:11
23 Cole Reinhardt L -0.31 0.00 0.00 -0.16 -0.15 0.00 0.00 — 10:18
9 Jack Eichel C -0.38 0.00 +0.03 -0.65 +0.15 +0.03 +0.06 — 18:34
33 Adin Hill G -2.58 0.00 — — 0.00 — — -2.58 60:00

Pittsburgh Penguins

Player Rating Points Shots On ice Pen FO Other GSAx TOI
81 Ben Kindel C +2.24 +1.45 +0.19 +0.61 0.00 -0.07 +0.06 — 14:23
16 Justin Brazeau R +2.16 +1.30 +0.02 +0.74 0.00 0.00 +0.10 — 13:01
37 Arturs Silovs G +1.97 0.00 — — 0.00 — — +1.97 60:00
17 Bryan Rust R +1.81 +1.30 +0.33 +0.19 0.00 0.00 0.00 — 17:08
65 Erik Karlsson D +1.45 +1.40 +0.08 -0.19 +0.15 0.00 +0.01 — 21:58
67 Rickard Rakell R +1.32 +0.75 +0.45 +0.05 0.00 +0.01 +0.06 — 16:50
39 Anthony Mantha R +1.15 +0.70 +0.11 +0.34 0.00 0.00 0.00 — 14:04
59 Egor Chinakhov R +0.91 +0.75 +0.17 +0.01 0.00 0.00 -0.02 — 14:50
58 Kris Letang D +0.75 +0.55 +0.04 +0.35 -0.15 0.00 -0.04 — 18:40
18 Tommy Novak C +0.63 +0.70 +0.02 -0.04 0.00 -0.04 0.00 — 15:07
71 Evgeni Malkin C +0.40 +0.55 +0.13 -0.23 0.00 -0.02 -0.04 — 18:07
49 Samuel Girard D +0.11 0.00 +0.01 +0.11 0.00 0.00 -0.02 — 17:58
28 Parker Wotherspoon D -0.07 0.00 0.00 -0.13 0.00 0.00 +0.06 — 18:33
85 Avery Hayes R -0.12 0.00 +0.02 -0.27 +0.15 0.00 -0.02 — 13:18
5 Ryan Shea D -0.12 0.00 0.00 -0.30 0.00 0.00 +0.18 — 18:12
75 Connor Clifton D -0.46 0.00 0.00 -0.51 0.00 0.00 +0.05 — 19:32
19 Connor Dewar C -0.62 0.00 0.00 -0.67 0.00 -0.01 +0.06 — 14:07
55 Noel Acciari C -0.76 0.00 0.00 -0.86 0.00 -0.02 +0.12 — 16:04
46 Blake Lizotte C -0.81 0.00 0.00 -0.80 0.00 -0.01 0.00 — 14:08

An expected-goals take on Dom Luszczyszyn's Game Score: goals and assists, the quality of a player's own shots, shot quality for and against while they were on the ice at 5v5, penalties, faceoffs and puck plays, all in goals; goalies by goals saved above expected. From the NHL play-by-play and shift charts.