NHL shots, expected goals and PDO by team

How to read it

Shots tell you volume; expected goals tell you quality. Two teams with the same shots per game can create very different chances: one firing from the point, the other from the slot. That is why xG share is a better guide to which team is controlling games than shot share, and why finishing and goaltending (the gaps between goals and expected goals) are the first numbers to check when a team's record looks better or worse than its play. Early in a season every column moves a lot from night to night; from about 20 games the shot and xG shares settle.

GP

Games played this season.

SF/GP

Shots on goal per game: every shot that reached the goalie or went in.

SA/GP

Shots on goal allowed per game. Lower is better.

SF%

Shots for as a share of all shots in the team's games. Above 50% means it out-shoots opponents.

xGF/GP

Expected goals for per game: every unblocked attempt the team took, weighed by its chance of scoring from that spot, shot type and strength, added up and divided by games. It measures the quality and volume of chances, not the finish.

xGA/GP

Expected goals against per game: the same sum for the chances the team allowed. Lower is better.

xG%

xG share: the team's expected goals as a share of all expected goals in its games. The best single measure here of which team is controlling play; above 50% means it creates more than it allows.

GF−xGF

Goals for minus expected goals for: finishing. Above zero, the team scores more than its chances predict, through good shooting or good luck, and that tends to drift back towards zero over a season.

xGA−GA

Expected goals against minus goals allowed: goaltending (and luck). Above zero, the goalies stop more than the chances against predict.

PDO

Shooting % plus save %, times 100. The league average is 100; a team far above or below it is usually running hot or cold and is likely to come back towards 100.

How expected goals are built, and how well the model predicts, is on the methodology page.