Saros Beaten Four Times on a Night the Chances Were Even

Juuse Saros took the loss in a 4-3 defeat to Washington, but the shots he faced were not the problem. He stopped 25 of 29 shots, a save percentage of .862, and that is a little below what the chances he saw would normally allow.

The chances in this game were close to even. Expected goals, which is how many a team's chances were worth, came out to 2.83 for Nashville and 2.7 for Washington. Saros was beaten four times against chances worth about 2.7 goals. That puts his goals saved above expected at minus 1.3, so he let in about one more goal than an average goalie would have.

He was not left exposed. He faced only five high-danger chances and stopped four of them. Charlie Lindgren at the other end saw 10 and stopped eight.

The margin was thin. Alex Tuch scored the go-ahead goal at 10:09 of the third, after Ross Colton had tied it at 3-3. Nashville outshot Washington only 28-29 on goal, so one save here or there could have changed the result. This was a one-goal loss where Saros was a little short, not the reason the night went wrong.