Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay Random
None of which would have prevented Vegas from scoring goals in the second and third periods.
‘Momentum’ is a term much abused by media people who don't understand the game but understand how to make a narrative that will excite the audience. One of the earliest exercises in analytics, done back in the early 2000s, showed pretty conclusively that it doesn't exist to the extent that it can affect the outcome of games. Score effects actually work the opposite way – the team trailing in a game is more likely to score the next goal.
|
Fair points.
But how could you conclusively say that a game that was 1-0 for Vegas until a PP goal made it 2-0 with 5 minutes remaining (on a penalty that was entirely from the Flames pushing for an equalizer) wouldn't have been impacted by the Flames scoring a goal.
Flames going up 1-0 there would undoubtedly have changed the outcome of the game. Maybe they lose , maybe they win, but the entire rest of the game from that point would have played out entirely differently and hence the outcome would be different.
It's not like it was some late PP that would have given the Flames an inconsequential late goal that made it 3-1 instead of 3-0.
Flames scoring 1st there would have changed the outcome of the game and there's no real debate to that. Maybe they end up winning the game, maybe it wakes Vegas up and they lose 5-1 but in the end the outcome is different no matter what.