How the NHL pulled off its new goal simulation animations — and what comes next
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Greg Wyshynski, ESPN
In an overtime game against the Philadelphia Flyers recently, Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid flew into the zone on a breakaway, shot the puck off the post, recovered it and passed over to a streaking Leon Draisaitl for the winning goal.
Fans could watch a video clip of that goal, but the NHL’s official website offers a different way to process the play: a “goal simulation” animation.
McDavid is a small dark circle with 97 on it, being defended by orange circles with corresponding jersey numbers to the Flyers. The puck is a black speck. One can track Draisaitl’s journey from his own zone to the winning goal — and Travis Sanheim‘s inability to catch up to him — including what happened outside the frame of the television cameras.
Finally, in the cheekiest part of the simulation, a series of quickly multiplying Oilers “dots” appear on the ice, as Edmonton players hop over the boards to celebrate the win and mob Draisaitl.
“People kind of discovered it organically,” said Russ Levine, group vice president of statistics & information for the NHL. “They’re finding unique things or little viral moments, and that has been rewarding. That’s what we hoped fans would discover.”
The “goal simulations” are created through the NHL’s puck- and player-tracking technology, which collects data and tracks the movements of every player on the ice and the puck itself.
“We think it allows you to see a play in a different way. You can see the spacing, player positioning, gaps or lack thereof in a way that’s very stark and different from a broadcast view because it’s two dimensional and straight over the top,” Levine said. “We think it’s a really unique, quick way to review a play and see it in a different light.”
HOCKEY IS A SPORT of constant motion. Levine said this presentation of scoring plays allows fans to see how every part of that offensive chance develops.
“I think we’re always searching for things that will help fans better understand what’s happening on the ice,” he said. “Puck and player tracking is a way to take this very chaotic game — with live substitutions, players hopping on and off the ice and the best players playing a third of the game — and finding new ways to quantify performance or evaluate what happens on a play.”
But the goal simulations also have an old-school charm. Seeing plays develop into digitized shots and passes conjures memories of early hockey video games, too.
“The nostalgia for that era of video games seems to be never-ending,” Levine said. “And I do think you’re right: It’s simple, and it looks kind of like those early games.”
The NHL first started developing puck- and player-tracking technology in 2013, using several different variations of infrared and optical tracking systems. In 2019, the NHL and NHLPA announced that players would wear sensors inside their uniforms that, when combined with a chip located inside the puck, would capture real-time data ranging from speed to distance to mapping locations on the ice. There’s also an optical tracking component that validates that data “within a few milliseconds,” according to the league, which renamed its tracking technology NHL Edge.
Over the years, the league has learned how to handle some of the challenges to ensuring NHL Edge’s accuracy. Sometimes arenas move things around to obscure the sightlines of the cameras, which is part of the league’s game-night checklist for system calibration. Sometimes a chip goes out or gets knocked out of a player’s gear, so the league works with equipment managers to ensure they’re on the case.
“There’s some technical challenges, maintenance, and then there’s just some real life events that happen in games where things have to be corrected in a hurry to make sure we’re accurately capturing everything,” Levine explained.
Once captured, one of the uses for that data was through the SAP NHL Coaching Insights App, available to coaches and players on the bench during games via tablets. Levine said that’s where the goal simulations first showed up in 2022, as a way for teams to clip and analyze how plays developed. Known as “Virtual Replay” on the app, where full games are available, the NHL says its coaches have responded positively to it.
“They’ve appreciated the amount of tactical focus the view provides, along with the ability to see an accurate portrayal of width and depth on the playing surface that the traditional red line camera can skew,” said Brant Berglund, senior director of coaching and GM applications for the NHL. “They’ve also used it in video rooms and on the bench for various play reviews and coaching purposes.”
But the league believed that NHL Edge data could also be used to entertain and educate fans. It started working with a company called Beyond Sports to develop real-time digital recreations of NHL games in virtual reality and platforms such as Roblox.
Things took a giant leap forward in 2023 when the NHL and Disney worked together to create the Big City Greens Classic, which combined the NHL Edge location mapping with live, real-time volumetric animations of players and teams modeled after characters on the Emmy Award-winning show “Big City Greens.” As the Washington Capitals and New York Rangers played a game at Madison Square Garden, animated players mimicked their movements — under the watchful eye of a chicken in a referee shirt.
Incremental improvements were made last season for the Big City Greens Classic 2, with the Boston Bruins playing against the Pittsburgh Penguins:
THE NHL EDGE goal simulation animations are decidedly more low tech than the Big City Greens Classic, and that’s by design: While there’s inherent entertainment value in watching little circles race around the ice, the goal is more educational and analytical.
“It’s the same underlying data: multiple position points per second that can be translated, whether it’s in a virtual broadcast featuring Disney characters or O’s on a ring plot,” Levine said. “There’s a lot of different uses for it that we can imagine in the future.”
The league decided to add “goal simulations” this season as part of a larger overhaul of NHL.com’s game presentations. After the NHL sold its stake in MLB Advanced Media to Disney in 2021, the league eventually began running its official website in-house. The league wanted to integrate more content into its box scores, including from its tracking data. Levine said starting with a commonplace event, like a goal, made the most sense.
“The thought was, ‘What can we add that will immediately sort of benefit the fan experience?’ Those six-plus goal events a game are the most important bits of data we have,” he said. “The idea is to just show people a clear view of what’s happening on a goal.”
The NHLPA signed off on player tracking years ago. Despite goal simulations occasionally putting the spotlight on players who negatively impact a play, Levine said he hasn’t heard of any pushback from the players, and doesn’t anticipate any.
“I don’t think there’s any risk of an exposure of a player-performance issue in moving dots that wouldn’t be exposed by television,” he said.
The next evolution for the goal simulations is to allow fans to share the clips on social media.
“That’s something we’re working on. I think the response we’ve seen on social from people reacting to them on the site indicates there is an interest in it,” Levine said. “It’s kind of a different way to look at a goal. There can be sort of viral aspects of some of these goals. We’re excited to see what fans will do with it when we’re able to make them completely shareable.”
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Greg Wyshynski
Winnipeg Jets forward Nik Ehlers could muster only one word to describe the feeling of their 4-3 double-overtime Game 7 victory that eliminated the St. Louis Blues on Sunday night.
“Joy.”
Here’s another word: historic.
Captain Adam Lowry‘s goal at 16:10 of the second overtime closed out the series and advanced the Jets to face the Dallas Stars beginning Wednesday in Winnipeg. But overtime doesn’t happen without forward Cole Perfetti‘s goal with three seconds remaining in regulation, which established an NHL record.
Perfetti’s goal at 59:57 was the latest game-tying goal in a Game 7, topping the record set by Vancouver Canucks winger Matt Cooke (59:54) in the 2004 conference quarterfinals against Calgary. The Flames won the series in overtime. Perfetti also tied Washington’s Dale Hunter (1993) and Carolina’s Eric Staal (2006) for the second-latest game-tying goal in NHL playoff history. Cooke’s goal with two seconds left in a conference semifinal for Minnesota in 2003 is still the fastest.
Perfetti redirected a desperation Kyle Connor one-timer past St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington off a cross-ice pass from Nik Ehlers.
“I fanned on the first [shot], so I thought I’m not going to let that happen again. If we could get the goalie moving just a little bit, we might be able to create something,” Ehlers said of his pass.
“Sometimes, for whatever reason, if you look at the home teams in this series, the puck luck was incredible,” St. Louis Blues coach Jim Montgomery said.
Winnipeg didn’t have much luck to start the game. Jordan Kyrou gave the Blues a 1-0 lead just 1:10 into the game, as lackluster defense from Connor led to a 2-on-1 down low. Defenseman Colton Parayko found Kyrou for his third goal of the postseason. The Blues scored in the first period of every game of the series.
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck allowed a questionable goal 6:16 later, as Mathieu Joseph wristed one past him from the top of the circle for a 2-0 lead. Hellebuyck finished the series with an .830 save percentage and a 3.85 goals-against average.
Winnipeg was 2-25 all time in the playoffs when trailing by multiple goals at any point in the game.
To make matters worse, defenseman Josh Morrissey left the game just four shifts into the first period because of an apparent shoulder injury. That meant Winnipeg played the majority of Game 7 without its top defenseman and second-leading scorer, as center Mark Scheifele missed Games 6 and 7 because of an upper-body injury suffered in Game 5.
This is the same scenario the Dallas Stars faced in winning Game 7 of their series against Colorado, playing without defenseman Miro Heiskanen and winger Jason Robertson. Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said he cited Dallas’s late-game comeback against Colorado on Saturday night to give the Jets hope for a rally.
The Jets chipped away at the lead in the second period on Perfetti’s power-play goal, but St. Louis’ fourth line — one of its best in this series — got it back with Radek Faksa‘s goal with 35 seconds left in the period.
“We obviously didn’t get the start that we wanted today,” Ehlers said. “They got another one at the end of the second period. But there was belief in this group. Nobody was hanging their heads. We looked at each other and said we’re not done playing hockey yet. It was special.”
Entering Sunday night, teams with a multigoal lead in the third period of a Game 7 were 119-4. Things were looking good for the Blues — until they weren’t.
Winnipeg pulled Hellebuyck with 3:14 left, leading to Vlad Namestnikov scoring with 1:56 left in regulation. Perfetti then scored with three seconds left.
The teams were scoreless in the first overtime, with Binnington (11 saves) busier than Hellebuyck (4 saves) in the opening extra session. Then, Lowery ended the series with his deflection of Neal Pionk‘s shot at 16:10 of the second overtime.
Lowry was born in St. Louis. His father, Adam Lowry, played five seasons with the Blues during his 19-year NHL career.
The Jets mobbed Lowry in celebration. For Hellebuyck, there was also a palpable sense of relief.
He’s considered the best goaltender in the world, expected to collect his third Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top netminder this season, giving him back-to-back Vezina wins. But Hellebuyck had been a playoff disappointment in the Jets’ first-round losses in 2023 and 2024, both in five games. He was disastrous against the Blues, especially on the road: getting pulled in three straight road games with a .758 save percentage and a 7.24 goals-against average.
The last time he was across the ice from Binnington in overtime was the championship game of the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, when Binnington was brilliant in leading Canada to victory over Hellebuyck and the U.S.
This time, Hellebuyck was saving the day until his team could win the game in double overtime. He made 13 saves in the final three periods.
“Amazing. Absolutely amazing,” said Arniel, who won his first playoff series as an NHL head coach. “I’ve seen a lot of hockey games. I’ve been around a lot of hockey games. Man, it was thrilling.”
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Kristen Shilton
Winnipeg forward Mark Scheifele did not play in Game 7 of the Jets’ first-round Stanley Cup playoff series against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday due to an undisclosed injury, coach Scott Arniel said.
Arniel ruled out Scheifele following the team’s morning skate. He was hurt in Game 5 — playing only 8:05 in the first period before exiting — and then did not travel with the Jets to St. Louis for Game 6. Arniel previously had said Scheifele was a game-time decision for Game 7.
Scheifele, 32, skated in a track suit Saturday, and Arniel told reporters the veteran was feeling better than he had the day before. Scheifele, however, was not able to participate in the Jets’ on-ice session by Sunday, quickly indicating he would not be available for the game.
Winnipeg held a 2-0 lead in the series over St. Louis before the Blues stormed back with a pair of wins to tie it, 2-2. The home team has won each game in the best-of-seven series so far.
The Jets’ challenge in closing out St. Louis only increases without Scheifele. Winnipeg already has been dealing with the uneven play of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, a significant storyline in the series to date. Hellebuyck was pulled in all three of his starts at St. Louis while giving up a combined 16 goals on 66 shots (.758 SV%). In Game 6, Hellebuyck allowed four goals in only 5 minutes, 23 seconds of the second period.
Hellebuyck was Winnipeg’s backbone during the regular season, earning a Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy nomination for his impeccable year (.925 SV%, 2.00 GAA).
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