Worth the replay?
Thursday, November 5's games ranked by how good they turned out to be: late drama, comebacks, lead swaps and overtime. No scores, no winners, so you can decide what to watch without spoilers.
Best games of the season →▸ Why this grade
Late tension2/30Swings16/25Comeback8/20Decided late0/15Back-and-forth10/10Drama 36 × pre-game weight 0.82 (pre-game Watchability 64) = 30
▸ Why this grade
Late tension0/30Swings13/25Comeback6/20Decided late0/15Back-and-forth3/10Drama 21 × pre-game weight 0.78 (pre-game Watchability 57) = 17
Ranked from each game's win probability as it was played (ESPN's for football and basketball; ours, from the goals, for hockey): how in doubt it was near the end, how far the winner came back from, how late it was decided, how big its momentum swings were and how often a team erased a deficit, with a bonus for overtime. That drama is then weighted by how good a matchup it was going in (its pre-game Watchability score), so a thriller between top teams ranks above an equally wild game between minor ones.