Worth the replay?
Monday, November 9'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 tension29/30Swings18/25Comeback10/20Decided late12/15Back-and-forth3/10Drama 71 × pre-game weight 0.93 (pre-game Watchability 87) = 67
▸ Why this grade
Late tension30/30Swings17/25Comeback10/20Decided late15/15Back-and-forth10/10Drama 81 × pre-game weight 0.78 (pre-game Watchability 55) = 63
▸ Why this grade
Late tension13/30Swings17/25Comeback5/20Decided late1/15Back-and-forth8/10Drama 44 × pre-game weight 0.80 (pre-game Watchability 59) = 35
▸ Why this grade
Late tension20/30Swings11/25Comeback0/20Decided late0/15Back-and-forth5/10Drama 36 × pre-game weight 0.93 (pre-game Watchability 86) = 34
▸ Why this grade
Late tension8/30Swings12/25Comeback16/20Decided late0/15Back-and-forth3/10Drama 38 × pre-game weight 0.68 (pre-game Watchability 37) = 26
▸ Why this grade
Late tension0/30Swings4/25Comeback0/20Decided late0/15Back-and-forth5/10Drama 9 × pre-game weight 0.83 (pre-game Watchability 66) = 7
▸ Why this grade
Late tension1/30Swings7/25Comeback0/20Decided late0/15Back-and-forth3/10Drama 10 × pre-game weight 0.68 (pre-game Watchability 37) = 7
▸ Why this grade
Late tension0/30Swings3/25Comeback0/20Decided late0/15Back-and-forth0/10Drama 4 × pre-game weight 0.58 (pre-game Watchability 15) = 2
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.