Game Report/Analysis declares Sacrificial knight is best.
"declares the best* move was one in which it throws my knight somewhere on the board that is certain to get the knight captured with no strategic advantage whatsoever. "
If you have some actual examples of this, you should post them. Chess is a very concrete game, and the specific details of a position can be critically important. No one can answer your general question, but we might be able to help with specific examples