Washington Capitals vs. Buffalo SabresJan 15, 2021

FinalFriday, Jan 15, 2021· KeyBank Center

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Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
WSH	0	1	1	2		WSH	6	7	8	21
BUF	0	0	1	1		BUF	11	15	5	31

: WSH 35BUF 52
: WSH 1.77BUF 3.05
PP goals: WSH 0BUF 0
Hits: WSH 27BUF 15
Blocks: WSH 7BUF 8
PIM: WSH 10BUF 0
: WSH 47%BUF 53%

Fantasy takeaways

Generated from the play-by-play, shifts and season context. No opinions, just what changed.

Washington Capitals edge Buffalo Sabres 2–1

Washington Capitals beat Buffalo Sabres 2–1 at BUF. Tom Wilson (WSH) led the scoring with 1G 1A. BUF scored 1 goal on 3.05 expected goals (52 attempts), well short of its chances.

Points
Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 1 shot in 18:44.Wilson
Luck
BUF scored 1 goal on 3.05 expected goals (52 attempts), well short of its chances.
Usage
Taylor Hall (BUF) played 21:36, +3:49 up on his 17:47 season average over 52 games.Hall
Usage
Tage Thompson (BUF) played 19:39, +5:56 up on his 13:43 season average over 37 games.Thompson
Usage
Jack Eichel (BUF) played 23:23, +3:02 up on his 20:21 season average over 20 games.Eichel
Usage
Alex Ovechkin (WSH) played 14:51, −4:45 down on his 19:36 season average over 44 games.Ovechkin
Usage
Conor Sheary (WSH) played 8:52, −4:56 down on his 13:48 season average over 52 games.Sheary
Usage
Riley Sheahan (BUF) played 8:21, −5:03 down on his 13:24 season average over 52 games.Sheahan

Shot map

Both teams on one rink, filtered by strength and period.

Shot map

Every attempt, sized by expected goals. Goals are rings, shots on goal dots, misses hollow, blocks crosses.

Strength

Period

Team

← WSH attacks left (bottom on phones)BUF attacks right (top on phones) →

BUF
WSH
Goal
Shot on goal
Missed
Blocked

Showing 87 of 87 attempts · BUF 52 · WSH 35

Game flow

Cumulative expected goals and shot attempts, with power plays shaded and goals marked.

Cumulative shot attempts

BUF
WSH
Goal
Power play (shaded)

Pressure Index

BUF pressure
WSH pressure
Goal
Control (|PI| > 0.25)

: descriptive only, the team with more pressure scored the next goal about half the time. In control: WSH 17% of the game, BUF 38%.

Shift chart

Every shift, grouped by line and pair; bars are coloured by strength state. Click a player to highlight.

Shifts

BUF

WSH

goals / penalties

Even strength
Power play
Penalty kill
Goal
Penalty

Sequence card

5-on-5 possession-chain numbers from the sequence engine (Draw Equity and control cover all situations).

Sequence card
Stat	WSH	BUF
	41	43
	1.65	1.69
	1.62	1.62
	5	8
	2	1
	6	8
	−0.048	+0.048
	17%	38%

Definitions: sequence xG, transition attempts, Draw Equity, control and the Pressure Index.

Lines used

Detected from who actually shared the ice, with time together. Percentages are the unit's share of shot attempts.

Washington Capitals

L1Ovechkin – Oshie – Backstrom
7:5731% CF
L2Kuznetsov – Wilson – Vrana
6:5238% CF
L3Eller – Panik – Sheary
5:3243% CF
L4Hagelin – Dowd – Hathaway
5:0764% CF
D1Carlson – Orlov
15:5036% CF
D2Schultz – Dillon
14:3844% CF
D3Chara – Jensen
13:2956% CF

PK1FDowd – Wilson
3:53
PK2FHagelin – Eller
2:49
PK1DChara – Jensen
3:51
PK2DCarlson – Orlov
1:59

Current WSH line combinations →

Buffalo Sabres

L1Eakin – Rieder – Cozens
7:1230% CF
L2Hall – Eichel – Thompson
6:4064% CF
L3Sheahan – Skinner – Lazar
6:0638% CF
L4Staal – Reinhart – Olofsson
4:2667% CF
D1McCabe – Ristolainen
13:1374% CF
D2Montour – Dahlin
11:1329% CF
D3Miller – Jokiharju
10:2233% CF

PP1Hall – Reinhart – Olofsson – Eichel – Dahlin
5:51100% CF
PP2Staal – Skinner – Ristolainen – Thompson – Cozens
3:15100% CF

Current BUF line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

2nd period

1:34
WSHJakub Vrana (Tom Wilson)snap0.24 xG
WSH: Chara, Jensen, Kuznetsov, Wilson, VranaBUF: Eakin, Rieder, Montour, Dahlin, Cozens
WSH 1 – 0 BUF

3rd period

0:31
BUFRasmus Ristolainen (Taylor Hall, Jack Eichel)wrist0.02 xG
WSH: Ovechkin, Backstrom, Carlson, Orlov, WilsonBUF: Hall, McCabe, Ristolainen, Reinhart, Eichel
WSH 1 – 1 BUF
7:47
WSHTom Wilson (Nicklas Backstrom)snap0.09 xG
WSH: Ovechkin, Backstrom, Schultz, Dillon, WilsonBUF: Staal, Miller, Olofsson, Thompson, Jokiharju
WSH 2 – 1 BUF

Box score

Skaters grouped by the line they played on; CF% is the 5v5 share of shot attempts while on the ice.

Washington Capitals

WSH skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Nicklas Backstrom C	L1	0	1	1	0	3	0.26	0	0	0	16:22	—	—	36	34
T.J. Oshie R	L1	0	0	0	0	1	0.16	3	1	0	16:16	—	—	38	29
Alex Ovechkin L	L1	0	0	0	0	2	0.02	3	1	0	14:51	—	—	42	41
Tom Wilson R	L2	1	1	2	+1	1	0.09	4	0	0	18:44	—	—	37	48
Evgeny Kuznetsov C	L2	0	0	0	+1	3	0.13	1	1	2	14:58	—	—	54	70
Jakub Vrana L	L2	1	0	1	+1	1	0.25	2	0	0	13:56	—	—	57	68
Lars Eller C	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.01	0	0	0	17:30	—	—	55	59
Richard Panik R	L3	0	0	0	0	0	0.17	4	0	0	12:24	—	—	62	78
Conor Sheary L	L3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	2	8:52	—	—	50	68
Carl Hagelin L	L4	0	0	0	0	3	0.08	0	0	0	13:55	—	—	54	27
Nic Dowd C	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.01	0	0	0	12:30	—	—	69	65
Garnet Hathaway R	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	1	0	0	9:05	—	—	54	32
John Carlson D	D1	0	0	0	-1	1	0.43	1	0	2	22:19	—	—	40	31
Dmitry Orlov D	D1	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	1	2	0	22:15	—	—	39	29
Brenden Dillon D	D2	0	0	0	+1	1	0.01	2	1	2	19:25	—	—	48	46
Justin Schultz D	D2	0	0	0	+1	1	0.01	1	0	0	17:19	—	—	47	48
Zdeno Chara D	D3	0	0	0	+1	3	0.12	2	1	2	20:06	—	—	56	69
Nick Jensen D	D3	0	0	0	+1	0	0.02	2	0	0	19:13	—	—	58	68

WSH goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Vitek Vanecek(start)	W	31	30	1	.968	3.05	60:00

Buffalo Sabres

BUF skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk		PP	SH
Dylan Cozens C	L1	0	0	0	-1	1	0.17	0	0	12:49	—	—	36	15
Tobias Rieder L	L1	0	0	0	-1	2	0.08	1	0	12:42	—	—	53	32
Cody Eakin C	L1	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	0	0	12:17	—	—	44	21
Jack Eichel C	L2	0	1	1	+1	3	0.20	2	0	23:23	—	—	64	79
Taylor Hall L	L2	0	1	1	+1	0	0.22	3	0	21:36	—	—	59	69
Tage Thompson C	L2	0	0	0	-1	2	0.26	0	3	19:39	—	—	40	59
Jeff Skinner L	L3	0	0	0	0	2	0.33	0	0	14:28	—	—	50	68
Curtis Lazar C	L3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	8:47	—	—	30	23
Riley Sheahan C	L3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	8:21	—	—	55	62
Sam Reinhart C	L4	0	0	0	+1	2	0.68	0	0	21:25	—	—	74	69
Victor Olofsson L	L4	0	0	0	-1	4	0.16	0	1	19:51	—	—	42	37
Eric Staal C	L4	0	0	0	-1	2	0.17	0	0	17:43	—	—	50	43
Rasmus Ristolainen D	D1	1	0	1	+1	3	0.12	4	0	20:51	—	—	74	72
Jake McCabe D	D1	0	0	0	+1	1	0.20	0	0	17:36	—	—	69	80
Rasmus Dahlin D	D2	0	0	0	-1	2	0.24	1	2	21:31	—	—	28	22
Brandon Montour D	D2	0	0	0	-1	4	0.07	1	1	19:13	—	—	38	33
Colin Miller D	D3	0	0	0	-1	3	0.16	2	0	15:35	—	—	57	50
Henri Jokiharju D	D3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	1	1	14:15	—	—	35	19

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Linus Ullmark(start)	L	21	19	2	.905	1.37	57:58

Methodology

Shot locations come from the NHL play-by-play, normalised so each shooter attacks the same way, then flipped so the home team attacks right. On-ice stats and lines come from the shift charts: a unit is the exact set of skaters sharing the ice, and CF% is the share of all shot attempts while they were out. Head-to-head cells are 5v5 time against each opponent. Expected goals and the Pressure Index appear as their models are released.