Washington Capitals vs. Buffalo SabresMar 15, 2021

FinalMonday, Mar 15, 2021· KeyBank Center

away

Washington CapitalsWSH

6

@

home

Buffalo SabresBUF

0

Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
WSH	1	3	2	6		WSH	13	11	6	30
BUF	0	0	0	0		BUF	2	7	14	23

: WSH 49BUF 49
: WSH 2.08BUF 2.70
PP goals: WSH 0BUF 0
Hits: WSH 5BUF 9
Blocks: WSH 14BUF 9
PIM: WSH 2BUF 4
: WSH 56%BUF 44%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Washington Capitals rout Buffalo Sabres 6–0

Washington Capitals beat Buffalo Sabres 6–0 at BUF. Justin Schultz (WSH) led the scoring with 0G 2A. WSH scored 6 goals on 2.08 expected goals (49 attempts), finishing well above its chances.

Points
Conor Sheary had 2 assists (2 points) in 12:45.Sheary
Points
Justin Schultz had 2 assists (2 points) on 1 shot in 16:16.Schultz
Points
Nick Jensen had 2 assists (2 points) in 17:27.Jensen
Luck
WSH scored 6 goals on 2.08 expected goals (49 attempts), finishing well above its chances.
Usage
Trevor van Riemsdyk (WSH) played 7:00, −10:36 down on his 17:36 season average over 19 games.van Riemsdyk
New line
New look for BUF: Sheahan–Hall–Thompson skated 12:22 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (76% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Sheahan Hall Thompson
Luck
BUF scored 0 goals on 2.70 expected goals (49 attempts), well short of its chances.
Usage
Daniel Sprong (WSH) played 16:20, +4:47 up on his 11:33 season average over 41 games.Sprong

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 98 of 98 attempts · BUF 49 · WSH 49

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 31% of the game, BUF 35%.

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
	52	58
	1.98	3.20
	1.91	2.96
	6	13
	5	4
	8	19
	+0.012	−0.012
	31%	35%

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
12:3550% CF
L2Kuznetsov – Vrana – Sprong
11:2239% CF
L3Hagelin – Dowd – Hathaway
10:1950% CF
D1Chara – Jensen
14:4948% CF
D2Carlson – Dillon
12:3940% CF
D3Schultz – Orlov
11:4573% CF

PP1Ovechkin – Oshie – Backstrom – Carlson – Vrana
1:34100% CF
PP2Hagelin – Schultz – Orlov – Dowd – Hathaway
0:56
PK1FHagelin – Dowd
1:20
PK2FPanik – Hathaway
0:31
PK1DDillon – van Riemsdyk
0:59
PK2DChara – Jensen
0:52

Current WSH line combinations →

Buffalo Sabres

L1Staal – Reinhart – Olofsson
13:0944% CF
L2Sheahan – Hall – Thompson
12:2276% CF
L3Okposo – Rieder – Asplund
12:0141% CF
L4Skinner – Lazar – Mittelstadt
8:2054% CF
D1Miller – Dahlin
18:0547% CF
D2Ristolainen – Bryson
16:4630% CF
D3Irwin – Montour
15:2967% CF

PP1Hall – Ristolainen – Reinhart – Olofsson – Dahlin
1:05
PP2Staal – Skinner – Miller – Thompson – Mittelstadt
0:46100% CF
PK1FOkposo – Rieder
1:46
PK2FSheahan – Lazar
1:04
PK1DIrwin – Ristolainen
2:25
PK2DMontour – Bryson
1:30

Current BUF line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

1st period

18:46
WSHEvgeny Kuznetsov (Justin Schultz, Conor Sheary)wrist0.00 xG
WSH: Ovechkin, Schultz, Kuznetsov, Sheary, SprongBUF: Sheahan, Lazar, Montour, Bryson, Dahlin
WSH 1 – 0 BUF

2nd period

2:41
WSHNicklas Backstrom (T.J. Oshie, Nick Jensen)wrist0.14 xG
WSH: Ovechkin, Oshie, Backstrom, Orlov, JensenBUF: Staal, Miller, Reinhart, Olofsson, Dahlin
WSH 2 – 0 BUF
5:59
WSHRichard Panik (Dmitry Orlov)slap0.05 xG
WSH: Backstrom, Schultz, Orlov, Panik, ShearyBUF: Irwin, Reinhart, Montour, Olofsson, Asplund
WSH 3 – 0 BUF
15:07
WSHDaniel Sprong (Nick Jensen)snap0.06 xG
WSH: Chara, Jensen, Kuznetsov, Vrana, SprongBUF: Staal, Miller, Reinhart, Olofsson, Dahlin
WSH 4 – 0 BUF

3rd period

6:46
WSHGarnet Hathaway (Justin Schultz, Carl Hagelin)tip-in0.09 xG
WSH: Hagelin, Schultz, Orlov, Dowd, HathawayBUF: Staal, Irwin, Reinhart, Montour, Olofsson
WSH 5 – 0 BUF
16:21
WSHAlex Ovechkin (Conor Sheary)snap0.18 xG
WSH: Ovechkin, Schultz, Panik, Dillon, ShearyBUF: Skinner, Ristolainen, Lazar, Mittelstadt, Bryson
WSH 6 – 0 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
Alex Ovechkin L	L1	1	0	1	+3	6	0.36	0	0	0	20:04	—	—	55	51
T.J. Oshie R	L1	0	1	1	+1	5	0.49	1	0	0	18:30	—	—	52	51
Nicklas Backstrom C	L1	1	0	1	+2	1	0.14	0	0	0	17:40	—	—	50	38
Evgeny Kuznetsov C	L2	1	0	1	+2	3	0.12	0	0	0	18:59	—	—	46	38
Daniel Sprong R	L2	1	0	1	+2	2	0.29	0	0	0	16:20	—	—	42	25
Jakub Vrana L	L2	0	0	0	+1	0	0.01	0	0	0	13:28	—	—	38	22
Nic Dowd C	L3	0	0	0	+1	2	0.03	1	5	0	20:14	—	—	48	44
Carl Hagelin L	L3	0	1	1	+1	1	0.06	0	1	0	15:22	—	—	50	76
Garnet Hathaway R	L3	1	0	1	+1	3	0.19	1	0	0	14:41	—	—	39	28
Zdeno Chara D	D1	0	0	0	+1	1	0.03	0	2	0	18:51	—	—	50	42
Nick Jensen D	D1	0	2	2	+2	0	0.02	0	2	0	17:27	—	—	48	47
John Carlson D	D2	0	0	0	0	1	0.01	1	1	0	19:51	—	—	36	17
Brenden Dillon D	D2	0	0	0	+1	1	0.00	0	1	0	19:13	—	—	39	32
Dmitry Orlov D	D3	0	1	1	+3	1	0.02	1	0	2	18:14	—	—	50	45
Justin Schultz D	D3	0	2	2	+4	1	0.02	0	1	0	16:16	—	—	74	77
Richard Panik R	—	1	0	1	+2	1	0.21	0	1	0	13:05	—	—	48	36
Conor Sheary L	—	0	2	2	+3	0	0.05	0	0	0	12:45	—	—	59	37
Trevor van Riemsdyk D	—	0	0	0	0	1	0.03	0	0	0	7:00	—	—	23	3

WSH goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Vitek Vanecek(start)	W	23	23	0	.1000	2.70	60:00

Buffalo Sabres

BUF skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Victor Olofsson L	L1	0	0	0	-4	1	0.13	1	0	0	16:11	—	—	38	25
Sam Reinhart C	L1	0	0	0	-4	1	0.01	0	0	0	16:09	—	—	50	27
Eric Staal C	L1	0	0	0	-3	1	0.07	0	0	0	15:21	—	—	48	31
Taylor Hall L	L2	0	0	0	0	4	0.34	0	0	2	15:58	—	—	70	88
Riley Sheahan C	L2	0	0	0	-1	0	0.06	0	0	0	15:24	—	—	73	90
Tage Thompson C	L2	0	0	0	0	3	0.61	0	0	0	13:53	—	—	73	89
Kyle Okposo R	L3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	0	15:33	—	—	40	59
Tobias Rieder L	L3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	1	1	0	14:49	—	—	41	59
Rasmus Asplund C	L3	0	0	0	-1	1	0.10	0	0	0	14:17	—	—	40	56
Jeff Skinner L	L4	0	0	0	-1	3	0.27	0	0	0	13:59	—	—	55	68
Casey Mittelstadt C	L4	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	0	1	0	13:53	—	—	42	65
Curtis Lazar C	L4	0	0	0	-2	2	0.28	2	0	0	11:16	—	—	56	68
Colin Miller D	D1	0	0	0	-2	1	0.06	1	1	0	20:28	—	—	56	60
Rasmus Dahlin D	D1	0	0	0	-3	0	0.00	0	1	2	19:55	—	—	47	51
Rasmus Ristolainen D	D2	0	0	0	-1	1	0.02	3	1	0	21:42	—	—	30	25
Jacob Bryson D	D2	0	0	0	-2	0	0.04	1	0	0	18:48	—	—	38	37
Brandon Montour D	D3	0	0	0	-3	1	0.05	0	1	0	19:41	—	—	68	79
Matt Irwin D	D3	0	0	0	-2	4	0.65	0	3	0	18:43	—	—	65	75

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Carter Hutton(start)	L	30	24	6	.800	2.08	60:00

More

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.