Washington Capitals vs. Buffalo SabresJan 6, 2025

Final / SOMonday, Jan 6, 2025· KeyBank Center

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Goals	1	2	3	OT	SO	T		Shots	1	2	3	OT	T
WSH	1	1	1	0	0	3		WSH	6	9	10	3	28
BUF	1	2	0	0	1	4		BUF	9	9	4	5	27

: WSH 65BUF 58
: WSH 2.57BUF 3.55
PP goals: WSH 1BUF 1
Hits: WSH 23BUF 10
Blocks: WSH 12BUF 20
PIM: WSH 8BUF 6
: WSH 54%BUF 46%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Buffalo Sabres edge Washington Capitals 4–3 (SO)

Buffalo Sabres beat Washington Capitals 4–3 in a shootout at home. Tom Wilson (WSH) led the scoring with 2G 0A. BUF's first power-play unit (Zucker, Thompson, Dahlin, Quinn and Peterka) scored 1 power-play goal on 10 attempts in 4:03 together.

Points
Alex Tuch had two goals (2 points) on 3 shots in 19:36.Tuch
Points
Tom Wilson had two goals (2 points) on 4 shots in 22:04.Wilson
Points
Aliaksei Protas had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 4 shots in 20:00.Protas
Points
JJ Peterka had 2 assists (2 points) on 4 shots in 23:37.Peterka
Points
John Carlson had 2 assists (2 points) on 1 shot in 23:40.Carlson
PP1
BUF's first power-play unit (Zucker, Thompson, Dahlin, Quinn and Peterka) scored 1 power-play goal on 10 attempts in 4:03 together.Zucker Thompson Dahlin Quinn Peterka
PP1
WSH's first power-play unit (Ovechkin, Carlson, Wilson, Strome and Chychrun) scored 1 power-play goal on 8 attempts in 2:03 together.Ovechkin Carlson Wilson Strome Chychrun
New line
New look for BUF: Tuch–McLeod–Peterka skated 11:28 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (60% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Tuch McLeod Peterka

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 123 of 123 attempts · BUF 58 · WSH 65

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 36% of the game, BUF 33%.

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
	61	48
	2.04	2.48
	1.96	2.46
	7	10
	2	4
	16	20
	+0.023	−0.023
	36%	33%

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

L1Wilson – Dubois – Protas
11:5667% CF
L2Dowd – Mangiapane – Duhaime
7:0414% CF
L3Eller – Vrana – McMichael
6:4853% CF
L4Ovechkin – Strome – Raddysh
6:2644% CF
D1van Riemsdyk – Fehérváry
13:2243% CF
D2Roy – Chychrun
9:4826% CF
D3Carlson – Sandin
8:1765% CF

PP1Ovechkin – Carlson – Wilson – Strome – Chychrun
2:03100% CF
PP2Ovechkin – Mangiapane – Dubois – Sandin – McMichael
0:24
PK1FDowd – Duhaime
2:13
PK2FWilson – McMichael
1:27
PK1DCarlson – Fehérváry
3:17
PK2Dvan Riemsdyk – Roy
1:21

Current WSH line combinations →

Buffalo Sabres

L1Zucker – Thompson – Cozens
12:3350% CF
L2Tuch – McLeod – Peterka
11:2860% CF
L3Krebs – Kulich – Benson
4:4356% CF
L4Aube-Kubel – Lafferty – Quinn
3:5517% CF
D1Dahlin – Byram
18:5849% CF
D2Clifton – Power
8:0935% CF
D3Jokiharju – Samuelsson
7:5450% CF

PP1Zucker – Thompson – Dahlin – Quinn – Peterka
4:0391% CF
PP2Tuch – Krebs – Cozens – Power – Benson
0:36
PK1FTuch – McLeod
1:13
PK2FQuinn – Benson
0:29
PK1DClifton – Power
0:45
PK2DSamuelsson – Byram
0:22

Current BUF line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

Decided in the shootout: WSH 3 – 4 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
Tom Wilson R	L1	2	0	2	+1	4	0.46	2	0	0	22:04	—	—	63	70
Pierre-Luc Dubois C	L1	0	1	1	+2	1	0.29	0	1	0	20:43	—	—	70	75
Aliaksei Protas L	L1	1	1	2	+2	4	0.62	1	0	2	20:00	—	—	63	72
Nic Dowd C	L2	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	4	0	0	14:02	—	—	38	7
Brandon Duhaime L	L2	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	0	2	2	12:02	—	—	37	5
Andrew Mangiapane L	L2	0	0	0	-1	1	0.18	2	1	0	11:51	—	—	32	23
Connor McMichael L	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.03	0	1	0	15:48	—	—	57	39
Lars Eller C	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.03	2	0	0	12:09	—	—	61	46
Jakub Vrana L	L3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	2	0	0	8:22	—	—	58	26
Dylan Strome C	L4	0	1	1	-1	2	0.11	3	0	4	18:10	—	—	56	9
Alex Ovechkin L	L4	0	0	0	0	5	0.19	0	0	0	16:42	—	—	63	13
Taylor Raddysh R	L4	0	0	0	0	2	0.03	1	0	0	11:35	—	—	59	40
Martin Fehérváry D	D1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	2	1	0	19:18	—	—	44	43
Trevor van Riemsdyk D	D1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	3	0	17:44	—	—	56	36
Jakob Chychrun D	D2	0	1	1	0	4	0.37	0	2	0	23:01	—	—	47	17
Matt Roy D	D2	0	0	0	0	1	0.12	2	1	0	20:58	—	—	47	48
John Carlson D	D3	0	2	2	0	1	0.06	0	0	0	23:40	—	—	65	50
Rasmus Sandin D	D3	0	0	0	0	1	0.10	2	0	0	19:48	—	—	76	72

WSH goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Charlie Lindgren(start)	O	27	24	3	.889	3.55	65:00

Buffalo Sabres

BUF skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Tage Thompson C	L1	1	0	1	-2	6	1.06	1	0	2	23:48	—	—	47	50
Jason Zucker L	L1	0	0	0	-1	2	0.50	2	0	0	21:33	—	—	44	58
Dylan Cozens C	L1	0	0	0	-2	3	0.26	1	0	0	18:14	—	—	49	50
JJ Peterka R	L2	0	2	2	0	4	0.27	0	1	0	23:37	—	—	50	64
Ryan McLeod C	L2	0	0	0	+2	1	0.07	0	2	0	21:44	—	—	47	80
Alex Tuch R	L2	2	0	2	+2	3	0.72	1	2	0	19:36	—	—	54	80
Peyton Krebs C	L3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	1	0	0	14:33	—	—	35	38
Zach Benson L	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.18	0	1	0	13:52	—	—	56	39
Jiri Kulich C	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.05	1	0	2	5:18	—	—	50	52
Jack Quinn R	L4	0	0	0	0	2	0.17	1	0	0	14:26	—	—	20	26
Sam Lafferty C	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	1	1	0	7:12	—	—	9	27
Nicolas Aube-Kubel R	L4	0	0	0	0	1	0.06	0	0	2	6:19	—	—	18	27
Rasmus Dahlin D	D1	0	1	1	0	1	0.14	0	3	0	29:58	—	—	51	73
Bowen Byram D	D1	0	0	0	0	1	0.01	1	3	0	28:57	—	—	48	63
Owen Power D	D2	0	0	0	0	1	0.06	0	1	0	19:36	—	—	34	30
Connor Clifton D	D2	0	0	0	-2	0	0.02	0	1	0	14:20	—	—	40	53
Mattias Samuelsson D	D3	0	0	0	+1	0	0.00	0	4	0	15:41	—	—	42	42
Henri Jokiharju D	D3	0	0	0	+1	0	0.00	0	1	0	11:46	—	—	44	57

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen(start)	W	28	25	3	.893	2.57	65:00

Goal anatomy

Animated replays from NHL EDGE tracking, with the entry, passes and shot speed for each goal.

Alex Tuch (BUF) 1st 4:42 · assists JJ Peterka · Deflection · carried in · 3-on-2 at the blue line · 46.0 mph shot · 3.2 s from entry to goal.

Alex Tuch · 1st 4:42 · BUF

Play: deflection
Entry: carry
Odd man: 3-on-2
Passes: 2
Shot: 46.0 mph
Distance: 18 ft
Entry to goal: 3.2 s

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Tom Wilson · 2nd 11:29 · WSH

Play: rebound
Passes: 0
Shot: 29.2 mph
Distance: 7 ft
Type: rebound

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Tom Wilson · 1st 6:10 · WSH PP

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: 4-on-3
Passes: 0
Shot: 67.8 mph
Distance: 37 ft
Entry to goal: 2.5 s
Type: one-timer

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Alex Tuch · 2nd 1:07 · BUF

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: 1-on-0
Passes: 0
Shot: 65.3 mph
Distance: 26 ft
Entry to goal: 2.0 s

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Tage Thompson · 2nd 12:49 · BUF PP

Play: rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: No
Passes: 1 (royal road)
Shot: 82.3 mph
Distance: 34 ft
Entry to goal: 5.9 s
Type: one-timer

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

Aliaksei Protas · 3rd 15:47 · WSH

Play: deflection
Passes: 1
Shot: 12.7 mph
Distance: 5 ft

Watch on NHL.com → · Tracking-derived via NHL EDGE

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.

Washington Capitals vs. Buffalo SabresJan 6, 2025

Fantasy takeaways

Buffalo Sabres edge Washington Capitals 4–3 (SO)

Shot map

Shot map

Game flow

Cumulative shot attempts

Shift chart

Shifts

Sequence card

Lines used

Washington Capitals

Buffalo Sabres

Scoring summary

1st period

2nd period

3rd period

Box score

Washington Capitals

Buffalo Sabres

Goal anatomy

Alex Tuch · 1st 4:42 · BUF

Tom Wilson · 2nd 11:29 · WSH

Tom Wilson · 1st 6:10 · WSH PP

Alex Tuch · 2nd 1:07 · BUF

Tage Thompson · 2nd 12:49 · BUF PP

Aliaksei Protas · 3rd 15:47 · WSH