Washington Capitals vs. Buffalo SabresMar 12, 2026

FinalThursday, Mar 12, 2026· KeyBank Center

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Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
WSH	0	1	1	2		WSH	3	6	13	22
BUF	1	0	0	1		BUF	15	10	5	30

: WSH 51BUF 67
: WSH 3.14BUF 3.00
PP goals: WSH 0BUF 0
Hits: WSH 22BUF 24
Blocks: WSH 17BUF 11
PIM: WSH 4BUF 4
: WSH 40%BUF 60%

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. Sam Carrick (BUF) led the scoring with 1G 0A. New look for WSH: Wilson–Dubois–Lapierre skated 11:29 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (37.5% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

New line
New look for WSH: Wilson–Dubois–Lapierre skated 11:29 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (37.5% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Wilson Dubois Lapierre
New line
New look for WSH: Strome–Protas–Leonard skated 10:03 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (43.5% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Strome Protas Leonard
Luck
BUF scored 1 goal on 2.99 expected goals (67 attempts), well short of its chances.
New line
New look for BUF: Carrick–Pearson–Malenstyn skated 7:27 together at 5v5 as the L4 trio (76.5% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Carrick Pearson Malenstyn
New line
New look for WSH: Duhaime–McMichael–Frank skated 7:06 together at 5v5 as the L3 trio (53.8% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Duhaime McMichael Frank
Usage
Hendrix Lapierre (WSH) played 13:17, +4:31 up on his 8:46 season average over 73 games.Lapierre
Usage
Timothy Liljegren (WSH) played 15:50, −4:06 down on his 19:56 season average over 46 games.Liljegren
Usage
Alex Ovechkin (WSH) played 14:03, −3:26 down on his 17:29 season average over 81 games.Ovechkin

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 118 of 118 attempts · BUF 67 · WSH 51

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 21% of the game, BUF 41%.

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

Head-to-head matchups

BUF skaters (rows) against WSH skaters (columns) at 5v5. Square size is time together; colour is xGF% from the BUF side.

Matchup matrix

BUF xGF% 4060square size = TOI together · blank = under 1:00

Sequence card

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

Sequence card
Stat	WSH	BUF
	47	64
	2.35	2.60
	2.28	2.51
	10	11
	4	5
	24	24
	−0.034	+0.034
	21%	41%

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 – Lapierre
11:2938% CF
L2Strome – Protas – Leonard
10:0343% CF
L3Duhaime – McMichael – Frank
7:0654% CF
L4Ovechkin – Beauvillier – Sourdif
6:5650% CF
D1van Riemsdyk – Fehérváry
14:2941% CF
D2Roy – Sandin
14:1642% CF
D3Chychrun – Liljegren
14:1031% CF

PP1Ovechkin – Wilson – Strome – Chychrun – Dubois
2:4389% CF
PP2Ovechkin – Sandin – McMichael – Protas – Leonard
1:07100% CF
PK1FDuhaime – Protas
1:09
PK2FWilson – McMichael
0:58
PK1Dvan Riemsdyk – Sandin
1:09
PK2DRoy – Fehérváry
0:47

Current WSH line combinations →

Buffalo Sabres

L1Zucker – McLeod – Quinn
10:3448% CF
L2Thompson – Ostlund – Benson
10:1359% CF
L3Norris – Krebs – Doan
7:4064% CF
L4Carrick – Pearson – Malenstyn
7:2776% CF
D1Byram – Power
17:2461% CF
D2Samuelsson – Dahlin
16:0159% CF
D3Schenn – Stanley
10:1543% CF

PP1Zucker – Thompson – Norris – Dahlin – Doan
3:30100% CF
PP2McLeod – Byram – Quinn – Ostlund – Benson
0:18
PK1FMalenstyn – McLeod
2:01
PK2FCarrick – Benson
1:32
PK1DSamuelsson – Byram
1:39
PK2DSchenn – Power
1:14

Current BUF line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

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	0	0	0	0	4	0.53	2	0	0	20:34	—	—	52	67
Pierre-Luc Dubois C	L1	0	0	0	0	1	0.17	2	1	0	19:41	—	—	38	62
Hendrix Lapierre C	L1	0	0	0	0	1	0.07	1	1	0	13:17	—	—	44	42
Aliaksei Protas L	L2	0	1	1	+1	1	0.10	0	0	0	16:31	—	—	45	34
Dylan Strome C	L2	0	0	0	+1	1	0.00	0	0	0	15:25	—	—	47	35
Ryan Leonard R	L2	1	0	1	+2	1	0.15	1	0	0	13:46	—	—	42	30
Connor McMichael L	L3	0	0	0	0	2	0.77	2	1	2	14:15	—	—	53	92
Brandon Duhaime L	L3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	3	5	0	12:17	—	—	32	47
Ethen Frank R	L3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	1	1	0	10:30	—	—	43	65
Justin Sourdif C	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.03	4	1	0	14:50	—	—	37	40
Anthony Beauvillier R	L4	0	0	0	0	1	0.01	0	0	0	14:07	—	—	38	36
Alex Ovechkin L	L4	0	0	0	-1	2	0.30	1	2	0	14:03	—	—	37	29
Martin Fehérváry D	D1	0	0	0	0	1	0.02	1	1	2	19:56	—	—	44	58
Trevor van Riemsdyk D	D1	0	1	1	+1	3	0.53	0	1	0	19:00	—	—	47	61
Matt Roy D	D2	0	0	0	-1	1	0.02	1	2	0	21:46	—	—	47	45
Rasmus Sandin D	D2	0	0	0	-1	1	0.23	1	0	0	19:47	—	—	43	50
Jakob Chychrun D	D3	1	0	1	+2	1	0.16	0	1	0	20:25	—	—	41	37
Timothy Liljegren D	D3	0	0	0	+1	1	0.05	2	0	0	15:50	—	—	35	39

WSH goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Charlie Lindgren(start)	W	30	29	1	.967	3.00	60:00

Buffalo Sabres

BUF skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Ryan McLeod C	L1	0	0	0	-1	1	0.17	0	1	0	17:26	—	—	53	29
Jason Zucker L	L1	0	0	0	-1	3	0.23	5	1	0	17:07	—	—	48	28
Jack Quinn R	L1	0	0	0	-1	1	0.13	1	0	0	16:19	—	—	48	30
Tage Thompson C	L2	0	0	0	0	5	0.36	2	0	0	22:04	—	—	55	58
Zach Benson L	L2	0	0	0	0	1	0.17	0	1	0	17:15	—	—	62	55
Noah Ostlund C	L2	0	0	0	0	0	0.02	0	1	0	16:49	—	—	62	57
Josh Norris C	L3	0	0	0	-1	2	0.33	1	0	0	15:45	—	—	50	56
Josh Doan R	L3	0	0	0	-1	3	0.41	0	0	0	14:42	—	—	53	60
Peyton Krebs C	L3	0	0	0	-1	1	0.04	4	1	0	13:44	—	—	60	48
Sam Carrick C	L4	1	0	1	+1	2	0.13	1	1	0	10:51	—	—	67	83
Beck Malenstyn L	L4	0	1	1	+1	1	0.06	3	0	0	10:25	—	—	77	98
Tanner Pearson L	L4	0	0	0	+1	3	0.44	0	0	2	8:58	—	—	68	89
Bowen Byram D	D1	0	0	0	0	3	0.13	1	2	0	23:02	—	—	63	34
Owen Power D	D1	0	1	1	0	0	0.04	0	0	0	21:29	—	—	62	40
Rasmus Dahlin D	D2	0	0	0	0	2	0.13	1	0	0	23:28	—	—	59	65
Mattias Samuelsson D	D2	0	0	0	0	1	0.05	2	2	0	20:30	—	—	60	72
Luke Schenn D	D3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.03	2	1	0	14:31	—	—	38	50
Logan Stanley D	D3	0	0	0	-1	1	0.12	1	0	2	13:02	—	—	47	62

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen(start)	L	22	20	2	.909	2.53	58:33

Goal anatomy

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

Sam Carrick (BUF) 1st 6:02 · assists Beck Malenstyn, Owen Power · Deflection · 19.5 mph shot.

Sam Carrick · 1st 6:02 · BUF

Play: deflection
Passes: 1
Shot: 19.5 mph
Distance: 20 ft

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

Ryan Leonard · 2nd 2:14 · WSH

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: 2-on-1
Passes: 0
Shot: 71.4 mph
Distance: 27 ft
Entry to goal: 1.7 s

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

Jakob Chychrun · 3rd 18:27 · WSH

Play: rebound
Passes: 1 (royal road)
Shot: 40.5 mph
Distance: 24 ft
Type: one-timer, rebound

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 SabresMar 12, 2026

Fantasy takeaways

Washington Capitals edge Buffalo Sabres 2–1

Shot map

Shot map

Game flow

Cumulative shot attempts

Shift chart

Shifts

Head-to-head matchups

Matchup matrix

Sequence card

Lines used

Washington Capitals

Buffalo Sabres

Scoring summary

1st period

2nd period

3rd period

Box score

Washington Capitals

Buffalo Sabres

Goal anatomy

Sam Carrick · 1st 6:02 · BUF

Ryan Leonard · 2nd 2:14 · WSH

Jakob Chychrun · 3rd 18:27 · WSH