New Jersey Devils vs. Washington CapitalsMar 25, 2021

FinalThursday, Mar 25, 2021· Capital One Arena

away

New Jersey DevilsNJD

3

@

home

Washington CapitalsWSH

4

Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
NJD	1	1	1	3		NJD	11	6	7	24
WSH	1	2	1	4		WSH	4	9	9	22

: NJD 56WSH 49
: NJD 2.14WSH 2.40
PP goals: NJD 1WSH 0
Hits: NJD 9WSH 26
Blocks: NJD 11WSH 17
PIM: NJD 4WSH 6
: NJD 53%WSH 47%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Washington Capitals edge New Jersey Devils 4–3

Washington Capitals beat New Jersey Devils 4–3 at home. Evgeny Kuznetsov (WSH) led the scoring with 2G 0A. New look for WSH: Ovechkin–Kuznetsov–Sprong skated 7:54 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (45% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

Points
Evgeny Kuznetsov had two goals (2 points) on 3 shots in 19:30.Kuznetsov
Points
Alex Ovechkin had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 4 shots in 22:11.Ovechkin
Points
Daniel Sprong had 2 assists (2 points) on 1 shot in 10:50.Sprong
Points
Justin Schultz had 2 assists (2 points) on 1 shot in 19:49.Schultz
New line
New look for WSH: Ovechkin–Kuznetsov–Sprong skated 7:54 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (45% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Ovechkin Kuznetsov Sprong
Luck
WSH scored 4 goals on 2.39 expected goals (49 attempts), finishing well above its chances.
Usage
Evgeny Kuznetsov (WSH) played 19:30, +3:00 up on his 16:30 season average over 40 games.Kuznetsov
Usage
Jesper Bratt (NJD) played 12:56, −3:13 down on his 16:09 season average over 45 games.Bratt

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

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

WSH
NJD
Goal
Shot on goal
Missed
Blocked

Showing 105 of 105 attempts · WSH 49 · NJD 56

Game flow

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

Cumulative shot attempts

WSH
NJD
Goal
Power play (shaded)

Pressure Index

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

: descriptive only, the team with more pressure scored the next goal about half the time. In control: NJD 35% of the game, WSH 31%.

Shift chart

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

Shifts

WSH

NJD

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	NJD	WSH
	53	54
	2.15	2.57
	2.12	2.47
	8	13
	5	2
	20	13
	+0.016	−0.016
	35%	31%

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.

New Jersey Devils

L1Zajac – Kuokkanen – Sharangovich
13:2461% CF
L2Johnsson – Wood – McLeod
9:3548% CF
L3Palmieri – Bratt – Hughes
6:5450% CF
L4Zacha – Merkley – Maltsev
5:5840% CF
D1Severson – Smith
17:1753% CF
D2Subban – Kulikov
17:0052% CF
D3Vatanen – Murray
11:2344% CF

PP1Subban – Severson – Wood – Merkley – Hughes
2:33100% CF
PP2Palmieri – Zacha – Bratt – Kuokkanen – Smith
1:22100% CF
PK1FJohnsson – McLeod
1:28
PK2FZajac – Zacha
1:09
PK1DKulikov – Vatanen
1:31
PK2DSubban – Murray
0:33

Current NJD line combinations →

Washington Capitals

L1Hagelin – Dowd – Hathaway
10:1640% CF
L2Ovechkin – Kuznetsov – Sprong
7:5445% CF
L3Backstrom – Wilson – Vrana
6:3250% CF
L4Oshie – Panik – Sheary
2:1240% CF
D1Carlson – Dillon
16:5272% CF
D2Schultz – Orlov
16:0139% CF
D3Chara – Jensen
12:3640% CF

PP1Ovechkin – Oshie – Backstrom – Carlson – Vrana
2:12100% CF
PP2Ovechkin – Schultz – Kuznetsov – Wilson – Sheary
1:48100% CF
PK1FHagelin – Dowd
3:08
PK2FWilson – Hathaway
1:10
PK1DChara – Jensen
1:16
PK2DCarlson – Dillon
0:44

Current WSH line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

1st period

1:23
NJDNick Merkleybackhand0.11 xG
NJD: Severson, Zacha, Merkley, Maltsev, SmithWSH: Hagelin, Carlson, Dowd, Dillon, Hathaway
NJD 1 – 0 WSH
3:10
WSHDmitry Orlov (Justin Schultz, Daniel Sprong)wrist0.01 xG
NJD: Zajac, Subban, Kulikov, Kuokkanen, SharangovichWSH: Oshie, Schultz, Orlov, Sheary, Sprong
NJD 1 – 1 WSH

2nd period

6:20
NJDMiles Wood (Janne Kuokkanen, Damon Severson)wrist0.02 xG
NJD: Severson, Johnsson, Wood, McLeod, SmithWSH: Chara, Panik, Jensen, Kuznetsov, Sheary
NJD 2 – 1 WSH
7:15
WSHAlex Ovechkin (Daniel Sprong, John Carlson)slap0.09 xG
NJD: Severson, Zacha, Merkley, Maltsev, SmithWSH: Ovechkin, Carlson, Dillon, Kuznetsov, Sprong
NJD 2 – 2 WSH
11:47
WSHEvgeny Kuznetsov (Alex Ovechkin, Brenden Dillon)wrist0.07 xG
NJD: Vatanen, Murray, Johnsson, Wood, McLeodWSH: Ovechkin, Carlson, Dillon, Kuznetsov, Sprong
NJD 2 – 3 WSH

3rd period

11:04
NJDJesper BrattPP (Ty Smith, Pavel Zacha)slap0.08 xG
NJD: Palmieri, Zacha, Bratt, Kuokkanen, SmithWSH: Chara, Hagelin, Carlson, Dowd
NJD 3 – 3 WSH
12:06
WSHEvgeny Kuznetsov (Justin Schultz)tip-in0.08 xG
NJD: Zajac, Severson, Kuokkanen, Smith, SharangovichWSH: Ovechkin, Schultz, Orlov, Kuznetsov, Wilson
NJD 3 – 4 WSH

Box score

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

New Jersey Devils

NJD skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Travis Zajac C	L1	0	0	0	-2	0	0.00	0	1	0	19:21	—	—	52	37
Yegor Sharangovich C	L1	0	0	0	-2	2	0.28	1	0	2	17:22	—	—	52	38
Janne Kuokkanen C	L1	0	1	1	-2	1	0.23	2	0	0	15:59	—	—	62	46
Miles Wood L	L2	1	0	1	0	4	0.10	0	2	0	15:19	—	—	50	49
Michael McLeod C	L2	0	0	0	0	1	0.17	0	1	0	13:50	—	—	46	46
Andreas Johnsson L	L2	0	0	0	0	1	0.09	0	0	0	12:54	—	—	46	37
Jack Hughes C	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.11	0	0	0	17:37	—	—	55	75
Kyle Palmieri C	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.05	0	0	0	14:59	—	—	54	73
Jesper Bratt L	L3	1	0	1	0	1	0.08	0	0	0	12:56	—	—	50	75
Pavel Zacha C	L4	0	1	1	0	1	0.13	0	0	0	18:13	—	—	46	41
Nick Merkley R	L4	1	0	1	0	3	0.42	2	0	0	12:36	—	—	44	38
Mikhail Maltsev L	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.07	0	0	0	8:18	—	—	45	34
Damon Severson D	D1	0	1	1	0	1	0.04	1	1	0	23:58	—	—	51	43
Ty Smith D	D1	0	1	1	0	1	0.07	1	1	0	21:45	—	—	54	44
P.K. Subban D	D2	0	0	0	-1	2	0.10	1	2	0	24:05	—	—	48	42
Dmitry Kulikov D	D2	0	0	0	-1	3	0.03	1	1	0	20:31	—	—	52	46
Ryan Murray D	D3	0	0	0	-1	1	0.16	0	1	0	14:42	—	—	44	49
Sami Vatanen D	D3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	0	1	2	13:49	—	—	41	50

NJD goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Mackenzie Blackwood(start)	L	22	18	4	.818	2.40	57:46

Washington Capitals

WSH skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Nic Dowd C	L1	0	0	0	-1	1	0.10	1	1	0	15:41	—	—	36	24
Carl Hagelin L	L1	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	0	0	0	15:28	—	—	36	24
Garnet Hathaway R	L1	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	8	1	0	12:34	—	—	36	24
Alex Ovechkin L	L2	1	1	2	+3	4	0.59	3	1	0	22:11	—	—	53	63
Evgeny Kuznetsov C	L2	2	0	2	+2	3	0.19	0	1	0	19:30	—	—	50	60
Daniel Sprong R	L2	0	2	2	+3	1	0.07	0	0	0	10:50	—	—	48	48
Tom Wilson R	L3	0	0	0	+1	0	0.02	1	0	0	17:15	—	—	70	70
Nicklas Backstrom C	L3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	0	16:33	—	—	58	52
Jakub Vrana L	L3	0	0	0	0	2	0.28	0	0	2	12:45	—	—	41	43
T.J. Oshie R	L4	0	0	0	+1	3	0.36	2	0	0	15:43	—	—	55	64
Conor Sheary L	L4	0	0	0	0	1	0.12	2	0	0	12:44	—	—	65	64
Richard Panik R	L4	0	0	0	-1	0	0.18	1	1	0	8:23	—	—	29	48
John Carlson D	D1	0	1	1	+1	2	0.17	1	1	0	22:59	—	—	68	66
Brenden Dillon D	D1	0	1	1	+1	0	0.01	1	2	0	19:44	—	—	67	69
Justin Schultz D	D2	0	2	2	+2	1	0.07	2	0	0	19:49	—	—	41	42
Dmitry Orlov D	D2	1	0	1	+2	2	0.04	3	3	0	17:34	—	—	38	41
Zdeno Chara D	D3	0	0	0	-1	2	0.20	0	6	2	18:41	—	—	39	52
Nick Jensen D	D3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	1	0	2	17:10	—	—	43	54

WSH goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Vitek Vanecek(start)	W	24	21	3	.875	2.14	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.