Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Washington CapitalsFeb 25, 2021

FinalThursday, Feb 25, 2021· Capital One Arena

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Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
PIT	0	0	2	2		PIT	11	11	6	28
WSH	1	0	4	5		WSH	12	14	9	35

: PIT 52WSH 66
: PIT 3.04WSH 5.13
PP goals: PIT 0WSH 1
Hits: PIT 21WSH 24
Blocks: PIT 17WSH 6
PIM: PIT 6WSH 8
: PIT 39%WSH 61%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Washington Capitals beat Pittsburgh Penguins 5–2

Washington Capitals beat Pittsburgh Penguins 5–2 at home. Nicklas Backstrom (WSH) led the scoring with 1G 1A. New look for WSH: Ovechkin–Kuznetsov–Sheary skated 10:55 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (57.7% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

Points
Lars Eller had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 1 shot in 15:54.Eller
Points
Nicklas Backstrom had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 5 shots in 16:43.Backstrom
Points
T.J. Oshie had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 3 shots in 18:14.Oshie
Points
John Carlson had 2 assists (2 points) on 2 shots in 22:34.Carlson
New line
New look for WSH: Ovechkin–Kuznetsov–Sheary skated 10:55 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (57.7% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Ovechkin Kuznetsov Sheary
New line
New look for PIT: Sceviour–Jankowski–O'Connor skated 5:32 together at 5v5 as the L4 trio (66.7% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Sceviour Jankowski O'Connor
Usage
Alex Ovechkin (WSH) played 16:04, −3:31 down on his 19:35 season average over 44 games.Ovechkin
Usage
Garnet Hathaway (WSH) played 7:06, −5:19 down on his 12:25 season average over 55 games.Hathaway

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

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

WSH
PIT
Goal
Shot on goal
Missed
Blocked

Showing 118 of 118 attempts · WSH 66 · PIT 52

Game flow

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

Cumulative shot attempts

WSH
PIT
Goal
Power play (shaded)

Pressure Index

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

: descriptive only, the team with more pressure scored the next goal about half the time. In control: PIT 22% of the game, WSH 38%.

Shift chart

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

Shifts

WSH

PIT

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	PIT	WSH
	44	66
	2.23	3.19
	2.08	2.99
	12	14
	2	4
	16	12
	−0.084	+0.084
	22%	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.

Pittsburgh Penguins

L1Blueger – Lafferty – Tanev
11:0932% CF
L2Malkin – Rust – Aston-Reese
11:0455% CF
L3Crosby – Guentzel – Kapanen
9:5640% CF
L4Sceviour – Jankowski – O'Connor
5:3267% CF
D1Matheson – Marino
16:4041% CF
D2Letang – Joseph
11:0544% CF
D3Ceci – Pettersson
11:0331% CF

PP1Malkin – Crosby – Letang – Rust – Guentzel
6:2785% CF
PP2Jankowski – Matheson – Kapanen – Marino – O'Connor
1:33
PK1FBlueger – Tanev
3:00
PK2FJankowski – Aston-Reese
2:35
PK1DPettersson – Marino
2:58
PK2DLetang – Ceci
1:55

Current PIT line combinations →

Washington Capitals

L1Oshie – Eller – Panik
11:0659% CF
L2Ovechkin – Kuznetsov – Sheary
10:5558% CF
L3Backstrom – Wilson – Vrana
9:1150% CF
L4Hagelin – Dowd – Hathaway
5:4867% CF
D1Schultz – Orlov
17:0072% CF
D2Carlson – Dillon
14:1948% CF
D3Chara – Jensen
9:2063% CF

PP1Ovechkin – Oshie – Backstrom – Carlson – Vrana
2:5550% CF
PP2Schultz – Orlov – Kuznetsov – Wilson – Sheary
1:35100% CF
PK1FHagelin – Eller
2:22
PK2FDowd – Wilson
2:18
PK1DChara – Jensen
6:16
PK2DOrlov – Dillon
0:50

Current WSH line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

1st period

11:20
WSHNicklas Backstrom (Nick Jensen)snap0.23 xG
PIT: Ceci, Blueger, Pettersson, Lafferty, TanevWSH: Chara, Backstrom, Jensen, Wilson, Vrana
PIT 0 – 1 WSH

3rd period

3:18
WSHT.J. Oshie (Lars Eller, John Carlson)backhand0.20 xG
PIT: Crosby, Sceviour, Matheson, Marino, O'ConnorWSH: Oshie, Hagelin, Eller, Schultz, Dillon
PIT 0 – 2 WSH
4:22
PITBrandon TanevSHwrist0.06 xG
PIT: Ceci, Blueger, Tanev, JosephWSH: Ovechkin, Oshie, Backstrom, Carlson, Vrana
PIT 1 – 2 WSH
7:22
PITJake Guentzel (Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang)wrist0.24 xG
PIT: Crosby, Letang, Guentzel, Kapanen, JosephWSH: Hagelin, Carlson, Dowd, Dillon, Hathaway
PIT 2 – 2 WSH
12:40
WSHTom WilsonPP (John Carlson, Alex Ovechkin)tip-in0.09 xG
PIT: Letang, Ceci, Blueger, TanevWSH: Ovechkin, Carlson, Kuznetsov, Wilson, Sheary
PIT 2 – 3 WSH
18:38
WSHCarl HagelinENbackhand0.95 xG
PIT: Malkin, Crosby, Letang, Rust, Guentzel, KapanenWSH: Chara, Hagelin, Dowd, Dillon, Hathaway
PIT 2 – 4 WSH
19:08
WSHLars EllerEN (T.J. Oshie, Nicklas Backstrom)wrist0.79 xG
PIT: Malkin, Crosby, Letang, Rust, Guentzel, KapanenWSH: Chara, Oshie, Backstrom, Eller, Carlson
PIT 2 – 5 WSH

Box score

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

Pittsburgh Penguins

PIT skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Teddy Blueger C	L1	0	0	0	0	1	0.03	1	2	0	17:41	—	—	25	31
Brandon Tanev L	L1	1	0	1	0	3	0.38	5	4	0	16:06	—	—	26	32
Sam Lafferty C	L1	0	0	0	-1	2	0.17	3	0	0	13:20	—	—	29	35
Evgeni Malkin C	L2	0	0	0	-2	3	0.34	1	0	2	20:37	—	—	50	43
Bryan Rust R	L2	0	0	0	-2	5	0.49	0	0	0	19:41	—	—	54	47
Zachary Aston-Reese L	L2	0	0	0	0	1	0.07	1	0	0	14:51	—	—	55	39
Jake Guentzel C	L3	1	0	1	-1	2	0.71	0	0	0	18:40	—	—	43	55
Sidney Crosby C	L3	0	1	1	-2	2	0.20	0	1	0	18:21	—	—	41	47
Kasperi Kapanen R	L3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	1	0	0	15:34	—	—	39	55
Mark Jankowski L	L4	0	0	0	0	1	0.11	0	0	0	11:00	—	—	62	58
Drew O'Connor L	L4	0	0	0	-1	2	0.15	0	0	2	10:05	—	—	44	40
Colton Sceviour C	L4	0	0	0	-1	1	0.07	2	0	0	6:31	—	—	46	22
John Marino D	D1	0	0	0	-1	0	0.01	0	0	0	22:46	—	—	37	28
Mike Matheson D	D1	0	0	0	-1	3	0.15	0	2	0	19:56	—	—	47	32
Kris Letang D	D2	0	1	1	-1	1	0.00	3	2	2	23:50	—	—	49	61
Pierre-Olivier Joseph D	D2	0	0	0	+2	1	0.00	1	1	0	12:51	—	—	46	55
Marcus Pettersson D	D3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.01	0	4	0	16:54	—	—	29	37
Cody Ceci D	D3	0	0	0	0	0	0.13	3	1	0	16:25	—	—	30	38

PIT goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Tristan Jarry(start)	L	33	30	3	.909	3.39	59:04

Washington Capitals

WSH skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
T.J. Oshie R	L1	1	1	2	+1	3	0.30	1	0	0	18:14	—	—	58	63
Lars Eller C	L1	1	1	2	+2	1	1.02	2	0	2	15:54	—	—	56	47
Richard Panik R	L1	0	0	0	0	1	0.21	1	0	0	11:55	—	—	61	61
Evgeny Kuznetsov C	L2	0	0	0	0	1	0.05	0	0	2	16:38	—	—	63	71
Conor Sheary L	L2	0	0	0	0	1	0.55	0	1	0	16:18	—	—	66	76
Alex Ovechkin L	L2	0	1	1	-1	4	0.50	2	0	0	16:04	—	—	63	75
Tom Wilson R	L3	1	0	1	+1	1	0.09	4	0	2	18:09	—	—	58	48
Nicklas Backstrom C	L3	1	1	2	+1	5	0.64	0	0	0	16:43	—	—	56	58
Jakub Vrana L	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.16	0	1	0	14:22	—	—	48	54
Carl Hagelin L	L4	1	0	1	+1	4	1.17	0	0	0	12:18	—	—	78	65
Nic Dowd C	L4	0	0	0	0	1	0.12	1	1	0	12:15	—	—	57	21
Garnet Hathaway R	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	2	0	0	7:06	—	—	71	37
Dmitry Orlov D	D1	0	0	0	0	2	0.10	2	0	0	20:43	—	—	70	64
Justin Schultz D	D1	0	0	0	+1	2	0.02	0	0	0	19:28	—	—	65	63
John Carlson D	D2	0	2	2	-1	2	0.06	3	1	2	22:34	—	—	49	48
Brenden Dillon D	D2	0	0	0	+1	2	0.06	4	0	0	17:47	—	—	50	47
Zdeno Chara D	D3	0	0	0	+3	1	0.02	1	1	0	18:22	—	—	58	60
Nick Jensen D	D3	0	1	1	+1	3	0.07	1	1	0	17:15	—	—	68	66

WSH goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Vitek Vanecek(start)	W	28	26	2	.929	3.04	59:55

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.