Buffalo Sabres vs. Washington CapitalsDec 15, 2018

Final / SOSaturday, Dec 15, 2018· Capital One Arena

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Goals	1	2	3	OT	SO	T		Shots	1	2	3	OT	T
BUF	1	2	0	0	0	3		BUF	8	9	5	7	29
WSH	2	1	0	0	1	4		WSH	10	15	10	3	38

: BUF 54WSH 77
: BUF 2.87WSH 5.34
PP goals: BUF 2WSH 0
Hits: BUF 16WSH 32
Blocks: BUF 13WSH 12
PIM: BUF 12WSH 10
: BUF 47%WSH 53%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Washington Capitals edge Buffalo Sabres 4–3 (SO)

Washington Capitals beat Buffalo Sabres 4–3 in a shootout at home. Rasmus Dahlin (BUF) led the scoring with 1G 2A. BUF's first power-play unit (Skinner, Ristolainen, Reinhart, Eichel and Dahlin) scored 2 power-play goals on 9 attempts in 3:06 together.

Points
Rasmus Dahlin had a goal and 2 assists (3 points) on 3 shots in 24:19.Dahlin
Points
Jack Eichel had two goals (2 points) on 3 shots in 20:55.Eichel
Points
Sam Reinhart had 2 assists (2 points) on 1 shot in 17:41.Reinhart
PP1
BUF's first power-play unit (Skinner, Ristolainen, Reinhart, Eichel and Dahlin) scored 2 power-play goals on 9 attempts in 3:06 together.Skinner Ristolainen Reinhart Eichel Dahlin
Usage
Nathan Beaulieu (BUF) played 5:47, −9:56 down on his 15:43 season average over 47 games.Beaulieu
Usage
Rasmus Ristolainen (BUF) played 31:43, +7:10 up on his 24:33 season average over 77 games.Ristolainen
Goalie
Carter Hutton (BUF) faced 38 shots and stopped 35 (.921), +7 against a season average of 30.8; the overtime loss.Hutton
Luck
WSH scored 3 goals on 5.34 expected goals (77 attempts), well short of its chances.

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

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

WSH
BUF
Goal
Shot on goal
Missed
Blocked

Showing 131 of 131 attempts · WSH 77 · BUF 54

Game flow

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

Cumulative shot attempts

WSH
BUF
Goal
Power play (shaded)

Pressure Index

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

: descriptive only, the team with more pressure scored the next goal about half the time. In control: BUF 25% of the game, WSH 55%.

Shift chart

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

Shifts

WSH

BUF

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	BUF	WSH
	40	66
	1.84	3.99
	1.79	3.89
	6	12
	5	8
	16	17
	−0.003	+0.003
	25%	55%

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.

Buffalo Sabres

L1Skinner – Reinhart – Eichel
12:0735% CF
L2Pominville – Sobotka – Thompson
11:1840% CF
L3Okposo – Sheary – Mittelstadt
9:2638% CF
L4Larsson – Girgensons – Rodrigues
7:4236% CF
D1Bogosian – Dahlin
14:2558% CF
D2Scandella – Ristolainen
13:0812% CF
D3Beaulieu – Tennyson
2:5363% CF

PP1Skinner – Ristolainen – Reinhart – Eichel – Dahlin
3:0690% CF
PP2Okposo – Beaulieu – Sheary – Rodrigues – Mittelstadt
1:4075% CF
PK1FLarsson – Girgensons
4:59
PK2FSobotka – Rodrigues
2:20
PK1DBogosian – Ristolainen
3:46
PK2DScandella – Dahlin
0:00

Current BUF line combinations →

Washington Capitals

L1Ovechkin – Oshie – Backstrom
13:5974% CF
L2Kuznetsov – Wilson – Vrana
10:2163% CF
L3Eller – Smith-Pelly – Connolly
9:0759% CF
L4Dowd – Boyd – Stephenson
7:0650% CF
D1Carlson – Kempny
14:0274% CF
D2Niskanen – Orlov
11:4350% CF
D3Bowey – Siegenthaler
5:3244% CF

PP1Ovechkin – Oshie – Backstrom – Carlson – Kuznetsov
6:08100% CF
PP2Ovechkin – Eller – Carlson – Connolly – Vrana
1:03100% CF
PK1FEller – Wilson
2:24
PK2FSmith-Pelly – Stephenson
1:10
PK1DCarlson – Kempny
1:11
PK2DNiskanen – Orlov
1:11

Current WSH line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

1st period

2:41
BUFJack Eichel (Sam Reinhart, Rasmus Dahlin)wrist0.03 xG
BUF: Skinner, Ristolainen, Reinhart, Eichel, DahlinWSH: Niskanen, Orlov, Dowd, Stephenson
BUF 1 – 0 WSH
3:39
WSHBrett Connolly (Devante Smith-Pelly)wrist0.15 xG
BUF: Larsson, Beaulieu, Tennyson, Girgensons, RodriguesWSH: Eller, Carlson, Smith-Pelly, Connolly, Kempny
BUF 1 – 1 WSH
9:41
WSHJakub Vrana (Evgeny Kuznetsov)slap0.03 xG
BUF: Skinner, Beaulieu, Tennyson, Reinhart, EichelWSH: Carlson, Kuznetsov, Wilson, Vrana, Kempny
BUF 1 – 2 WSH

2nd period

2:25
BUFJack EichelPP (Rasmus Dahlin, Rasmus Ristolainen)wrist0.11 xG
BUF: Skinner, Ristolainen, Reinhart, Eichel, DahlinWSH: Carlson, Orlov, Dowd, Boyd
BUF 2 – 2 WSH
7:21
BUFRasmus DahlinPP (Jeff Skinner, Sam Reinhart)wrist0.03 xG
BUF: Skinner, Ristolainen, Reinhart, Eichel, DahlinWSH: Eller, Carlson, Wilson, Kempny
BUF 3 – 2 WSH
13:46
WSHAlex Ovechkin (Nicklas Backstrom, Dmitry Orlov)slap0.05 xG
BUF: Sobotka, Tennyson, Thompson, DahlinWSH: Ovechkin, Backstrom, Carlson, Orlov
BUF 3 – 3 WSH

Decided in the shootout: BUF 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.

Buffalo Sabres

BUF skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Jack Eichel C	L1	2	0	2	0	3	0.30	1	0	0	20:55	—	—	38	37
Sam Reinhart C	L1	0	2	2	0	1	0.18	0	0	2	17:41	—	—	36	33
Jeff Skinner L	L1	0	1	1	0	3	0.30	1	0	0	16:17	—	—	36	36
Vladimir Sobotka C	L2	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	1	1	0	14:39	—	—	43	58
Tage Thompson C	L2	0	0	0	-1	2	0.23	0	0	2	14:15	—	—	42	45
Jason Pominville R	L2	0	0	0	0	3	0.46	1	0	0	11:53	—	—	43	60
Casey Mittelstadt C	L3	0	0	0	0	0	0.10	0	2	0	15:23	—	—	30	28
Conor Sheary L	L3	0	0	0	0	0	0.00	0	0	0	14:54	—	—	35	41
Kyle Okposo R	L3	0	0	0	0	4	0.36	2	1	0	14:11	—	—	32	26
Evan Rodrigues C	L4	0	0	0	-1	3	0.15	1	0	4	14:16	—	—	40	5
Johan Larsson L	L4	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	0	0	0	13:47	—	—	36	5
Zemgus Girgensons C	L4	0	0	0	-1	0	0.03	0	0	0	13:18	—	—	42	9
Zach Bogosian D	D1	0	0	0	0	1	0.11	0	5	2	29:03	—	—	50	42
Rasmus Dahlin D	D1	1	2	3	0	3	0.34	0	0	0	24:19	—	—	52	27
Rasmus Ristolainen D	D2	0	1	1	+1	4	0.16	3	2	0	31:43	—	—	24	27
Marco Scandella D	D2	0	0	0	0	2	0.12	3	2	2	23:33	—	—	17	19
Matt Tennyson D	D3	0	0	0	-3	0	0.00	3	0	0	9:06	—	—	43	40
Nathan Beaulieu D	D3	0	0	0	-2	0	0.04	0	0	0	5:47	—	—	63	55

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Carter Hutton(start)	O	38	35	3	.921	5.34	65:00

Washington Capitals

WSH skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Alex Ovechkin L	L1	1	0	1	+1	8	1.07	4	0	0	25:34	—	—	72	79
Nicklas Backstrom C	L1	0	1	1	+1	0	0.04	0	1	0	22:18	—	—	71	75
T.J. Oshie R	L1	0	0	0	0	3	0.49	1	0	2	20:38	—	—	74	83
Evgeny Kuznetsov C	L2	0	1	1	+1	5	0.93	0	0	0	21:25	—	—	65	63
Tom Wilson R	L2	0	0	0	+1	3	0.36	8	1	0	15:27	—	—	63	59
Jakub Vrana L	L2	1	0	1	+1	5	0.44	0	0	0	14:16	—	—	63	57
Lars Eller C	L3	0	0	0	+1	2	0.33	0	1	0	16:47	—	—	59	72
Brett Connolly R	L3	1	0	1	+1	3	0.30	2	1	0	13:39	—	—	61	73
Devante Smith-Pelly R	L3	0	1	1	+1	0	0.00	4	0	0	10:52	—	—	59	72
Nic Dowd C	L4	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	5	1	0	10:07	—	—	50	67
Chandler Stephenson C	L4	0	0	0	-1	0	0.04	2	0	0	9:57	—	—	47	65
Travis Boyd C	L4	0	0	0	0	1	0.42	0	0	0	9:30	—	—	53	69
John Carlson D	D1	0	0	0	+3	2	0.44	0	1	0	29:11	—	—	72	77
Michal Kempny D	D1	0	0	0	+1	1	0.23	1	3	6	18:30	—	—	71	73
Dmitry Orlov D	D2	0	1	1	0	0	0.00	1	2	0	22:52	—	—	52	59
Matt Niskanen D	D2	0	0	0	-1	2	0.14	1	0	0	20:37	—	—	55	58
Jonas Siegenthaler D	D3	0	0	0	0	0	0.04	1	1	0	14:20	—	—	62	74
Madison Bowey D	D3	0	0	0	0	3	0.08	2	0	2	12:14	—	—	53	86

WSH goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Pheonix Copley(start)	W	29	26	3	.897	2.87	65:00

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.