Buffalo Sabres vs. Washington CapitalsDec 21, 2018

FinalFriday, Dec 21, 2018· Capital One Arena

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Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
BUF	0	0	1	1		BUF	9	11	17	37
WSH	0	1	1	2		WSH	8	8	8	24

: BUF 72WSH 50
: BUF 3.01WSH 2.32
PP goals: BUF 0WSH 0
Hits: BUF 6WSH 19
Blocks: BUF 10WSH 19
PIM: BUF 8WSH 8
: BUF 45%WSH 55%

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 home. Tom Wilson (WSH) led the scoring with 1G 0A. New look for BUF: Sobotka–Sheary–Rodrigues skated 9:12 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (58.8% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

New line
New look for BUF: Sobotka–Sheary–Rodrigues skated 9:12 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (58.8% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Sobotka Sheary Rodrigues
Goalie
Braden Holtby (WSH) faced 37 shots and stopped 36 (.973), +7 against a season average of 30.4; the win.Holtby
Luck
BUF scored 1 goal on 3.01 expected goals (72 attempts), well short of its chances.
New line
New look for WSH: Dowd–Smith-Pelly–Stephenson skated 7:38 together at 5v5 as the L3 trio (31.6% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Dowd Smith-Pelly Stephenson
New line
New look for WSH: Eller–Connolly–Burakovsky skated 5:29 together at 5v5 as the L4 trio (42.9% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Eller Connolly Burakovsky
Usage
Kyle Okposo (BUF) played 10:08, −3:42 down on his 13:50 season average over 77 games.Okposo
Luck
Sam Reinhart (BUF) generated 0.97 xG on 8 attempts without scoring; the chances were there.Reinhart
PP1
BUF's PP1 (Skinner, Ristolainen, Reinhart, Eichel and Dahlin) went scoreless in 5:17 of 5v4 time with 5 attempts.Skinner Ristolainen Reinhart Eichel Dahlin

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 122 of 122 attempts · WSH 50 · BUF 72

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 37% of the game, WSH 32%.

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
	66	46
	1.87	1.52
	1.81	1.47
	8	7
	4	6
	34	11
	−0.071	+0.071
	37%	32%

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
12:0259% CF
L2Sobotka – Sheary – Rodrigues
9:1259% CF
L3Okposo – Elie – Mittelstadt
3:5971% CF
L4Larsson – Girgensons – Thompson
3:3470% CF
D1Bogosian – Dahlin
13:2770% CF
D2Ristolainen – Pilut
12:2075% CF
D3Scandella – McCabe
10:4036% CF

PP1Skinner – Ristolainen – Reinhart – Eichel – Dahlin
5:1763% CF
PP2Okposo – Sheary – Rodrigues – Mittelstadt – Pilut
1:18100% CF
PK1FLarsson – Girgensons
3:31
PK2FSobotka – Rodrigues
2:10
PK1DBogosian – McCabe
4:09
PK2DScandella – Ristolainen
2:53

Current BUF line combinations →

Washington Capitals

L1Kuznetsov – Wilson – Vrana
10:2242% CF
L2Ovechkin – Oshie – Backstrom
9:2540% CF
L3Dowd – Smith-Pelly – Stephenson
7:3832% CF
L4Eller – Connolly – Burakovsky
5:2943% CF
D1Niskanen – Orlov
13:4644% CF
D2Carlson – Kempny
11:3525% CF
D3Bowey – Siegenthaler
10:2652% CF

PP1Ovechkin – Oshie – Backstrom – Carlson – Kuznetsov
5:3773% CF
PP2Ovechkin – Eller – Orlov – Connolly – Vrana
2:1150% CF
PK1FEller – Wilson
2:24
PK2FDowd – Stephenson
1:25
PK1DNiskanen – Orlov
1:50
PK2DBowey – Kempny
1:10

Current WSH line combinations →

Scoring summary

Every goal with the skaters on the ice for it.

2nd period

2:50
WSHChandler StephensonSH (Nic Dowd)wrist0.10 xG
BUF: Skinner, Ristolainen, Reinhart, Eichel, DahlinWSH: Niskanen, Orlov, Dowd, Stephenson
BUF 0 – 1 WSH

3rd period

9:01
BUFJohan Larsson (Tage Thompson, Rasmus Ristolainen)backhand0.15 xG
BUF: Larsson, Girgensons, Ristolainen, Thompson, PilutWSH: Ovechkin, Oshie, Eller, Carlson, Kempny
BUF 1 – 1 WSH
13:00
WSHTom Wilson (Evgeny Kuznetsov)wrist0.09 xG
BUF: Okposo, Bogosian, Elie, Mittelstadt, DahlinWSH: Kuznetsov, Wilson, Bowey, Vrana, Siegenthaler
BUF 1 – 2 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	0	0	0	-1	2	0.23	0	1	0	22:32	—	—	61	66
Jeff Skinner L	L1	0	0	0	-1	2	0.28	0	1	2	20:05	—	—	61	58
Sam Reinhart C	L1	0	0	0	-1	6	0.97	0	0	0	19:40	—	—	59	57
Conor Sheary L	L2	0	0	0	0	4	0.28	1	1	0	15:16	—	—	55	66
Vladimir Sobotka C	L2	0	0	0	0	1	0.01	2	1	2	15:15	—	—	52	68
Evan Rodrigues C	L2	0	0	0	0	1	0.06	0	0	2	14:56	—	—	65	71
Casey Mittelstadt C	L3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.12	0	0	2	10:59	—	—	50	31
Kyle Okposo R	L3	0	0	0	-1	2	0.04	1	0	0	10:08	—	—	64	67
Remi Elie L	L3	0	0	0	-1	1	0.08	0	0	0	9:39	—	—	67	61
Johan Larsson L	L4	1	0	1	+1	1	0.28	0	1	0	14:45	—	—	56	37
Zemgus Girgensons C	L4	0	0	0	+1	2	0.18	0	0	0	12:20	—	—	57	45
Tage Thompson C	L4	0	1	1	+1	2	0.10	0	1	0	9:46	—	—	67	63
Rasmus Dahlin D	D1	0	0	0	-2	0	0.03	0	0	0	22:59	—	—	65	61
Zach Bogosian D	D1	0	0	0	-1	2	0.04	0	0	0	21:15	—	—	69	66
Rasmus Ristolainen D	D2	0	1	1	0	6	0.20	1	1	0	24:27	—	—	67	78
Lawrence Pilut D	D2	0	0	0	+1	1	0.01	0	0	0	17:04	—	—	69	81
Marco Scandella D	D3	0	0	0	0	2	0.05	1	1	0	16:49	—	—	46	21
Jake McCabe D	D3	0	0	0	0	2	0.05	0	2	0	16:13	—	—	31	11

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Carter Hutton(start)	L	24	22	2	.917	2.32	57:52

Washington Capitals

WSH skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Evgeny Kuznetsov C	L1	0	1	1	+1	1	0.35	0	0	0	18:44	—	—	46	51
Tom Wilson R	L1	1	0	1	+1	4	0.30	3	0	2	17:32	—	—	46	52
Jakub Vrana L	L1	0	0	0	+1	5	0.16	0	1	0	15:20	—	—	43	44
Alex Ovechkin L	L2	0	0	0	-1	1	0.20	0	1	0	20:21	—	—	44	37
T.J. Oshie R	L2	0	0	0	-1	1	0.33	2	2	0	19:26	—	—	35	7
Nicklas Backstrom C	L2	0	0	0	0	1	0.08	1	1	0	18:32	—	—	41	40
Nic Dowd C	L3	0	1	1	+1	0	0.00	2	0	2	11:44	—	—	32	28
Chandler Stephenson C	L3	1	0	1	+1	1	0.11	1	0	0	10:46	—	—	32	35
Devante Smith-Pelly R	L3	0	0	0	0	1	0.03	3	2	0	9:33	—	—	32	32
Lars Eller C	L4	0	0	0	-1	1	0.05	0	1	0	17:14	—	—	44	56
Brett Connolly R	L4	0	0	0	0	0	0.01	2	0	0	11:17	—	—	50	73
Andre Burakovsky L	L4	0	0	0	0	2	0.29	0	0	0	8:56	—	—	41	60
Matt Niskanen D	D1	0	0	0	+1	0	0.02	2	2	2	21:03	—	—	41	37
Dmitry Orlov D	D1	0	0	0	+1	2	0.19	0	0	0	20:22	—	—	44	49
John Carlson D	D2	0	0	0	-1	3	0.13	0	1	0	23:47	—	—	29	30
Michal Kempny D	D2	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	1	3	0	18:08	—	—	29	22
Madison Bowey D	D3	0	0	0	+1	1	0.06	1	1	0	16:24	—	—	54	59
Jonas Siegenthaler D	D3	0	0	0	+1	0	0.01	1	4	2	12:57	—	—	52	62

WSH goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Braden Holtby(start)	W	37	36	1	.973	3.01	59:54

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.