Buffalo Sabres vs. Washington CapitalsApr 4, 2026

FinalSaturday, Apr 4, 2026· Capital One Arena

away

home

Goals	1	2	3	T		Shots	1	2	3	T
BUF	2	0	0	2		BUF	13	15	11	39
WSH	3	1	2	6		WSH	11	7	10	28

: BUF 61WSH 55
: BUF 3.43WSH 3.21
PP goals: BUF 0WSH 0
Hits: BUF 17WSH 14
Blocks: BUF 8WSH 11
PIM: BUF 14WSH 20
: BUF 52%WSH 48%

Fantasy takeaways

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

Washington Capitals rout Buffalo Sabres 6–2

Washington Capitals beat Buffalo Sabres 6–2 at home. Connor McMichael (WSH) led the scoring with 1G 1A. New look for BUF: Greenway–Malenstyn–Kozak skated 7:11 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (53.8% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

Points
Aliaksei Protas had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 4 shots in 16:15.Protas
Points
Connor McMichael had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 5 shots in 16:03.McMichael
Points
Jakob Chychrun had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 2 shots in 19:40.Chychrun
Points
Rasmus Dahlin had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 3 shots in 22:28.Dahlin
Points
Alex Ovechkin had 2 assists (2 points) on 4 shots in 17:01.Ovechkin
Points
Pierre-Luc Dubois had 2 assists (2 points) on 1 shot in 12:58.Dubois
New line
New look for BUF: Greenway–Malenstyn–Kozak skated 7:11 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (53.8% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Greenway Malenstyn Kozak
New line
New look for BUF: Zucker–Tuch–Norris skated 6:53 together at 5v5 as the L2 trio (36.4% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.Zucker Tuch Norris

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 116 of 116 attempts · WSH 55 · BUF 61

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 35% of the game, WSH 23%.

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

Head-to-head matchups

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

Matchup matrix

WSH 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	BUF	WSH
	55	54
	3.16	2.87
	3.00	2.72
	13	13
	4	5
	22	26
	+0.047	−0.047
	35%	23%

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

L1Greenway – Malenstyn – Kozak
7:1154% CF
L2Zucker – Tuch – Norris
6:5336% CF
L3McLeod – Quinn – Benson
6:4360% CF
L4Thompson – Krebs – Doan
6:0960% CF
D1Stanley – Metsa
11:2161% CF
D2Samuelsson – Dahlin
11:0545% CF
D3Byram – Power
10:5625% CF

PP1Zucker – Thompson – Norris – Dahlin – Quinn
5:0886% CF
PP2Tuch – McLeod – Byram – Doan – Benson
2:2467% CF
PK1FTuch – Greenway
1:51
PK2FMalenstyn – McLeod
0:36
PK1DByram – Metsa
1:22
PK2DStanley – Power
0:36

Current BUF line combinations →

Washington Capitals

L1Ovechkin – Strome – Protas
10:1638% CF
L2Beauvillier – Sourdif – Leonard
8:2036% CF
L3Duhaime – Lapierre – Frank
8:2055% CF
L4Wilson – Dubois – McMichael
7:3546% CF
D1Roy – Hutson
9:2656% CF
D2Fehérváry – Sandin
8:3654% CF
D3van Riemsdyk – Chychrun
8:0245% CF

PP1Ovechkin – Wilson – Chychrun – Dubois – Leonard
1:52100% CF
PP2Ovechkin – Strome – McMichael – Sourdif – Hutson
0:51100% CF
PK1FWilson – McMichael
2:33
PK2FBeauvillier – Protas
2:04
PK1DRoy – Fehérváry
2:55
PK2Dvan Riemsdyk – Sandin
2:01

Current WSH 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.

Buffalo Sabres

BUF skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Jordan Greenway L	L1	0	1	1	0	1	0.01	1	0	0	13:32	—	—	43	34
Beck Malenstyn L	L1	1	0	1	+1	1	0.51	4	0	0	12:27	—	—	42	67
Tyson Kozak C	L1	0	0	0	+1	0	0.00	3	0	0	12:15	—	—	60	61
Jason Zucker L	L2	0	0	0	-1	1	0.14	1	0	0	18:20	—	—	50	51
Alex Tuch R	L2	0	1	1	+1	5	0.28	0	2	0	16:20	—	—	62	86
Josh Norris C	L2	0	1	1	0	4	0.38	1	1	0	15:48	—	—	31	51
Jack Quinn R	L3	0	0	0	-3	6	0.44	0	0	0	18:27	—	—	54	53
Ryan McLeod C	L3	0	0	0	-3	0	0.00	0	0	0	16:53	—	—	50	42
Zach Benson L	L3	0	0	0	-2	3	0.26	0	1	12	15:20	—	—	57	44
Tage Thompson C	L4	0	0	0	-3	5	0.79	1	1	0	19:20	—	—	48	42
Josh Doan R	L4	0	0	0	-3	1	0.04	1	0	0	12:57	—	—	45	44
Peyton Krebs C	L4	0	0	0	0	2	0.19	3	0	0	12:05	—	—	62	82
Zach Metsa D	D1	0	0	0	-3	0	0.02	0	1	0	15:15	—	—	52	30
Logan Stanley D	D1	0	0	0	-2	3	0.03	0	0	0	13:18	—	—	61	61
Rasmus Dahlin D	D2	1	1	2	+1	3	0.28	1	0	0	22:28	—	—	53	76
Mattias Samuelsson D	D2	0	0	0	+2	2	0.01	0	2	2	19:54	—	—	53	68
Bowen Byram D	D3	0	0	0	-3	0	0.00	1	0	0	20:59	—	—	39	28
Owen Power D	D3	0	0	0	-2	2	0.04	0	0	0	20:22	—	—	40	27

BUF goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Colten Ellis	—	23	20	3	.870	2.17	54:08
Alex Lyon(start)	L	5	2	3	.400	1.04	5:52

Washington Capitals

WSH skaters
Skater	Line	G	A	P	+/-			Hits	Blk	PIM		PP	SH
Alex Ovechkin L	L1	0	2	2	+1	4	0.46	1	0	0	17:01	—	—	53	58
Dylan Strome C	L1	1	0	1	+2	4	0.50	0	1	2	16:38	—	—	53	50
Aliaksei Protas L	L1	1	1	2	+1	4	0.21	0	1	0	16:15	—	—	35	28
Anthony Beauvillier R	L2	0	0	0	0	1	0.00	0	0	0	15:44	—	—	39	21
Justin Sourdif C	L2	0	1	1	+1	0	0.11	0	0	0	15:25	—	—	54	42
Ryan Leonard R	L2	1	0	1	+1	2	0.06	2	0	2	12:55	—	—	41	32
Brandon Duhaime L	L3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.05	1	0	0	11:43	—	—	63	22
Hendrix Lapierre C	L3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	1	0	0	11:05	—	—	53	26
Ethen Frank R	L3	0	0	0	-1	0	0.02	0	1	0	9:34	—	—	53	27
Tom Wilson R	L4	1	0	1	+2	1	0.53	1	0	0	17:19	—	—	47	48
Connor McMichael L	L4	1	1	2	+3	5	0.84	1	2	2	16:03	—	—	56	60
Pierre-Luc Dubois C	L4	0	2	2	+2	1	0.03	0	0	0	12:58	—	—	59	88
Matt Roy D	D1	0	0	0	+2	1	0.01	3	1	0	20:56	—	—	50	45
Cole Hutson D	D1	0	1	1	+2	2	0.01	0	0	2	18:58	—	—	57	40
Martin Fehérváry D	D2	0	0	0	+2	0	0.00	0	3	10	21:10	—	—	41	36
Rasmus Sandin D	D2	0	0	0	0	1	0.06	2	2	0	20:25	—	—	56	56
Jakob Chychrun D	D3	1	1	2	+1	2	0.31	1	0	0	19:40	—	—	50	50
Trevor van Riemsdyk D	D3	0	0	0	+1	0	0.00	1	0	2	16:11	—	—	38	53

WSH goalies
Goalie	Dec	SA	SV	GA			TOI
Logan Thompson(start)	W	39	37	2	.949	3.43	60:00

Goal anatomy

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

Jakob Chychrun (WSH) 1st 3:15 · assists Alex Ovechkin, Pierre-Luc Dubois · Rebound · carried in · 54.6 mph shot · 9.2 s from entry to goal.

Jakob Chychrun · 1st 3:15 · WSH

Play: rebound
Entry: carry
Odd man: No
Passes: 0
Shot: 54.6 mph
Distance: 23 ft
Entry to goal: 9.2 s
Type: rebound

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

Dylan Strome · 1st 3:35 · WSH

Play: deflection
Passes: 1 (royal road)
Shot: 21.7 mph
Distance: 10 ft

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

Connor McMichael · 1st 5:52 · WSH

Play: turnover-forecheck
Passes: 0
Shot: 42.2 mph
Distance: 39 ft

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

Rasmus Dahlin · 1st 6:30 · BUF

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: loose
Odd man: 3-on-1
Passes: 1 (royal road)
Shot: 49.8 mph
Distance: 29 ft
Entry to goal: 5.7 s

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

Beck Malenstyn · 1st 12:15 · BUF

Play: turnover-forecheck
Entry: loose
Odd man: No
Passes: 0
Shot: 35.4 mph
Distance: 9 ft
Entry to goal: 8.3 s

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

Aliaksei Protas · 2nd 6:06 · WSH

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: 2-on-1
Passes: 0
Shot: 50.3 mph
Distance: 27 ft
Entry to goal: 2.0 s

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

Ryan Leonard · 3rd 6:26 · WSH

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: 3-on-2
Passes: 1
Shot: 71.8 mph
Distance: 30 ft
Entry to goal: 2.7 s

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

Tom Wilson · 3rd 8:55 · WSH SH

Play: odd-man-rush
Entry: carry
Odd man: 2-on-1
Passes: 1
Shot: 29.5 mph
Distance: 7 ft
Entry to goal: 2.3 s

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.

Buffalo Sabres vs. Washington CapitalsApr 4, 2026

Fantasy takeaways

Washington Capitals rout Buffalo Sabres 6–2

Shot map

Shot map

Game flow

Cumulative shot attempts

Shift chart

Shifts

Head-to-head matchups

Matchup matrix

Sequence card

Lines used

Buffalo Sabres

Washington Capitals

Scoring summary

1st period

2nd period

3rd period

Box score

Buffalo Sabres

Washington Capitals

Goal anatomy

Jakob Chychrun · 1st 3:15 · WSH

Dylan Strome · 1st 3:35 · WSH

Connor McMichael · 1st 5:52 · WSH

Rasmus Dahlin · 1st 6:30 · BUF

Beck Malenstyn · 1st 12:15 · BUF

Aliaksei Protas · 2nd 6:06 · WSH

Ryan Leonard · 3rd 6:26 · WSH

Tom Wilson · 3rd 8:55 · WSH SH