NHL Recaps: Wednesday, Apr 8, 2026

3 games: what happened that matters for your fantasy team, built from the play-by-play and shift charts.

Game recaps

Final

Full report

Buffalo Sabres

New York Rangers

Buffalo Sabres beat New York Rangers 5–3

Buffalo Sabres beat New York Rangers 5–3 at NYR. Zach Benson (BUF) led the scoring with 2G 0A.

•Alexis Lafrenière had two goals (2 points) on 2 shots in 15:07.
•Zach Benson had two goals (2 points) on 3 shots in 12:59.
•Adam Fox had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 1 shot in 23:20.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

Washington Capitals rout Toronto Maple Leafs 4–0

Washington Capitals beat Toronto Maple Leafs 4–0 at TOR. Martin Fehérváry (WSH) led the scoring with 1G 1A. New look for WSH: Wilson–Protas–Protas skated 9:33 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (66.7% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

•Dylan Strome had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 1 shot in 16:34.
•Martin Fehérváry had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 2 shots in 18:16.
•New look for WSH: Wilson–Protas–Protas skated 9:33 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (66.7% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

Edmonton Oilers beat San Jose Sharks 5–2

Edmonton Oilers beat San Jose Sharks 5–2 at SJS. Connor McDavid (EDM) led the scoring with 3G 2A. EDM's first power-play unit (Nugent-Hopkins, McDavid, Roslovic, Bouchard and Podkolzin) scored 3 power-play goals on 8 attempts in 3:25 together.

•Connor McDavid had a hat trick and 2 assists (5 points) on 8 shots in 21:10.
•EDM's first power-play unit (Nugent-Hopkins, McDavid, Roslovic, Bouchard and Podkolzin) scored 3 power-play goals on 8 attempts in 3:25 together.
•Jack Roslovic had a goal and an assist (2 points) on 2 shots in 12:48.

Full report: shot map, shifts, lines, box score →

Goal of the night

The hardest tracked shot of the night: Ryan Leonard for WSH @ TOR, 71.4 mph. Full game report →

Ryan Leonard (WSH @ TOR): Rush, carried in, 1 pass, 71.4 mph shot.

Top performers

Player	Game	G	A	P	SOG	Hits	Blk	TOI	PP
Connor McDavid EDM	at SJS	3	2	5	8	0	1	21:10	—
Zach Benson BUF	at NYR	2	0	2	3	0	1	12:59	—
Alexis Lafrenière NYR	vs BUF	2	0	2	2	0	0	15:07	—
Jason Zucker BUF	at NYR	1	1	2	4	0	1	18:14	—
Vasily Podkolzin EDM	at SJS	1	1	2	3	2	2	16:48	—
Jack Roslovic EDM	at SJS	1	1	2	2	3	0	12:48	—
Martin Fehérváry WSH	at TOR	1	1	2	2	0	2	18:16	—
Ryan McLeod BUF	at NYR	1	1	2	2	0	1	17:10	—
Adam Fox NYR	vs BUF	1	1	2	1	1	0	23:20	—
Dylan Strome WSH	at TOR	1	1	2	1	0	1	16:34	—
Evan Bouchard EDM	at SJS	0	2	2	0	0	0	22:32	—
Will Cuylle NYR	vs BUF	0	0	0	3	8	1	15:46	—

Line changes

New look for WSH: Wilson–Protas–Protas skated 9:33 together at 5v5 as the L1 trio (66.7% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games. Report →
New look for WSH: Dubois–McMichael–Leonard skated 9:07 together at 5v5 as the L3 trio (36.8% of the shot attempts), a combination not used in the team's last 5 games. Report →

Goalie notes

Goalie	Game	Dec	SA	GA	SV%
Igor Shesterkin NYR	vs BUF	L	26	4	.846
Alex Nedeljkovic SJS	vs EDM	L	26	5	.808
Logan Thompson WSH	at TOR	W	22	0	.1000
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen BUF	at NYR	W	20	3	.850
Joseph Woll TOR	vs WSH	L	17	3	.824
Connor Ingram EDM	at SJS	W	10	2	.800
Tristan Jarry EDM	at SJS	—	4	0	.1000
Anthony Stolarz TOR	vs WSH	—	2	0	.1000

Next up: tonight's starting goalies, today's line combinations and today's games. Takeaways are generated from the numbers with fixed rules; nothing is written by a language model.