Thu, Feb 18, 2021·Capital One Arena, Washington
Buffalo Sabres 1, Washington Capitals 3
Expected result
Based on shot quality alone, Washington Capitals win this game 66% of the time.
By period
Goals and shots on goal in each period.
| Team | P1 | P2 | P3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BUF | 06 | 011 | 16 | 123 |
| WSH | 16 | 111 | 14 | 321 |
Goals, with shots on goal in grey.
Scoring
Every goal, with the change it made to the home team's win probability.
- P1 17:23WSHNicklas BackstromPPAssists: T.J. Oshie, Alex Ovechkin · Backhand, 0.30 xG0–1
- P2 6:38WSHTom WilsonSHGWGUnassisted · Backhand, 0.17 xG0–2
- P3 7:28WSHConor ShearyAssists: Lars Eller, Justin Schultz · Wrist, 0.26 xG0–3
- P3 11:27BUFVictor OlofssonPPAssists: Sam Reinhart, Jack Eichel · Wrist, 0.04 xG1–3
Penalties (3)
- P1 16:19BUFWill Borgen: Slashing2 min · PPG
- P2 5:46WSHT.J. Oshie: High sticking2 min
- P3 9:36WSHDmitry Orlov: Tripping2 min · PPG
Replay
Watch the game unfold on the ice: every shot, hit, turnover and faceoff appears as it happened, then fades. Drag the timeline to jump; goals are marked on it.
20:00
P1
- P1 20:00Eichel won the faceoff against Kuznetsov
- Goal
- Shot
- Miss
- Block
- Hit
- Takeaway
- Giveaway
- Faceoff
- Penalty
The numbers
Team totals, side by side.
Line combinations that worked
Model-basedEach team's forward lines and defence pairs at 5-on-5 (two minutes or more together), best first by expected goals for minus against.
Buffalo Sabres
Forward lines
- bestHall – Reinhart – Eichel7:24
xG 0.25–0.09 (75%)attempts 6–5goals 0–0
- Okposo – Eakin – Skinner2:18
xG 0.14–0.05 (72%)attempts 2–3goals 0–0
- Sheahan – Skinner – Lazar7:16
xG 0.23–0.16 (59%)attempts 5–8goals 0–0
- Okposo – Eakin – Rieder8:29
xG 0.14–0.11 (56%)attempts 6–6goals 0–0
Defence pairs
- bestMcCabe – Borgen14:02
xG 0.48–0.24 (67%)attempts 9–4goals 0–0
- Miller – Dahlin15:16
xG 0.64–0.42 (61%)attempts 14–14goals 0–0
- Montour – Jokiharju11:52
xG 0.38–0.54 (41%)attempts 10–15goals 0–0
Washington Capitals
Forward lines
- bestEller – Panik – Sheary11:06
xG 0.71–0.45 (61%)attempts 10–9goals 1–0
- Backstrom – Wilson – Vrana9:57
xG 0.43–0.36 (54%)attempts 10–5goals 0–0
- Ovechkin – Oshie – Kuznetsov13:28
xG 0.39–0.47 (45%)attempts 12–9goals 0–0
- Hagelin – Dowd – Hathaway11:25
xG 0.11–0.36 (24%)attempts 9–11goals 0–0
Defence pairs
- bestCarlson – Dillon18:43
xG 0.58–0.43 (57%)attempts 21–13goals 0–0
- Orlov – Jensen12:06
xG 0.16–0.09 (64%)attempts 9–5goals 0–0
- Schultz – Orlov3:24
xG 0.17–0.22 (43%)attempts 4–5goals 0–0
How the game flowed
Model-basedChance quality for each side, minute by minute, with pressure underneath.
Running total of expected goals for each team. Steep climbs are spells of pressure; dots are goals. Shaded bands mark power plays (team colour), 4-on-4 or 3-on-3 (grey) and empty nets.
Tempo: attempts, hits and takeaways per minute
Win probability
Model-basedHow each goal and each minute changed the likely winner.
WSH's chance of winning through the game. Above the middle line WSH is favoured, below it BUF. Dots are goals.
Did the better team win?
Every shot replayed 10,000 times, scoring with its expected-goal probability.
Based on shot quality alone, Washington Capitals win this game 66% of the time.
Simulated goal difference (WSH − BUF), 10,000 replays
The outlined bar is the actual result (excluding the shootout).