Washington CapitalsWSH 3–7 Final New Jersey DevilsNJD

Thursday, April 2, 2026

Final	1st	2nd	3rd	T	SOG
Washington CapitalsWSH	2	0	1	3	32
New Jersey DevilsNJD	3	1	3	7	30

Playoff odds, %	Change
WSH	-6.1
NJD	+0.0
NYI	+1.6
CBJ	+1.4
PHI	+1.2
OTT	+0.8
DET	+0.7

How the result moved each team's playoff odds, calculated Apr 2, 2026 6:44 PM EDT.

Highlights

Scoring

1st Period
5:22	NJD	Cody Glass (16) Lenni Hameenaho (5), Nick Bjugstad (3) · wrist xG 0.19	0–1 ▶
7:37	NJD	Dawson Mercer (16) Timo Meier (17), Nico Hischier (34) · backhand xG 0.14	0–2 ▶
8:15	WSH	Cole Hutson (2) Hendrix Lapierre (12), Tom Wilson (28) · wrist xG 0.14	1–2 ▶
9:47	WSH	Pierre-Luc Dubois (5)PP Ryan Leonard (24), Jakob Chychrun (33) · wrist xG 0.30	2–2 ▶
18:19	NJD	Dougie Hamilton (12) Jack Hughes (42), Jesper Bratt (43) · slap xG 0.03	2–3 ▶
2nd Period
9:10	NJD	Jack Hughes (23) Jesper Bratt (44), Johnathan Kovacevic (7) · wrist xG 0.09	2–4 ▶
3rd Period
8:10	NJD	Jack Hughes (24) Jesper Bratt (45), Connor Brown (23) · wrist xG 0.16	2–5 ▶
9:33	WSH	Tom Wilson (28) Rasmus Sandin (24), Pierre-Luc Dubois (10) · wrist xG 0.12	3–5 ▶
12:16	NJD	Jesper Bratt (20)PP Nico Hischier (35), Jack Hughes (43) · snap xG 0.24	3–6 ▶
17:54	NJD	Dawson Mercer (17)EN Jesper Bratt (46), Jack Hughes (44) · wrist xG 0.63	3–7 ▶

Score away–home after each goal; season totals in parentheses.

Shot quality

Expected goals (xG) rate every unblocked shot by how often shots like it go in, from where it was taken, the shot type, the strength and what happened just before it. How it works

WSH 58%Deserve to win42% NJD

WSH		NJD
3.27	Expected goals	3.44
3	Goals (no shootout)	7
2.46	Expected goals, 5 on 5	1.94
68	Shot attempts	56
49	Unblocked attempts	39
32	Shots on goal	30

Game notes

What stood out as the game went on, from the play-by-play and the shifts. Time on the bench is counted in 5-on-5 play outside the penalty box; the note says the player sat, not why. Goals saved are against the shots' expected goals (xG).

1st Period
18:19	WSH	Goalie	Goalie · Thompson −2.4 goals saved 3 goals on 0.61 xG, 7 shots on goal
3rd Period
0:50	WSH	No shift	No shift · Kampf, 15:39 on the bench No shift from 10:48 of the 2nd to 10:32 of the 3rd; 8 shifts (7:25) before that
8:50	NJD	No shift	No shift · Cotter, 10:49 on the bench No shift from 14:07 of the 2nd to 9:01 of the 3rd; 7 shifts (5:08) before that
16:04	WSH	Pulled goalie	Pulled goalie · Pulled Thompson, down 6–3 With 3:56 left; NJD scored at 17:54 of the 3rd (3–7)
19:40	WSH	No shift	No shift · Leonard, 10:28 on the bench No shift after 5:58 of the 3rd; 18 shifts (13:46) before that

Shot map

WSH shoots ←Bigger circle: higher xG; filled: goal→ NJD shoots

About these numbers

xG comes from hockeystats.io's own model, a gradient-boosted tree model trained on every unblocked shot from the 2021-22 to 2025-26 regular seasons using the NHL's public play-by-play. Each shot's value is the share of similar shots that became goals. A team's xG is the sum over its shots; "deserve to win" asks how often the team would outscore its opponent if every shot went in at exactly that rate. Blocked shots count as attempts but have no xG (the NHL records where they were blocked, not where they were taken), so the map leaves them out.

Box score

Washington Capitals

	Skater	G	A	P	+/−	Att	xG	Hit	Blk	TOI
Forwards
43	Tom Wilson	1	1	2	0	6	0.39	1	0	20:06
72	Anthony Beauvillier	0	0	0	0	4	0.16	0	1	19:10
80	Pierre-Luc Dubois	1	1	2	0	6	0.40	1	0	19:00
8	Alex Ovechkin	0	0	0	-2	9	0.31	4	0	18:05
17	Dylan Strome	0	0	0	-2	5	0.44	0	0	17:14
77	Connor McMichael	0	0	0	-1	3	0.06	2	0	15:23
34	Justin Sourdif	0	0	0	-2	0	0.00	0	1	15:22
9	Ryan Leonard	0	1	1	-1	6	0.33	2	0	13:46
22	Hendrix Lapierre	0	1	1	-2	4	0.29	2	1	12:46
24	Brandon Duhaime	0	0	0	0	3	0.04	1	0	12:07
63	Ivan Miroshnichenko	0	0	0	-2	2	0.04	1	0	10:49
64	David Kampf	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	1	3	09:39
Defense
6	Jakob Chychrun	0	1	1	-3	4	0.09	0	1	24:55
38	Rasmus Sandin	0	1	1	-2	2	0.02	1	2	18:56
44	Cole Hutson	1	0	1	+1	11	0.69	0	1	18:48
57	Trevor van Riemsdyk	0	0	0	-1	1	0.00	0	3	18:34
3	Matt Roy	0	0	0	0	1	0.00	1	3	17:45
42	Martin Fehérváry	0	0	0	-3	1	0.01	1	1	16:31

Goalie	SA	GA	SV	SV%	xGA	GSAx
Logan Thompson	29	6	23	.793	2.81	-3.19

New Jersey Devils

	Skater	G	A	P	+/−	Att	xG	Hit	Blk	TOI
Forwards
86	Jack Hughes	2	3	5	+4	9	0.63	0	1	22:25
13	Nico Hischier	0	2	2	0	4	0.00	0	1	21:08
91	Dawson Mercer	2	0	2	+1	7	1.08	1	1	20:00
16	Connor Brown	0	1	1	+3	3	0.21	0	1	19:03
63	Jesper Bratt	1	4	5	+4	6	0.35	0	0	18:11
28	Timo Meier	0	1	1	0	1	0.00	0	1	18:08
29	Lenni Hameenaho	0	1	1	+1	3	0.32	1	0	14:09
72	Nick Bjugstad	0	1	1	+1	2	0.18	2	1	12:59
12	Cody Glass	1	0	1	+1	4	0.36	0	1	12:53
47	Paul Cotter	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	3	1	06:58
72	Maxim Tsyplakov	0	0	0	-1	1	0.03	1	0	06:04
33	Evgenii Dadonov	0	0	0	-1	0	0.00	0	0	05:43
Defense
43	Luke Hughes	0	0	0	+1	1	0.03	0	0	23:22
8	Johnathan Kovacevic	0	1	1	+1	3	0.04	2	1	21:13
5	Brenden Dillon	0	0	0	-1	2	0.06	1	0	18:44
71	Simon Nemec	0	0	0	-1	2	0.04	1	4	18:29
71	Jonas Siegenthaler	0	0	0	+4	1	0.00	0	5	18:27
7	Dougie Hamilton	1	0	1	+4	7	0.11	0	1	17:38

Goalie	SA	GA	SV	SV%	xGA	GSAx
Jake Allen	32	3	29	.906	3.27	+0.27

Skaters by time on ice. Goalie lines count shots with the goalie in net, from the NHL play-by-play.

Player ratings

What each player added to the result, in goals, from most to least. Hover a number for what it's made of.

Washington Capitals

Player	Rating	Points	Shots	On ice	Pen	FO	Other	GSAx	TOI
43 Tom Wilson R	+2.56	+1.30	+0.25	+0.86	+0.15	+0.01	-0.02	—	20:06
44 Cole Hutson D	+2.49	+0.75	+0.45	+1.26	0.00	0.00	+0.03	—	18:48
80 Pierre-Luc Dubois C	+2.10	+1.30	+0.26	+0.57	0.00	+0.01	-0.04	—	19:02
38 Rasmus Sandin D	+1.04	+0.70	+0.02	+0.18	0.00	0.00	+0.14	—	18:56
72 Anthony Beauvillier R	+0.77	0.00	+0.11	+0.63	0.00	-0.01	+0.05	—	19:10
17 Dylan Strome C	+0.74	0.00	+0.29	+0.50	0.00	+0.01	-0.06	—	17:12
9 Ryan Leonard R	+0.58	+0.70	+0.22	-0.18	-0.15	0.00	0.00	—	13:46
29 Hendrix Lapierre C	+0.54	+0.70	+0.19	-0.39	0.00	0.00	+0.05	—	12:46
8 Alex Ovechkin L	+0.50	0.00	+0.20	+0.32	0.00	0.00	-0.02	—	18:05
6 Jakob Chychrun D	+0.33	+0.55	+0.06	-0.30	0.00	0.00	+0.03	—	24:55
3 Matt Roy D	+0.24	0.00	0.00	+0.09	0.00	0.00	+0.15	—	17:45
34 Justin Sourdif C	-0.02	0.00	0.00	-0.25	+0.15	+0.03	+0.05	—	15:22
22 Brandon Duhaime L	-0.05	0.00	+0.03	-0.07	0.00	-0.01	0.00	—	12:07
57 Trevor van Riemsdyk D	-0.07	0.00	0.00	-0.20	0.00	0.00	+0.13	—	18:34
24 Connor McMichael L	-0.08	0.00	+0.04	-0.10	0.00	-0.01	0.00	—	15:23
64 David Kampf C	-0.68	0.00	0.00	-0.62	-0.15	-0.06	+0.15	—	9:39
42 Martin Fehérváry D	-0.70	0.00	0.00	-0.91	+0.15	0.00	+0.05	—	16:31
63 Ivan Miroshnichenko L	-0.80	0.00	+0.02	-0.82	0.00	0.00	0.00	—	10:49
48 Logan Thompson G	-3.19	0.00	—	—	0.00	—	—	-3.19	58:10

New Jersey Devils

Player	Rating	Points	Shots	On ice	Pen	FO	Other	GSAx	TOI
86 Jack Hughes C	+4.56	+3.30	+0.41	+0.64	+0.15	+0.02	+0.03	—	22:25
63 Jesper Bratt L	+4.19	+3.40	+0.22	+0.58	0.00	0.00	-0.02	—	18:11
91 Dawson Mercer C	+1.85	+1.50	+0.70	-0.38	0.00	0.00	+0.03	—	20:00
16 Connor Brown R	+1.62	+0.55	+0.13	+0.92	0.00	0.00	+0.01	—	19:03
29 Lenni Hameenaho R	+1.61	+0.70	+0.21	+0.55	+0.15	0.00	0.00	—	14:09
12 Cody Glass C	+1.55	+0.75	+0.23	+0.49	0.00	+0.03	+0.05	—	12:53
7 Dougie Hamilton D	+1.42	+0.75	+0.07	+0.63	0.00	0.00	-0.03	—	17:38
71 Jonas Siegenthaler D	+0.75	0.00	0.00	+0.56	0.00	0.00	+0.19	—	18:27
72 Nick Bjugstad C	+0.63	+0.55	+0.12	-0.09	0.00	0.00	+0.05	—	12:59
8 Johnathan Kovacevic D	+0.54	+0.55	+0.03	-0.07	0.00	0.00	+0.03	—	21:13
13 Nico Hischier C	+0.32	+1.25	0.00	-0.73	-0.15	-0.03	-0.02	—	21:08
34 Jake Allen G	+0.27	0.00	—	—	0.00	—	—	+0.27	60:00
43 Luke Hughes D	-0.01	0.00	+0.02	-0.05	0.00	0.00	+0.02	—	23:22
28 Timo Meier R	-0.10	+0.70	0.00	-0.67	-0.15	-0.01	+0.03	—	18:08
17 Simon Nemec D	-0.34	0.00	+0.03	-0.53	0.00	0.00	+0.16	—	18:29
47 Paul Cotter L	-0.45	0.00	0.00	-0.52	0.00	+0.02	+0.05	—	6:58
42 Maxim Tsyplakov R	-0.57	0.00	+0.02	-0.56	0.00	0.00	-0.02	—	6:04
33 Evgenii Dadonov L	-0.75	0.00	0.00	-0.71	0.00	0.00	-0.04	—	5:43
5 Brenden Dillon D	-0.76	0.00	+0.04	-0.63	-0.15	0.00	-0.02	—	18:44

An expected-goals take on Dom Luszczyszyn's Game Score: goals and assists, the quality of a player's own shots, shot quality for and against while they were on the ice at 5v5, penalties, faceoffs and puck plays, all in goals; goalies by goals saved above expected. From the NHL play-by-play and shift charts.