GAME-DAY RESOURCES
LAST GAME
Friday, October 22
Boston 4 at Buffalo 1
Goals: Olofsson
Goalie: Anderson (22 saves/25 shots); 1 ENG
PP: 0/4; PK: 1/1; Shots: Buffalo 36 – Boston 26
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 15)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Mattias Samuelsson (Lower body, Oct. 14; injured reserve) – 4 games
Jack Eichel (Upper body, Oct. 14; injured reserve) – 4 games
Casey Mittelstadt (Upper body Oct. 16; injured reserve) – 3 games
Henri Jokiharju (Lower body Oct. 16; injured reserve) – 3 games
Cody Eakin (Undisclosed) – 1 game
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
10/23: Recalled F Brett Murray from Rochester (AHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
Monday, Oct. 25: Tampa Bay at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 28: Buffalo at Anaheim, 10 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 31: Buffalo at Los Angeles, 4 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 2: Buffalo at San Jose, 10:30 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 4: Buffalo at Seattle, 10 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at DEVILS
- This is the first of three meetings between the Sabres and Devils this season.
- Last meeting: New Jersey defeated Buffalo 6-3 in Buffalo on April 8, 2021
- Next meeting: Wednesday, Dec. 29 in Buffalo
- The Sabres are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games against the Devils; 5-5-0 on the road.
- This is the 168th game all-time between Buffalo and New Jersey; Buffalo has a 82-58-27 series record.
- The Sabres are 38-29-15 on the road against the Devils all-time.
THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 11-9-1 all-time on October 23.
- October 23, 1983: The Sabres top the Winnipeg Jets, 5-2, to earn the 500th win in franchise history.
- October 23, 1992: Dominik Hasek relieves Daren Puppa to start the third period vs. San Jose and earns his first of 234 wins with the Sabres.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- The Sabres have scored at least one power-play goal in nine of their last 10 games against the Devils dating back to the 2019-20 season. The team has gone 13-for-29 (44.8 percent) in those games
- Rasmus Dahlin has recorded a point in 10 of his 12 career meetings with the Devils. His 13 points against New Jersey represent Dahlin’s highest point total against a single opponent.
- Victor Olofsson’s six career goals and 10 career points against the Devils are his most against any NHL opponent.
- Drake Caggiula has three points (2+1) in his last three games against New Jersey.
- Kyle Okposo has an assist in each of his last three games against the Devils.
- Mark Pysyk tied his career high with three points (1+2) in his last meeting with New Jersey on Feb. 11, 2020.
- Colin Miller has a team-high five assists this season and now has eight assists in his last eight games played dating back to last season.
HOT START
- The Sabres lead the NHL with a 59.25 shot attempts percentage at 5-on-5 this season.
- Buffalo has 98 scoring chances for and 49 scoring chances against at 5-on-5 through its first four games, good for the NHL lead with a 66.67 scoring chance for percentage.
- The team’s 63.78 expected goals percentage at 5-on-5 ranks second in the NHL.
- The Sabres have successfully killed 10 of their 11 penalties to begin the season, ranking fifth in the league with a 90.9 penalty kill percentage this season.
TERRIFIC TRIO
- The line of Rasmus Asplund, Victor Olofsson and Tage Thompson has accounted for five goals and eight points for the Sabres this season.
- According to Natural Stat Trick, at 5-on-5, the trio has skated 42:31 together and registered a 66.67 SAT%, a 79.76 xGF% and a 78.95 HDCF%.
- At all strengths, Thompson (1.71) and Asplund (1.65) lead the Sabres in individual expected goals and Thompson leads the team in individual shot attempts (30).
BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game wraps up Buffalo’s first of 17 sets of back-to-back games this season, which began last night with a 4-1 loss vs. Boston. The Sabres went 4-10-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 4-9-1 in the second game in 2020-21. Buffalo’s point breakdown in back-to-back sets last season was: four points (1), three points (1), two points (5), one point (0) and zero points (7).
WELCOME TO BUFFALO
The Sabres have seven new players on their roster this season:
| Player, Pos. |
How Acquired |
Pronunciation |
Notes |
| Craig Anderson, G |
Free agency |
AN-duhr-suhn |
Ranks among the NHL’s active leaders in wins (6th, 291), saves (4th, 18,251) and shutouts (T-6th, 42). |
| Will Butcher, D |
Trade (NJD) |
BUH-chuhr |
Led all NJD defensemen in assists (92) and ranked second among Devils blueliners in points (106) since entering the NHL in 2017-18. |
| Robert Hagg, D |
Trade (PHI) |
HAG |
Averaged 15:40 of ice time over 34 games in 2020-21, recording five points (2+3) and leading PHI defensemen with 100 hits. |
| John Hayden, C |
Free Agency |
HAY-dihn |
Has compiled 31 points (13+18) in 185 career NHL games for CHI, NJD and ARI. |
| Vinnie Hinostroza, C |
Free Agency |
hihn-oh-STROH-za |
Recorded 12 points (4+8) in 17 games for CHI last season after being acquired via trade from FLA on April 2. |
| Mark Pysyk, D |
Free Agency |
PEH-sihk |
Played in 125 games for the Sabres from 2012 to 2016 after being selected by Buffalo in the first round (23rd overall) of the 2010 NHL Draft. |
| Christian Wolanin, D |
Waivers |
woh-LA-nihn |
Claimed off of waivers on Oct. 16; has 18 points (5+13) in 61 career NHL games for Ottawa and Los Angeles. |
2021-22 ROSTER NOTES
Of the 23 players on Buffalo’s opening night roster:
- Eight were drafted by the Sabres — five were first-round selections (Pysyk, 2010; Girgensons, 2012; Mittelstadt, 2017; Dahlin, 2018; Cozens, 2019), one was a second-round pick (Asplund, 2016), one was a fourth-round pick (Bryson, 2017) and one was a seventh-round pick (Olofsson, 2014).
- Mark Pysyk was drafted by the Sabres in 2010 and returned as an unrestricted free agent in 2021.
- Seven were acquired in trades: Bjork, Butcher, Hagg, Jokiharju, Miller, Skinner, Thompson
- Seven were signed as free agents: Anderson, Eakin, Hayden, Hinostroza, Okposo, Ruotsalainen, Tokarski
- Drake Caggiula was claimed off of waivers.
- Seventeen played in Buffalo at some point last season: Asplund, Bjork, Bryson, Caggiula, Cozens, Dahlin, Eakin, Girgensons, Jokiharju, Miller, Mittelstadt, Okposo, Olofsson, Ruotsalainen, Skinner, Thompson, Tokarski
- One played for Buffalo previously: Pysyk
- Five are new to the Sabres this season: Anderson, Butcher, Hagg, Hayden, Hinostroza
SABRES AMONG LEAGUE-LEADERS (Sabres’ league rankings before 10/23 games)
- Buffalo Sabres: 6 PTS (T-6th), 3 W (T-4th), 2.00 GA/GP (T-4th), 90.9% PK% (5th), 53.7 % FO% (8th), 37.0 S/GP (4th), 28.0 SA/GP (5th)
- Anderson: 2 W (T-3rd), .954 SV% (5th), 1.50 GAA (T-9th)
- Girgensons: 1 GWG (T-5th)
- Skinner: 1 GWG (T-5th)
- Thompson: 18 SOG (T-8th)
- Tokarski: .952 SV% (T-8th), 0.92 GAA (1st)
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Hagg (11), Caggiula/Miller (7), Dahlin (5)
Blocked Shots: Hagg (9), Pysyk (7), Dahlin (4)
Shots: Thompson (18), Okposo (14), Olofsson/Skinner (13)
SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK]
1-10: 3-1-0 (6), 13/8, 4/15, 10/11
OVERTIME RESULTS (0-0; 126-138 all-time)
N/A
SHOOTOUT RESULTS (1-0; 82-74 all-time)
Oct. 16 vs. ARI: W, 2-1 (GDG-Ruotsalainen)
MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Zemgus Girgensons … 7 games played … 500 career games played
Assists
Will Butcher … 7 assists … 100 career assists
Rasmus Dahlin … 9 assists … 100 career assists
Points
Mark Pysyk … 8 points … 100 career points
Wins
Craig Anderson … 7 wins … 300 career wins
RECENT MILESTONES
Kyle Okposo scored his 200th career NHL goal on Oct. 19 vs. Vancouver
Rasmus Dahlin played in his 200th career NHL game on Oct. 19 vs. Vancouver
Colin Miller recorded his 100 career NHL assist on Oct. 22 vs. Boston
