GAME-DAY RESOURCES
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LAST GAME
Tuesday, January 29
Toronto 4 at Buffalo 3 (OT)
Goals: Pominville, Sekera, Grigorenko
Goalie: Miller (20 saves/24 shots)
PP: 1/1; PK: 2/2; Shots: Buffalo 32 – Toronto 24
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 16)
Cody McCormick (hand, Jan. 20; injured reserve) – 6 games
Ville Leino (lower body, Jan. 20; injured reserve) – 6 games
Robyn Regehr (lower body, Jan. 27) – 1 game
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
1/24 Activated LW Nathan Gerbe from IR; Placed LW Ville Leino on IR
UPCOMING GAMES
Saturday, Feb. 2 Buffalo at Montreal, 2 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 3 Florida at Buffalo, 3 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 5 Buffalo at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 7 Montreal at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 9 Buffalo at NY Islanders, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at BRUINS
-This is the first of five meetings between the Sabres and Bruins this season.
-Last meeting: Boston defeated Buffalo, 4-3 (SO), in Boston on April 7, 2012.
-The teams next meet on Sunday, Feb. 10 in Buffalo.
-The Sabres are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Bruins; 4-4-2 on the road.
-This is the 264th game all-time between Buffalo and Boston; Buffalo leads the series with a 114-109-40 record; Buffalo is 44-68-19 all-time against the Bruins on the road.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- Jan. 31, 1974: Rick Martin scores the first penalty shot goal in team history when he beats Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Bernie Parent at 9:31 of the second period in a 4-3 road loss.
- The Sabres are 13-6-1 all-time on Jan. 31. They’ve won their last four games on this date, with the last loss coming on Jan. 31, 2001 (5-2 loss at FLA).
STORYLINES
- The Sabres are looking for their first win in Boston since March 10, 2011.
- Buffalo is winless in four straight games for the first time since Feb. 11 to Feb. 17, 2012. They haven’t gone five consecutive games without a win since losing five straight road games from Jan. 14 to Jan. 21, 2012.
- The Sabres will play Northeast division opponents in eight of their 10 games from Jan. 29 to Feb. 15. The team is 1-0-1 against the Northeast so far this season after two matchups with Toronto.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
The Sabres have faced the Bruins more than any other team in franchise history, with 262 games played between the two clubs… Dating back to last season, Thomas Vanek has 21 points (5+16) in his last 15 games… Marcus Foligno has three points (1+2) in Buffalo’s last two games… Christian Ehrhoff (28:28) and Jason Pominville (23:55) each logged their 10th-highest career TOI on Tuesday vs. TOR.
HOW THEY STACK UP (Sabres ranked in the top 10)
Thomas Vanek: 10 points (T-6th), 7 assists (T-7th), 2 power play goals (T-8th)
Jason Pominville: 9 points (T-8th), 4 goals (T-8th)
Ryan Miller: .925 SV% (10th)
BESTING THE BRUINS
Thomas Vanek’s career numbers of 49 points (25+24) in 45 games against Boston represent his highest goal and point totals against any NHL team. According to Elias Sports Bureau, his 49 points against the Bruins tie Vincent Lecavalier for fifth among all active skaters in the NHL:
NAME GP G A PTS PTS/GP G/GP
Jaromir Jagr 70 32 58 90 1.29 0.46
Daniel Alfredsson 81 26 42 68 0.84 0.32
Alexei Kovalev 84 35 33 68 0.81 0.42
Saku Koivu 64 15 39 54 0.84 0.23
Thomas Vanek 45 25 24 49 1.08 0.56
Vincent Lecavalier 47 20 29 49 1.04 0.43
NORTHEAST DIVISION
The Sabres were 13-6-5 against the Northeast division last season and have started this season 1-0-1 against their divisional rivals. Buffalo’s intra-division points percentage (.649) in 2011-12 tied for the eighth-best in franchise history. Buffalo will play Northeast division opponents in eight of their 10 games from Jan. 29 to Feb. 15.
RISING IN THE RECORD BOOKS
With his goal Tuesday vs. Toronto, Jason Pominville passed Phil Housley for 12th-most goals in franchise history (179). Thomas Vanek recorded his 457th point with an assist on the goal, passing Miroslav Satan for 10th-most points in franchise history.
A FRESH FACE
Sabres 2012 first-round pick Mikhail Grigorenko scored his first NHL goal on Tuesday vs. TOR, becoming the fifth-youngest player in franchise history to score a goal (18 years, 258 days). The four younger scorers were Pierre Turgeon (18 years, 54 days on 10/21/87), Adam Creighton (18 years, 199 days on 12/18/83), Phil Housley (18 years, 221 days on 10/16/82) and Mike Moller (18 years, 243 days on 2/14/81).
DYNAMIC DUO
Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville each recorded a point on the same goal seven times this season, tying for third-most by an NHL duo this season entering play on Wednesday. They were the seventh-most prolific pair last season, combining on 39 goals.
LINDY’S LONGEVITY
Since Lindy Ruff was named Buffalo’s head coach on July 21, 1997, there have been 170 coaching changes in the NHL. Ruff is the second-longest tenured coach in the four major professional sports leagues. Only Gregg Popovich, who began coaching the San Antonio Spurs in 1996, has been head coach of his team longer. Ruff has 567 wins as head coach of the Sabres, second-most by a head coach with a single franchise, trailing only Al Arbour (740). Ruff has more wins than any other coach with his first NHL team.
2012-13 ROSTER NOTES
Of the 23 players on Buffalo’s opening night roster:
*13 were originally drafted by the Sabres — five were first-round Buffalo selections (Vanek, 2003; Stafford, 2004; Myers and Ennis, 2008; Grigorenko, 2012)
*Six were acquired in trades: Hecht, Regehr, Ehrhoff, Hodgson, Sulzer, Ott
*Three were signed as free agents: Leopold, Leino, Scott
*One was acquired from waivers: Ellis
*20 played in Buffalo at some point last season
*Three are new to the Sabres this season: Mikhail Grigorenko was selected by the Sabres 12th overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft; Scott signed as a UFA on July 1 after spending last season with the Rangers and Blackhawks; Ott was acquired in a trade with Dallas on July 2 after spending eight seasons with the Stars.
*Three players (Brennan, Foligno and Grigorenko) opened the season on an NHL roster for the first time in their careers.
BUF-BOS CONNECTIONS
BUF LW Nathan Gerbe and BOS LW Chris Bourque played together for the United States during the 2006 World Junior Championship in Vancouver.
BUF LW Thomas Vanek and BOS RW Nathan Horton were both selected in the first round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. Horton was selected third overall, and Vanek was taken fifth overall.
BUF D Jordan Leopold and BOS RW Nathan Horton were teammates for the Florida Panthers during the 2009-10 season.
BOS C David Krejci was selected 63rd overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, eight spots ahead of BUF D Andrej Sekera.
BUF G Jhonas Enroth, D Mike Weber and BOS LW Milan Lucic were all selected in the second round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. Enroth was taken 46th overall, Lucic was taken 50th overall, and Weber was selected 57th overall.
BUF LW Marcus Foligno and BOS LW Lane MacDermid were taken eight picks apart in the fourth round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Foligno was taken 104th overall, and MacDermid was taken 112th overall.
Daniel Paille was a part of the Sabres’ organization from 2002-2009. He was selected in the first round, 20th overall by the Sabres in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. He played 195 games for the Sabres, scoring 77 points (35+42). He played 153 games for the Rochester Americans, where he also recorded 35 goals and had 42 assists.
BOS C Rich Peverley and BUF D Alexander Sulzer played parts of two seasons together. They both played for the Milwaukee Admirals during the 2007-08 season, and they were also members of the 2008-09 Nashville Predators.
BOS D Johnny Boychuk and BUF C Cody McCormick played together for four seasons in the American Hockey League. They played for the Hershey Bears for the 2004-05 season, the Lowell Lock Monsters during the 2005-06 season, the Albany River Rats for the 2006-07 season and the Lake Erie Monsters during the 2007-08 season.
BUF D Andrej Sekera and BOS D Zdeno Chara played together for Slovakia in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
BUF D Jordan Leopold and D Robyn Regehr played with BOS D Andrew Ference for the Calgary Flames from 2002-06.
BUF D Adam Pardy, D Robyn Regehr and BOS D Aaron Johnson played together during the 2009-10 season as members of the Calgary Flames.
BOS D Dennis Seidenberg played with BUF D Christian Ehrhoff for team Germany in the 2002, 2006 and 2010 Olympic Games. BUF D Alexander Sulzer was also a member of team Germany during the 2006 and 2010 Olympics.
Seidenberg also played with BUF D Jordan Leopold during the 2009-10 season for the Florida Panthers.
BUF LW John Scott and BOS G Anton Khudobin played together from 2007-2009 as members of the Houston Aeros. They also played together during the 2009-10 season with the Minnesota Wild.
BOS C Patrice Bergeron and BUF LW Nathan Gerbe share a birth date. Bergeron was born on July 25, 1985 and Gerbe was born two years later, on July 24, 1987.
BUF LW Thomas Vanek and BOS D Johnny Boychuk were both born on January 19, 1984.
BUF C Cody McCormick and BOS C Gregory Campbell were both born in London, Ontario.
BUF LW Matt Ellis, BOS LW Daniel Paille and BOS RW Nathan Horton were all born in Welland, Ontario.
SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 2-3-1 (5), 16/19, 5/22, 20/25
OVERTIME RESULTS (0-1; 93-92 all-time)
January 29 vs. Toronto L, 4-3 (GWG-Frattin, 4:58)
SHOOTOUT RESULTS (0-0; 43-37 all-time)
N/A
MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Cody Hodgson … 3 games … 100 career games played
Alexander Sulzer … 7 games … 100 career games played
Jochen Hecht … 9 games … 800 career games played
Jordan Leopold … 9 games … 600 career games played
Assists
Jason Pominville … 4 assists … 265 career assists (sole possession, 10th in franchise history)
Points
Ville Leino … 2 points … 100 career points
Jason Pominville … 5 points … 445 career points (sole possession, 12th in franchise history)
Jordan Leopold … 5 points … 200 career points
Tyler Ennis … 5 points … 100 career points
RECENT MILESTONES
Drew Stafford … 400 career games played … 1/24 at CAR
Jason Pominville … 179 career goals (12th in franchise history) … 1/29 vs. TOR
Thomas Vanek … 457 career points (10th in franchise history) … 1/29 vs. TOR
