Game Preview: 2/5/13 at OTT

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Sunday, February 3
Florida 4 at Buffalo 3
Goals: Vanek, Hodgson, Sulzer
Goalie: Miller (29 saves/33 shots)
PP: 0/1; PK: 1/2; Shots: Florida 33 – Buffalo 20

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 27)
Ville Leino (lower body, Jan. 20; injured reserve) – 9 games
Robyn Regehr (lower body, Jan. 27; injured reserve) – 4 games
Patrick Kaleta (neck, Jan. 31; injured reserve) – 3 games
Andrej Sekera (foot, Feb. 3) – 1 game

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
2/2          Activated C Cody McCormick from IR; Placed D Robyn Regehr on IR
2/4          Recalled D Adam Pardy; Placed LW Patrick Kaleta on IR

UPCOMING GAMES
Thursday, Feb. 7                  Montreal at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 9                  Buffalo at NY Islanders, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 10                  Boston at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 12                 Buffalo at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 15                     Boston at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at SENATORS
-This is the first of four meetings between the Sabres and Senators this season.
-Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Ottawa, 4-3 (SO), in Ottawa on March 10, 2012.
-The teams next meet a week from today, on Tuesday, Feb. 12 in Ottawa.
-The Sabres are 7-1-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Senators; 6-4-0 on the road.
-This is the 113^th game all-time between Buffalo and Ottawa; Buffalo leads the series with a 56-40-16 record. Buffalo is 26-21-10 on the road against the Senators all-time.          

STORYLINES

1. The Sabres will play Northeast division opponents in eight of their 10 games from Jan. 29 to Feb. 15. The team is 2-1-1 against the Northeast so far this season.
2. Tyler Ennis has nine points (4+5) in nine career games against Ottawa, including points in each of his last five (3+3) against the Senators.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Defenseman Jordan Leopold led all Sabres with three goals and six points against the Senators last season…  Marcus Foligno logged a career-high ice time of 21:46 Sunday vs. FLA; his previous high was 18:21 (4/5/12 at PHI)… Thomas Vanek was named the NHL’s Third Star of the Month for the month of January and the First Star for the week ending Feb. 3.

HOW THEY STACK UP (Sabres ranked in the top 10 before 2/4 games)
Thomas Vanek: 19 points (1^st), 8 goals (2^nd), 11 assists (T-1^st), 3 power play goals (T-4^th), 1 shorthanded goal (T-1^st), 33 shots (T-10^th)
Jason Pominville: 5 goals (T-8^th), 13 points (T-6^th), 8 assists (T-9^th)
Cody Hodgson: 5 goals (T-8^th)
Steve Ott: 34 hits (2^nd)
Christian Ehrhoff: 5 assists (T-7^th, defensemen)
Marcus Foligno: 4 assists (T-4^th, rookies), 5 points (T-5^th, rookies), 15 PIM (T-4^th, rookies), 16:09 TOI (9^th, rookies)

FAST STARTER
Thomas Vanek has recorded at least one point in each of the eight games he’s appeared in this season, leading the league with 19 points (8+11). Dating back to last season, Vanek has points in his last nine games played and 30 points (10+20) in his last 18 games. After nine team games last year, Vanek ranked second in the league with 14 points (7+7).

NORTHEAST DIVISION
The Sabres were 13-6-5 against the Northeast division last season and have started this season 2-1-1 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
Jason Pominville recorded an assist on Buffalo’s first goal Sunday vs. FLA, tying Mike Foligno for 10^th-most assists (264) and Alexander Mogilny for 12^th-most points (444) in Sabres history.

DYNAMIC DUOS
Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville have each recorded a point on the same goal 10 times this season, tying for most by an NHL duo this season entering play Monday. They were the seventh-most prolific pair last season, combining on 39 goals. Vanek and Cody Hodgson have combined on eight goals, making them the fourth-most prolific pair in the league entering Monday’s games.

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 568 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.

BUF-OTT CONNECTIONS
BUF C Cody Hodgson, BUF D Tyler Myers, BUF C Tyler Ennis and OTT D Erik Karlsson were all drafted in the first round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Hodgson was the 10^th overall pick, Myers was the 12^th overall pick, Karlsson was selected 15^th overall and Ennis was drafted with the 26^th overall pick.

BUF D Christian Ehrhoff played with OTT LW Milan Michalek on the San Jose Sharks from 2003-2009.

Michalek was a first-round draft pick in 2003 NHL Entry Draft along with BUF LW Thomas Vanek. Vanek, selected by Buffalo, was the fifth overall pick while Michalek, selected by San Jose, was the sixth overall pick.

BUF D Andrej Sekera and OTT C Peter Regin were both selected in the third round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Sekera, selected by Buffalo, was the 71^st overall pick while Regin, selected by Ottawa, was the 81^st overall pick.

BUF D Robyn Regehr and OTT C Jason Spezza both represented Team Canada at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino.

BUF D Jordan Leopold and OTT D Sergei Gonchar were teammates on the 2009-10 Pittsburgh Penguins.

BUF C Cody McCormick and OTT C Mika Zibanejad were both born on April 18. McCormick, born in 1983, is exactly 10 years older than Zibanejad, who was born in 1993.

Zibanejad and BUF G Jhonas Enroth were both born in Stockholm, Sweden.

OTT HC Paul MacLean was an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings when Sabres LW Matt Ellis (2006-2008) and Sabres C Ville Leino (2008-2010) played for the team.

MacLean also coached current Sabres AC Teppo Numminen when he was an assistant for the 1996-97 Phoenix Coyotes.

BUF C Jochen Hecht and OTT D Marc Methot were both born on June 21. Hecht, born in 1977, is eight years older than Methot, who was born in 1985.

BUF C Cody Hodgson and OTT C Jason Spezza were both born in Toronto.

SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 3-5-1 (7), 27/33, 6/32, 31/38

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
Alexander Sulzer … 4 games … 100 career games played
Jochen Hecht … 6 games … 800 career games played
Jordan Leopold … 6 games … 600 career games played
Assists
Jason Pominville … 1 assists … 265 career assists (sole possession, 10^th in franchise history)
Points
Jason Pominville … 1 points … 445 career points (sole possession, 12^th in franchise history)
Ville Leino … 2 points … 100 career points
Tyler Ennis … 3 points … 100 career points
Jordan Leopold … 5 points … 200 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
Jason Pominville … 179 career goals (12^th in franchise history) … 1/29 vs. TOR
Thomas Vanek … 457 career points (10^th in franchise history) … 1/29 vs. TOR
Cody Hodgson … 100 career games played … 2/3 vs. FLA