Game Preview: 2/7/13 vs. MTL

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Tuesday, February 5
Buffalo 3 at Ottawa 4
Goals: Ennis, Leopold, Pominville
Goalie: Enroth (19 saves/24 shots)
PP: 0/4; PK: 1/2; Shots: Ottawa 24 – Buffalo 23

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 32)
Ville Leino (lower body, Jan. 20; injured reserve) – 10 games
Robyn Regehr (lower body, Jan. 27; injured reserve) – 5 games
Patrick Kaleta (neck, Jan. 31; injured reserve) – 4 games
Andrej Sekera (foot, Feb. 3) – 2 games
Christian Ehrhoff (muscle strain, Feb. 5) – 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
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.
Sunday, Feb. 17                  Pittsburgh at Buffalo, 12:30 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
CANADIENS at SABRES
-This is the second of five meetings between the Sabres and Canadiens this season.
-Last meeting: Montreal defeated Buffalo, 6-1, in Montreal on Feb. 2.
-The teams next meet on Tuesday, March 19 in Buffalo.
-The Sabres are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Canadiens; 6-2-2 at home.
-This is the 255^th game all-time between Buffalo and Montreal; the Sabres are 116-101-37 against the Canadiens (68-34-24 on the road).

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 9-7-1 all-time on Feb. 7. Their last game on this date was a 3-2 shootout loss at OTT on Feb. 7, 2009.
• Feb. 7, 1995: Donald Audette played in his 200th NHL game, a 2-1 win vs. WSH.

STORYLINES

1. The Sabres will play Northeast division opponents in eight of their 10 games from Jan. 29 to Feb. 15. The team is 2-2-1 against the Northeast so far this season.
2. Buffalo will look to avoid their first four-game regulation losing streak since they went 0-5-0 from Jan. 14 to Jan. 21, 2012.
3. The Sabres haven’t lost three straight home games in regulation since Feb. 16 to Feb. 20, 2011. They haven’t been winless in five consecutive home games since they dropped the first seven home games of the 2010-11 season.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
Buffalo’s 5-0-1 (.917) record against Montreal last season was the second-best in franchise history, bested only by their 6-0-0 record in 1983-84… The Sabres have more wins against the Canadiens (116) than any other franchise; they have 115 against the Bruins… Buffalo ranks third in the league on the power play at home entering play Wednesday (5-for-12)…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; dating back to last season, Vanek has 30 points (10+20) in his last 19 games.

HOW THEY STACK UP (Sabres ranked in the top 10 in the NHL before 2/6 games)
Thomas Vanek: 19 points (1^st), 8 goals (2^nd), 11 assists (T-1^st), 3 power play goals (T-5^th), 1 shorthanded goal (T-1^st)
Jason Pominville: 6 goals (T-7^th), 14 points (T-4^th), 8 assists (T-9^th)
Steve Ott: 35 hits (T-2^nd)
Christian Ehrhoff: 5 assists (T-8^th, defensemen)
Marcus Foligno: 4 assists (T-4^th, rookies), 5 points (T-6^th, rookies), 15 PIM (T-4^th, rookies), 16:37 TOI/GP (10^th, rookies)

FAST STARTER
Thomas Vanek has recorded at least one point in eight of the nine games he’s appeared in this season, leading the league with 19 points (8+11). Despite missing one game, Vanek’s 19 points in 10 team games ties Rick Martin’s start to the 1973-74 season as the sixth-best start in franchise history. Each of the Sabres players who began the season scoring at this rate or better finished the season at over a point-per-game pace.

HOME SWEET HOME
Jason Pominville has recorded a point in each of his last six home games, dating back to March 30, 2012 vs. PIT. Pominville hasn’t been held without a point in consecutive home games since Feb. 25 and Feb. 26, 2011.

NORTHEAST DIVISION
The Sabres were 13-6-5 against the Northeast division last season and have started this season 2-2-1 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 scored Tuesday at OTT, passing Alexander Mogilny for 12^th-most points (445) in Sabres history. Pominville’s assist on Buffalo’s first goal Sunday vs. FLA tied Mike Foligno for 10^th-most assists (264) 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 Wednesday. 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 fifth-most prolific pair in the league entering Wednesday’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-MTL CONNECTIONS
MTL LW Rene Bourque played in Calgary with BUF D Robyn Regehr from 2008-2011. BUF D Jordan Leopold was also a part of the team during the 2008-09 season and MTL LW Brandon Prust played in Calgary from 2006-2010.

MTL LW Erik Cole played for the 2006 United States Olympic team with BUF G Ryan Miller and D Jordan Leopold.

BUF D Christian Ehrhoff and MTL LW Travis Moen played together with the San Jose Sharks during the 2008-09 season.

BUF RW Drew Stafford and MTL C Petteri Nokelainen were both selected in the first round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Stafford was taken 13^th overall and Nokelainen was taken 16^th overall.

SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 3-6-1 (7), 30/37, 6/36, 32/40

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

RECENT MILESTONES
Cody Hodgson … 100 career games played … 2/3 vs. FLA
Jason Pominville … 445 career points (12^th in franchise history) … 2/5 at OTT