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LAST GAME
Thursday, February 7
Montreal 4 at Buffalo 5 (SO)
Goals: Vanek (2), Ott, Ennis; GDG- Pominville
Goalie: Miller (28 saves/32 shots)
PP: 1/7; PK: 3/4; Shots: Buffalo 40 – Montreal 32
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 36)
Ville Leino (lower body, Jan. 20; injured reserve) – 11 games
Robyn Regehr (lower body, Jan. 27; injured reserve) – 6 games
Patrick Kaleta (neck, Jan. 31; injured reserve) – 5 games
Andrej Sekera (foot, Feb. 3) – 3 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
2/4 Recalled D Adam Pardy; Placed LW Patrick Kaleta on IR
2/8 Returned D Adam Pardy to Rochester (AHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Tuesday, Feb. 19 Winnipeg at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at ISLANDERS
-This is the first of three meetings between the Sabres and Islanders this season.
-Last meeting: Buffalo defeated New York, 2-1, in Buffalo on Feb. 21, 2012.
-The teams next meet on Saturday, February 23 in Buffalo.
-The Sabres are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Islanders; 4-5-1 on the road.
-This is the 151st game all-time between Buffalo and New York; Buffalo leads the series with a 73-55-22 record. Buffalo is 32-32-11 against the Islanders on the road.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 7-4-4 all-time on Feb. 9. Their last two games on this date were each 3-2 shootout losses (vs. MTL in 2006 and vs. BOS in 2010). Their last win on Feb. 9 was a 2-1 win vs. OTT on Feb. 9, 1997.
- Feb. 9, 1984: Gil Perreault records his 700th NHL assist vs. New Jersey.
STORYLINES
- Buffalo rallied from a two-goal third-period deficit Thursday vs. MTL for the first time since a 6-5 OT win on April 3, 2012 vs. BOS. It was the second time in 11 games this season that the Sabres rebounded from a two-goal deficit.
- The Sabres will look to avoid their first three-game road regulation-losing streak since they lost five in a row from Jan. 14 to Jan. 21, 2012.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
The Sabres rank third in the Eastern Conference with 35 goals… 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 32 points (12+20) in his last 20 games… Tonight is Alexander Sulzer’s 100th NHL game.
HOW THEY STACK UP (Sabres ranked in the top 10 in the NHL)
Thomas Vanek: 21 points (1st), 10 goals (1st), 11 assists (T-4th), 4 power play goals (T-2nd), 1 shorthanded goal (T-2nd), 42 shots (4th)
Jason Pominville: 14 points (T-7th), 6 goals (T-9th)
Steve Ott: 35 hits (6th)
Christian Ehrhoff: 5 assists (T-9th, defensemen)
Marcus Foligno: 6 assists (T-2nd, rookies), 7 points (T-4th, rookies), 15 PIM (4th, rookies)
FAST STARTER
Thomas Vanek has recorded at least one point in nine of the 10 games he’s appeared in this season, including five multi-point games, giving him the league lead with 21 points (10+11). With two goals on Thursday vs. MTL, Vanek became the sixth player in Sabres history to reach the 20-point mark in 10 games.
RISING IN THE RECORD BOOKS
Jason Pominville scored Tuesday at OTT, passing Alexander Mogilny for 12th-most points (445) in Sabres history. Pominville’s assist on Buffalo’s first goal Sunday vs. FLA tied Mike Foligno for 10th-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 second-most by an NHL duo this season. They were the seventh-most prolific pair last season, combining on 39 goals. Vanek and Cody Hodgson have combined on eight goals, tying as the fifth-most prolific pair in the league.
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 569 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-NYI CONNECTIONS
BUF AC Kevyn Adams and NYI C Keith Aucoin played together for parts of two seasons when both were on the Carolina Hurricanes in 2005-06 and 2006-07. The Hurricanes were Stanley Cup Champions in 2005-06.
NYI LW Eric Boulton played for the Sabres for four seasons (2000-01 – 2003-04). Boulton appeared in172 games, scoring 17 points (5+12).
NYI D Joe Finley, who was claimed off waivers by the Islanders prior to the start of the 2012-13 season, played five games with Buffalo in 2011-12, recording 12 penalty minutes.
Finley played with BUF RW Drew Stafford for one season (2005-06) at the University of North Dakota. That season, the Fighting Sioux advanced to the Frozen Four but were beaten by Nathan Gerbe and the Boston College Eagles and took third place in the tournament.
NYI RW Brad Boyes also played for the Sabres, from 2010-11 – 2011-12. During his two seasons in Buffalo, Boyes played in 86 games, recording 37 points (13+24).
Boyes, NYI G Rick DiPietro and BUF C Steve Ott were all first-round draft selections in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. DiPietro, drafted by the Islanders, was the first overall selection while Boyes, selected by Toronto with the 24th overall pick, was selected just one pick ahead of Ott, who was picked 25th overall by Dallas.
DiPietro and BUF G Ryan Miller both represented Team USA at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino.
BUF D Jordan Leopold and NYI D Matt Carkner were both second-round draft picks in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft. Leopold, drafted by Anaheim, was the 44th overall pick and Carkner, selected by Montreal, was the 58th overall pick.
BUF D Andrej Sekera and NYI D Lubomir Visnovsky both represented Team Slovakia at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The two also were born less than an hour away from each other. Sekera was born in Bojnice, Slovakia, which is about 49 km from Topolcany, Slovakia, where Visnovsky was born.
BUF LW Marcus Foligno and NYI C Casey Cizikas were both drafted in the fourth round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Cizikas, selected by the Islanders, was the 92nd overall pick, while Foligno, selected by the Sabres, was picked 104th overall.
BUF D Christian Ehrhoff and NYI RW Michael Grabner were both on the 2009-10 Vancouver Canucks.
BUF G Jhonas Enroth, BUF D Mike Weber and NYI LW Jesse Joensuu were all drafted in the second round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. Enroth, drafted by Buffalo, was the 46th overall pick, Weber – also selected by Buffalo – was the 57th pick, and Joensuu, picked by the Islanders, was the 60th overall selection.
BUF LW Matt Ellis and NYI D Radek Martinek were both born on Aug. 31. Martinek, born in 1976, is five years older than Ellis, who was born in 1981.
Ellis played with the Los Angeles Kings in 2007-08 with NYI LW Matt Moulson.
BUF C Jochen Hecht played with NYI C Marty Reasoner from 1998-2001 on the St. Louis Blues, before the pair was traded to Edmonton in 2001. Hecht played only one season (2001-02) for the Oilers, while Reasoner remained until the 2005-06 season, and then again from 2006 until 2008.
BUF D Christian Ehrhoff played with NYI G Evgeni Nabokov from 2003-09 on the San Jose Sharks. NYI RW Brad Boyes was also with the Sharks for the 2003-04 season.
BUF D Tyler Myers, BUF C Cody Hodgson, BUF LW Tyler Ennis and NYI C Josh Bailey were all first-round draft selections in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Bailey was the ninth overall pick, Hodgson – selected by Vancouver – was the 10th overall pick, Myers was picked 12th overall, and Ennis was the 26th overall selection.
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
11-20: 1-0-0 (2), 5/4, 1/7, 3/4
OVERTIME RESULTS (0-1; 93-92 all-time)
January 29 vs. Toronto L, 4-3 (GWG-Frattin, 4:58)
SHOOTOUT RESULTS (1-0; 44-37 all-time)
February 7 vs. Montreal W, 5-4 (GDG-Pominville)
MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Alexander Sulzer … 1 game … 100 career games played
Jochen Hecht … 3 games … 800 career games played
Jordan Leopold … 3 games … 600 career games played
Assists
Jason Pominville … 1 assist … 265 career assists (sole possession, 10th in franchise history)
Points
Ville Leino … 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 (12th in franchise history) … 2/5 at OTT
Tyler Ennis … 100 career points … 2/7 vs. MTL
