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LAST GAME
Saturday, February 9
Buffalo 3 at NY Islanders 2
Goals: Vanek, Ehrhoff, Sulzer
Goalie: Miller (41 saves/43 shots)
PP: 0/2; PK: 3/3; Shots: NY Islanders 43 – Buffalo 15
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 38)
Ville Leino (lower body, Jan. 20; injured reserve) – 12 games
Robyn Regehr (lower body, Jan. 27; injured reserve) – 7 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)
2/9 Activated LW Patrick Kaleta from IR
UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Thursday, Feb. 21 Buffalo at Toronto, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
BRUINS at SABRES
-This is the second of five meetings between the Sabres and Bruins this season.
-Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Boston, 7-4, in Boston on Jan. 31.
-The teams next meet in five days, on Friday, Feb. 15 in Buffalo.
-The Sabres are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Bruins; 6-1-3 at home.
-This is the 265th game all-time between Buffalo and Boston; Buffalo leads the series with a 115-109-40 record; Buffalo is 70-41-21 all-time against the Bruins at home.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 11-7-2 all-time on Feb. 10. They have won their last five games on this date, with the last loss coming on Feb. 10, 2002 at NJD.
- Feb. 10, 1980: Punch Imlach, Roger Crozier and Frank Christie become the first three inductees into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame.
STORYLINES
- Buffalo is 4-0-1 in their last five home games vs. BOS and 17-2-5 (.813) at home against the Bruins since the 2005-06 season.
- The Sabres will attempt to win consecutive home games for the first time this season after finishing 2011-12 with an 8-2-0 record in their last 10 home games.
- Buffalo plays Northeast division opponents in eight of their 10 games from Jan. 29 to Feb. 15. The team is 3-2-1 against the Northeast so far this season.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
The Sabres have faced the Bruins more than any other team in franchise history, with 264 games played between the two clubs… The Sabres rank third in the Eastern Conference with 37 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 34 points (13+21) in his last 21 games.
HOW THEY STACK UP (Sabres ranked in the top 10 in the NHL)
Thomas Vanek: 23 points (1st), 11 goals (1st), 12 assists (T-2nd), 4 power play goals (T-2nd), 1 shorthanded goal (T-2nd), 45 shots (T-6th)
Jason Pominville: 14 points (T-8th), 6 goals (T-10th)
Steve Ott: 39 hits (T-5th)
Marcus Foligno: 6 assists (T-2nd, rookies), 7 points (T-4th, rookies), 15 PIM (T-4th, rookies)
BESTING THE BRUINS
Thomas Vanek’s career numbers of 54 points (28+26) in 46 games against Boston represent his highest goal and point totals against any NHL team. Vanek recorded five points (3+2) the last time these teams met, a 7-4 Buffalo road win on Jan. 31. According to Elias Sports Bureau, his 54 points against the Bruins tie Saku Koivu for fourth 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
Alex Kovalev 84 35 33 68 0.81 0.42
Thomas Vanek 46 28 26 54 1.17 0.61
Saku Koivu 64 15 39 54 0.84 0.23
Vincent Lecavalier 47 20 29 49 1.04 0.43
HOME SWEET HOME
Jason Pominville has recorded a point in four of five home games this season, with Thursday’s victory over Montreal the only one in which he didn’t tally. He hasn’t been held without a point in consecutive home games since Feb. 25 and Feb. 26, 2011. Pominville ranked fifth in the NHL last season with 46 points (17+29) in home games.
FAST STARTER
Thomas Vanek has recorded at least one point in 10 of the 11 games he’s appeared in this season, including six multi-point games, giving him a league-leading 23 points (11+12). With two goals on Thursday vs. MTL, Vanek became the sixth player in Sabres history to reach the 20-point mark in 10 games.
BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game wraps up Buffalo’s fourth of nine sets of back-to-back games this season after the team had a league-high 21 sets last season. Buffalo won the first game yesterday, a 3-2 decision at NYI. The Sabres are 2-2-0 in the first game and 1-2-0 in the second. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to-back sets is as follows: four points (1), three points (0), two points (0), one point (0) and zero points (2).
RISING IN THE RECORD BOOKS
With a goal Feb. 5 at OTT, Jason Pominville passed Alexander Mogilny (444) for 12th-most points in Sabres history. Pominville’s assist on Buffalo’s first goal Feb. 3 vs. FLA tied Mike Foligno (264) for 10th-most assists in Sabres history.
NORTHEAST DIVISION
The Sabres were 13-6-5 against the Northeast division last season and have started this season 3-2-1 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.
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 also combined on 10 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 570 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-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: 3-6-1 (7), 30/37, 6/36, 32/40
11-20: 2-0-0 (4), 8/6, 1/9, 6/7
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
Jochen Hecht … 2 games … 800 career games played
Jordan Leopold … 2 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 … 2 points … 200 career points
RECENT MILESTONES
Jason Pominville … 445 career points (12th in franchise history) … 2/5 at OTT
Tyler Ennis … 100 career points … 2/7 vs. MTL
Alexander Sulzer … 100 career games played … 2/9 at NYI
