Game Preview: 3/5/13 at CAR

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Sunday, March 3
Buffalo 2 at NY Rangers 3 (SO)
Goals: Stafford, Gerbe
Goalie: Miller (26 saves/28 shots)
PP: 0/5; PK: 2/4; Shots: Buffalo 30 – NY Rangers 28

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 64)
Ville Leino (lower body, Jan. 20; injured reserve) – 23 games
Jordan Leopold (upper body, Feb. 21; injured reserve) – 6 games
Alexander Sulzer (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 4 games
Thomas Vanek (upper body, March 2) – 2 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
3/1          Recalled C Brian Flynn from Rochester (AHL); Placed D Jordan Leopold on IR

UPCOMING GAMES
Thursday, March 7              Buffalo at New Jersey, 7 p.m.
Sunday, March 10               Buffalo at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 12             NY Rangers at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 16             Ottawa at Buffalo, 3 p.m.
Sunday, March 17               Buffalo at Washington, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at HURRICANES
-This is the third and final meeting between the Sabres and Hurricanes this season.
-Last meeting: Carolina defeated Buffalo, 3-1, in Buffalo on Jan. 25.
-The Sabres are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Hurricanes; 4-2-4 on the road.
-This is the 185^th game all-time between Buffalo and Carolina; Buffalo leads the series with a 96-65-24 record. They are 42-35-16 at home against the Hurricanes.

STORYLINES

1. The Sabres are in the midst of a four-game road trip; the longest such stretch this season. Tonight, the team will look to get points in four consecutive road games for the first time since they got points in five straight from March 10-27, 2012, going 4-0-1 in five road games.
2. Buffalo will attempt to get points in five straight games for the first time since going 7-0-2 overall during that same stretch from March 10-27, 2012.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
Buffalo’s 64 man games lost after 23 games match their 2011-12 total at the same point in the season… Cody Hodgson has 16 points (5+11) in his last 17 games… Dating back to last season, Thomas Vanek has 38 points (14+24) in his last 30 games… Vanek’s eight multi-point games tie for fourth-most in the league… Vanek and Hodgson have combined on 13 goals this season, tied for sixth-most in the league by any duo… Since 2005-06, 24 of 33 teams replacing their head coach mid-season have seen an improvement in their record after replacing the coach; 14 of those teams made the playoffs that season.

HOW THEY STACK UP (Sabres ranked in the top 10 in the NHL before 3/4 games)
Thomas Vanek: 27 points (T-3^rd), 12 goals (T-4^th), 5 power play goals (T-5^th), 27 takeaways (1^st)
Jason Pominville: 20 takeaways (T-8^th)
Steve Ott: 101 hits (2^nd)

LEADING THE WAY AGAINST THE HURRICANES
Thomas Vanek leads all Sabres with 29 points (12+17) in 28 career games against the Hurricanes. Vanek and Jason Pominville each had five points (3+2) in four games against Carolina last season and both have three points in two meetings between the teams this season.

LOGGING BIG MINUTES
Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff has averaged 25:06 TOI per game this season, the highest average of his career and the highest per-game average by a Sabres skater since Alexei Zhitnik skated 26:32 per game in the 2002-03 season. Jason Pominville’s average TOI of 20:57 is the highest by a Sabres forward since Miroslav Satan averaged 21:23 in 2002-03.

MEET THE NEW BOSS
After being named interim head coach of the Buffalo Sabres on Feb. 20, Ron Rolston became the 16^th head coach in Sabres history. Rolston joins the Sabres after spending the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons as head coach of the Rochester Americans (AHL), compiling a 63-44-17 regular-season record. Prior to joining the Americans, Rolston spent seven seasons as head coach with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, where he led the United States Under-18 team to three gold medals and a silver medal in four tournaments as head coach at the IIHF World Under-18 Championship.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD
The Sabres hired Ron Rolston to serve as interim head coach on Feb. 20 after the Sabres got off to a 6-10-1 (.382) start. It was the first time the Sabres had replaced their head coach mid-season since John Muckler took over for Rick Dudley on Dec. 11, 1991 after a 9-15-4 (.393) start to the season. The 1991-92 team went 22-22-8 under Muckler, ending the season 31-37-12 and finishing third in the Adams Division to clinch a playoff spot.

RISING IN THE RECORD BOOKS
With a goal Feb. 5 at OTT, Jason Pominville passed Alexander Mogilny (444) for 12^th-most points in Sabres history. Pominville’s assist on Buffalo’s first goal Feb. 3 vs. FLA tied Mike Foligno (264) for 10^th-most assists in Sabres history and his next assist will give him sole possession of 10^th place in franchise history. He trails Derek Roy by two assists for ninth.

BUF-CAR CONNECTIONS
BUF Assistant Coach Kevyn Adams played in Carolina for five seasons (2001-02 to 2006-07), including the Hurricanes’ 2005-06 Stanley Cup winning season. While in Carolina, Adams recorded 72 points (38+34) through 300 games.

Adams also played with CAR C Tuomo Ruutu on the Chicago Blackhawks in 2007-08.

BUF D Andrej Sekera and CAR C Tim Brent were both third-round selections in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Sekera, selected by Buffalo, was selected 71^st overall while Brent, picked by Anaheim, was the 75^th overall selection.

BUF C Jochen Hecht and CAR D Joe Corvo were born one day apart. Hecht was born on June 21, 1977 and Corvo was born a day earlier, on June 20, 1977.

BUF G Ryan Miller and CAR D Tim Gleason both played for Team USA at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

BUF C Steve Ott and CAR LW Jussi Jokinen played together for three seasons on the Dallas Stars (2005-06 to 2007-08).

Jokinen also played alongside BUF AC Teppo Numminen, CAR C Tuomo Ruutu and CAR D Joni Pitkanen on Team Finland in the 2006 Olympics in Torino.

BUF G Jhonas Enroth, BUF D Mike Weber and CAR D Jamie McBain were all drafted in the second round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. Enroth was the 46^th overall selection, Weber the 57^th overall pick and McBain the 63^rd overall selection.

BUF C Mikhail Grigorenko and CAR C Jeff Skinner were both born on May 16. Skinner, born in 1992, is two years older than Grigorenko, who was born in 1994.

Skinner shares a hometown with BUF C Cody Hodgson. Both Skinner and Hodgson were born in Toronto.

BUF LW Thomas Vanek and CAR C Eric Staal were both first-round draft picks in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. Staal was the 2^nd overall selection and Vanek was picked 5^th overall.

Staal also played with BUF D Robyn Regehr on Team Canada in the 2006 Olympics in Torino.

BUF D Jordan Leopold played with CAR C Jordan Staal on the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009-10.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ott (101), Foligno (54), Weber (53)
Blocked Shots: Ehrhoff (41), Sekera (39), Weber (32)
Shots: Vanek (73), Ennis (66), Pominville (66)

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: 4-6-0 (6), 20/27, 1/36, 35/42
21-30: 2-0-1 (5), 10/9, 1/12, 10/13

OVERTIME RESULTS (0-1; 93-92 all-time)
January 29 vs. Toronto       L, 4-3 (GWG-Frattin, 4:58)

SHOOTOUT RESULTS (3-1; 46-38 all-time)
February 7 vs. Montreal   W, 5-4 (GDG-Pominville)
February 28 at Florida       W, 4-3 (GDG-Vanek)
March 2 vs. New Jersey  W, 4-3 (GDG-Pominville)
March 3 at NY Rangers      L, 3-2 (GDG-Nash)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Goals
Thomas Vanek … 5 goals … 247 career goals (ties Mike Foligno, 6^th in franchise history)
Assists
Jason Pominville … 1 assist … 265 career assists (sole possession, 10^th in franchise history)
Points
Jordan Leopold … 2 points … 200 career points
Ville Leino … 2 points … 100 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
N/A