Game Preview: 3/16/13 vs. OTT

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Tuesday, March 12
NY Rangers 1 at Buffalo 3
Goals: Foligno (2), Vanek
Goalie: Enroth (32 saves/33 shots)
PP: 0/5; PK: 1/1; Shots: NY Rangers 33 – Buffalo 22

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 75)
Ville Leino (lower body, Jan. 20) – 27 games
Alexander Sulzer (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 8 games
Tyler Ennis (upper body, March 12) – 1 game

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
3/10        Activated D Jordan Leopold from IR; Loaned D Adam Pardy to Rochester (AHL)
3/15        Activated C Ville Leino from IR; Assigned C Mikhail Grigorenko to Quebec (QMJHL)
Acquired a fifth-round pick in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft from Florida in exchange for defenseman TJ Brennan

UPCOMING GAMES
Sunday, March 17               Buffalo at Washington, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, March 19             Buffalo at Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 21            Toronto at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 23             Buffalo at Montreal, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, March 26             Buffalo at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SENATORS at SABRES
-This is the third of four meetings between the Sabres and Senators this season.
-Last meeting: Ottawa defeated Buffalo, 2-0, in Ottawa on Feb. 12.
-The teams next meet on Friday, April 5 in Buffalo.
-The Sabres are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Senators; 3-4-3 at home.
-This is the 115^th game all-time between Buffalo and Ottawa; Buffalo leads the series with a 56-42-16 record. Buffalo is 30-19-6 at home against the Senators all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• March 16, 1975: Gilbert Perreault scored three goals and added three assists as the Sabres defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs, 11-3.

STORYLINES

1. The Sabres will look to win three straight home games for the first time since they won five in a row from Feb. 19 to March 12, 2012.
2. Buffalo will attempt to avoid losing three straight games against Ottawa in regulation for the first time since they lost five straight from Feb. 11 to Dec. 16, 2009. Ottawa hasn’t won the seasons series against Buffalo since 2009-10.
3. Ville Leino returns to the Sabres’ roster today after missing the first 27 games of the season with a lower-body injury.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Dating back to last season, Thomas Vanek has 41 points (16+25) in his last 34 games.
• Ryan Miller has not allowed an even-strength goal in his last 68:28 time on ice.
• Rookie forward Brian Flynn (2+1) and defenseman Andrej Sekera (0+4) each enter the game on three-game point streaks.

HOW THEY STACK UP (Sabres ranked in the top 10 in the NHL before 3/15 games)
Thomas Vanek: 30 points (T-9^th), 14 goals (T-6^th), 6 power play goals (T-8^th), 28 takeaways (T-5^th)
Steve Ott: 119 hits (2^nd)

BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game opens up Buffalo’s sixth of nine sets of back-to-back games this season after the team had a league-high 21 sets last season. The Sabres are 3-2-0 in the first game and 1-3-1 in the second. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to-back sets is as follows: four points (1), three points (1), two points (1), one point (0) and zero points (2).

LOGGING BIG MINUTES
Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff has averaged 25:09 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 20:59 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.

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.

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

OTT HC Paul MacLean 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 REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ott (119), Weber (65), Foligno (59)
Blocked Shots: Ehrhoff (53), Sekera (49), Weber (38)
Shots: Vanek (83), Pominville (76), Hodgson (72)

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: 3-2-2 (8), 20/20, 3/26, 19/26

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

SHOOTOUT RESULTS (3-2; 46-39 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)
March 7 at New Jersey       L, 3-2 (GDG-Clarkson)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Steve Ott … 7 games … 600 career games played
Christian Ehrhoff … 8 games … 600 career games played
Goals
Thomas Vanek … 3 goals … 247 career goals (ties Mike Foligno, 6^th in franchise history)
Assists
Jason Pominville … 8 assists … 275 career assists (ties Dale Hawerchuk, 8^th in franchise history)
Points
Jordan Leopold … 2 points … 200 career points
Ville Leino … 2 points … 100 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
Jason Pominville … 266 career assists (sole possession, 9^th in franchise history) … 3/12 vs. NYR