Game Preview: 3/23/13 at MTL

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Thursday, March 21
Toronto 4 at Buffalo 5 (SO)
Goals: Ennis, Foligno, Pominville, Ehrhoff
Goalie: Miller (30 saves/34 shots)
PP: 1/5; PK: 2/4; Shots: Buffalo 36 – Toronto 34

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 83)
Alexander Sulzer (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 12 games
Andrej Sekera (upper body, March 17) – 3 games
Thomas Vanek (lower body, March 21) – 1 game

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
3/17: Recalled D Mark Pysyk from Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, March 26: Buffalo at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 28: Buffalo at Florida, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, March 30: Washington at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Sunday, March 31: Boston at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 2: Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at CANADIENS
-This is the fourth of five meetings between the Sabres and Canadiens this season.
-Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Montreal, 3-2 (OT), in Montreal on March 19.
-The teams next meet on Thursday, April 11 in Buffalo.
-The Sabres are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Canadiens; 7-3-0 on the road.
-This is the 257^th game all-time between Buffalo and Montreal; the Sabres are 118-101-37 against the Canadiens (49-67-13 on the road).

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• March 23, 1999: Traded Mike Wilson to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Rhett Warrener and a 1999 fifth-round draft choice (Ryan Miller).

STORYLINES

1. Tonight’s game is the third of three straight against Northeast Division opponents for the Sabres. The Sabres dispatched the Canadiens, 3-2 (OT) on Tuesday and rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat the Maple Leafs, 5-4 (SO), on Thursday.
2. The Sabres are 6-3-3 in their last 12 games. During that stretch, they have gone from 15^th in the Eastern Conference and six points out of a playoff spot to 11^th in the conference and four points out (before 3/22 games).
3. Buffalo enters the game on a two-game winning streak and looking for their first three-game winning streak since they won five in a row from March 19 to March 27, 2012.
4. The Sabres have not lost a season series against the Canadiens since 2007-08. A win tonight would clinch the 2012-13 series.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Cody Hodgson, who tallied a career-best three assists Thursday vs. Toronto, leads all third-year players and all 2011-12 rookies with 27 points (12+15). Hodgson has 24 points (9+15) in his last 25 games.
• The Sabres have more wins against the Canadiens (118) than any other franchise; they have 116 against the Bruins.
• Dating back to last season, Thomas Vanek has 42 points (16+26) in his last 36 games.
• Tyler Ennis enters tonight’s game on a three-game point streak (2+3).
• Steve Ott has three points (2+1) in his last two games, adding the shootout-deciding goal Thursday vs. TOR

HOW THEY STACK UP (Sabres ranked in the top 10 in the NHL before 3/22 games)
Thomas Vanek: 14 goals (T-9^th), 6 power play goals (T-9^th), 29 takeaways (T-6^th)
Steve Ott: 130 hits (2^nd)
Jason Pominville: 27 takeaways (T-9^th)

STOPPING THE HABS
Both of Buffalo’s goaltenders have had success against the Canadiens in their careers. Ryan Miller is 24-9-6 against Montreal, with a .922 save percentage. The 24 wins tie his output against the Bruins, topped only by his 29 wins against Toronto. Jhonas Enroth is 3-0-0 in four appearances against the Canadiens, with a .925 save percentage.

NORTHEAST DIVISION
The Sabres improved to 6-5-2 this season against their divisional rivals with a 5-4 shootout win vs. Toronto on Thursday. The team went 13-6-5 against the Northeast division last season. Buffalo has finished at or above .500 against their division every year since going 8-10-6 against Northeast opponents in 1994-95.

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 20:57 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.

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 REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ott (125), Weber (78), Foligno (68)
Blocked Shots: Ehrhoff (57), Sekera (51), Weber (48)
Shots: Vanek (92), Pominville (85), Ennis/Hodgson (80)

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: 4-3-3 (11), 29/31, 5/36, 26/35
31-40: 1-0-0 (2), 5/4, 1/5, 2/4

OVERTIME RESULTS (1-2; 94-93 all-time)
January 29 vs. Toronto: L, 4-3 (GWG-Frattin, 4:58)
March 16 vs. Ottawa: L, 4-3 (GWG-Turris, 3:54)
March 19 at Montreal: W, 3-2 (GWG-Ott, 2:16)

SHOOTOUT RESULTS (4-2; 47-39 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)
March 21 vs. Toronto: W, 5-4 (GDG-Ott)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Steve Ott … 3 games … 600 career games played
Christian Ehrhoff … 4 games … 600 career games played
Goals
Thomas Vanek … 3 goals … 247 career goals (ties Mike Foligno, 6^th in franchise history)
Assists
Jason Pominville … 6 assists … 275 career assists (ties Dale Hawerchuk, 8^th in franchise history)

RECENT MILESTONES
Jordan Leopold … 200 career points … 3/19 at MTL
Ville Leino … 100 career points … 3/19 at MTL