Game Preview: 3/26/13 at TBL

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Saturday, March 23
Buffalo 2 at Montreal 1
Goals: Vanek (2)
Goalie: Miller (38 saves/39 shots)
PP: 1/3; PK: 2/3; Shots: Montreal 39 – Buffalo 18

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 85)
Alexander Sulzer (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 13 games
Andrej Sekera (upper body, March 17) – 4 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
N/A

UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Friday, April 5: Ottawa at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at LIGHTNING
-This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and Lightning this season.
-Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Tampa Bay, 2-1, in Tampa Bay on Feb. 26.
-These teams next meet on Sunday, April 14 in Buffalo.
-The Sabres are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Lightning; 7-3-0 on the road.
-This is the 76^th game all-time between Buffalo and Tampa Bay; Buffalo leads the series with a 48-22-5 record. They are 26-9-3 on the road against the Lightning.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• March 23, 1971: Phil Goyette and Gerry Meehan score goals just 18 seconds apart in the third period as the Sabres defeat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-1, at the Memorial Auditorium.

STORYLINES

1. The Sabres are 7-3-3 in their last 13 games. During that stretch, they have gone from 15^th in the Eastern Conference and six points out of a playoff spot to 12^th in the conference and three points out.
2. Buffalo enters the game on a three-game winning streak and looking for their first four-game winning streak since they won five in a row from March 19 to March 27, 2012.
3. The Sabres have had 11 of their last 13 games decided by one goal. Buffalo is 6-2-3 in those 11 games and 9-7-4 in their 20 one-goal games this season.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• The Sabres have killed 16 straight penalties against the Lightning; they haven’t allowed a Tampa Bay power play goal since Feb. 8, 2011.
• Dating back to last season, Thomas Vanek has 44 points (18+26) in his last 37 games.
• Tyler Ennis enters tonight’s game on a four-game point streak (2+4).
• Cody Hodgson has 25 points (9+16) in his last 26 games.
• The Sabres have scored a power play in each of their last four games, going 4-for-15 on the power play and 3-1-0 in that stretch.

HOW THEY STACK UP (Sabres ranked in the top 10 in the NHL before 3/25 games)
Thomas Vanek: 16 goals (T-6^th), 7 power play goals (T-7^th), 29 takeaways (T-7^th)
Steve Ott: 134 hits (T-2^nd), 57.4% faceoff percentage (8^th)
Jason Pominville: 29 takeaways (T-7^th)

SOPHOMORE SURGE
After finishing fifth in NHL rookie scoring last year with 41 points (10+22), Cody Hodgson leads all sophomores (defined as 2011-12 rookies) in goals, assists and points entering play Monday:

Hodgson, who appeared in eight games for Vancouver in 2010-11, also leads all third-year players in goals and points entering play Monday, trailing only Taylor Hall (20) and Kevin Shattenkirk (17) in assists:

TWICE IS NICE
The Sabres have had a different player score two goals in four of the team’s last five games:

3/12 vs. NYR: Marcus Foligno
3/16 vs. OTT: Drew Stafford3/17 at WSH: Cody Hodgson
3/19 at MTL: Steve Ott
3/23 at MTL: Thomas Vanek

LEADING THE WAY AGAINST TAMPA BAY

• Four Sabres (Pominville, Vanek, Hodgson, Foligno) average more than a point per game against the Lightning in their careers.
• Ryan Miller is 19-7-0 all-time against TBL with a 2.68 GAA.
• Jason Pominville leads all Sabres with 35 points (16+19) in 27 games against TBL; Jhonas Enroth is 1-0-0 with a 2.00 GAA.
• Thomas Vanek leads the team with 23 goals in only 29 games against TBL, five shy of his career-best 28 against Boston (48 GP).

LOGGING BIG MINUTES
Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff has averaged 25:07 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 21:00 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-TBL CONNECTIONS
BUF interim head coach Ron Rolston coached TBL D Brian Lee when Lee was on the 2007 U.S. World Junior team and Rolston served as an assistant coach for the squad. The U.S. won a bronze medal in the 2007 tournament.

BUF F Steve Ott and TBL F B.J Crombeen played together from 2007-2009 as members of the Dallas Stars.

BUF D Robyn Regehr, TBL F Martin St. Louis and TBL F Vincent Lecavalier played together as members of the 2006 Canadian Olympic team.

BUF G Ryan Miller and TBL F Ryan Malone played together as members of the 2010 United States Olympic team. The United States finished second in the tournament, losing the gold medal game to Canada in overtime.

TBL F Cory Conacher played for Canisius College (located in Buffalo) from 2007-2011. Conacher is seventh all-time in Canisius scoring history, with 62 goals and 85 assists in 129 career games.

BUF F John Scott and TBL F Benoit Pouliot played together for the Minnesota Wild from 2008-2010. TBL D Marc-Andre Bergeron also played for the Wild during the 2008-2009 season.

BUF D Robyn Regehr and TBL F Martin St. Louis played together for the Calgary Flames during the 1999-00 season.

TBL F Steven Stamkos, BUF F Cody Hodgson, F Tyler Ennis and D Tyler Myers were all selected in the first round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Stamkos was taken 1st overall, Hodgson was taken 10th overall, Myers was taken 12th overall and Ennis was taken 26th overall.

BUF F Tyler Ennis, Cody Hodgson, D Tyler Myers and TBL Keith Aulie all played for the 2009 Canadian World Junior team. The team won the gold medal, and Hodgson was the leading scorer in the tournament with 16 points (5+11).

BUF F Jochen Hecht and TBL D Eric Brewer played together for the Edmonton Oilers during the 2001-02 season.

TBL D Matthew Carle and BUF D Christian Ehrhoff played together for the San Jose Sharks from 2005-2008. Carle also played with BUF F Ville Leino for the Philadelphia Flyers from 2009-2011.

BUF G Jhonas Enroth and TBL D Victor Hedman played together for Sweden in the 2008 World Junior Championship. Sweden won the silver medal in the tournament and Hedman was named one of the top two defensemen of the tournament.

BUF F Nathan Gerbe and TBL D Brian Lee played together for the United States in the 2006 and 2007 World Junior Championship tournaments. The United States finished fourth in 2006 and third in 2007.

TBL D Sami Salo played with BUF D Christian Ehrhoff for the Vancouver Canucks from 2009-2011. Salo also played with BUF F Cody Hodgson in Vancouver from 2010-2012.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ott (134), Weber (80), Foligno (69)
Blocked Shots: Ehrhoff (61), Weber (56), Sekera (51)
Shots: Vanek (94), Pominville (85), Hodgson (83)

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 (8), 20/27, 1/36, 35/42
21-30: 4-3-3 (11), 29/31, 5/36, 26/35
31-40: 2-0-0 (4), 7/5, 2/8, 4/7

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 … 2 games … 600 career games played
Christian Ehrhoff … 3 games … 600 career games played
Goals
Thomas Vanek … 1 goal … 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