Game Preview: 3/31/13 vs. BOS

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Saturday, March 30
Washington 4 at Buffalo 3 (SO)
Goals: Leino (2), Ehrhoff
Goalie: Enroth (35 saves/38 shots)
PP: 1/2; PK: 3/4; Shots: Washington 38 – Buffalo 23

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 91)
Alexander Sulzer (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 16 games
Thomas Vanek (upper body, March 28) – 2 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
3/30: Acquired a second-round draft pick and a conditional fifth-round draft pick from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Jordan Leopold.

UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, April 2: Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, April 5: Ottawa at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Sunday, April 7: New Jersey at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 9: Buffalo at Winnipeg, 8 p.m.
Thursday, April 11: Montreal at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
BRUINS at SABRES
-This is the fourth of five meetings between the Sabres and Bruins this season.
-Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Boston, 4-2, in Buffalo on Feb. 15.
-The teams next meet on Wednesday, April 17 in Boston.
-The Sabres are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Bruins; 6-2-2 at home.
-This is the 267^th game all-time between Buffalo and Boston; Buffalo has a 116-110-40 series record; Buffalo is 71-42-21 all-time against the Bruins at home.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
March 31, 1971: Eddie Shack picks up his second hat trick in 10 days as the Sabres defeated the Penguins, 6-4, in Pittsburgh.

STORYLINES

1. Buffalo has points in five straight home games (3-0-2) entering tonight’s game. They’ll look to extend the streak to six for the first time since going went 7-0-1 in eight home games from Feb. 19 to March 24, 2012.
2. The Sabres have had 14 of their last 16 games decided by one goal. Buffalo is 6-3-5 in those 14 games and 9-8-6 in their 23 one-goal games this season.
3. If he plays tonight, Ryan Miller will tie Dominik Hasek’s franchise record 491 games played for the Sabres.

TRENDS

• Christian Ehrhoff has five points (2+3) in his last five games.
• Tyler Ennis has eight points (2+6) in his last seven games.
• Andrej Sekera has six points (1+5) in his last six games.
• Marcus Foligno has eight points (4+4) in his last 11 games.
• Ville Leino has six points (2+4) in his last eight games.

FRANCHISE GOALTENDERS
Tonight, Ryan Miller is slated to play in his 491^st NHL game, all as a member of the Buffalo Sabres. In doing so, Miller will tie the Sabres’ franchise record for most games played by a goaltender, set by Dominik Hasek. Between the two, they own the franchise record in every major goaltending statistic.

Below is a comparison of each goaltender’s statistics as a member of the Sabres:

NORTHEAST DIVISION
The Sabres improved to 7-5-2 this season against their divisional rivals with a 2-1 win at Montreal on March 23. 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.

BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game wraps up Buffalo’s seventh of nine sets of back-to-back games this season after the team had a league-high 21 sets last season. The Sabres are 3-2-2 in the first game and 1-4-1 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 (1) and zero points (2).

SOPHOMORE SURGE
After finishing fifth in NHL rookie scoring last year with 41 points (19+22), Cody Hodgson leads all sophomores (defined as 2011-12 rookies) in goals, assists and points:

LOGGING BIG MINUTES
Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff has averaged 25:11 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 20:55 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-BOS CONNECTIONS
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 3rd overall, and Vanek was taken 5th overall.

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.

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, recording 77 points (35+42). He played 153 games for the Rochester Americans, where he also recorded 77 points (35+42).

BUF D Andrej Sekera and BOS D Zdeno Chara played together for Slovakia in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

BUF D Robyn Regehr played with BOS D Andrew Ference for the Calgary Flames from 2002-2006.

BUF 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 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 2009-2010 season with the Minnesota Wild.

BOS C Patrice Bergeron and BUF LW Nathan Gerbe share a birth date. Bergeron was born on July 24, 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 F Marcus Foligno and BOS F Lane MacDermid were both selected in the fourht round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Foligno was selected 104^th overall and MacDermid was taken 112^th overall.

BUF D Mark Pysyk and BOS F Tyler Seguin were both taken in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Seguin was selected 2^nd overall, and Pysyk was taken 23^rd overall.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ott (145), Weber (87), Foligno (75)
Blocked Shots: Ehrhoff (63), Weber (61), Sekera (54)
Shots: Vanek (94), Hodgson (90), Pominville (89)

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: 2-1-2 (6), 15/16, 4/18, 14/21

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 (4-4; 47-41 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)
March 28 at Florida: L, 5-4 (GDG-Mike Santorelli)
March 30 vs. Washington: L (GDG-Matt Hendricks)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Ryan Miller … 1 game … 491 career games played (ties Dominik Hasek, most in franchise history)
Ryan Miller … 10 games … 500 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
Steve Ott … 600 career games played … 3/28 at FLA
Christian Ehrhoff … 600 career games played … 3/30 vs. WSH