Game Preview: 4/5/13 vs. OTT

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Tuesday, April 2
Buffalo 4 at Pittsburgh 1
Goals: Porter (2), Ott, Hodgson
Goalie: Miller (19 saves/20 shots)
PP: 0/5; PK: 3/4; Shots: Buffalo 29 – Pittsburgh 20

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 97)
Alexander Sulzer (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 18 games
Thomas Vanek (upper body, March 28) – 4 games
Ville Leino (upper body, March 31) – 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.

4/1: Acquired a second-round draft pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft and a second-round draft pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Robyn Regehr.

4/1: Recalled F Luke Adam from Rochester (AHL).

4/2: Signed free agent F Tim Schaller to a two-year, entry-level contract.

4/2: Recalled D Adam Pardy from Rochester (AHL).

4/3: Acquired F Johan Larsson, G Matt Hackett, a first-round selection in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and a second-round selection in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Jason Pominville.

UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Saturday, April 13: Philadelphia at Buffalo, 3 p.m.
Sunday, April 14: Tampa Bay at Buffalo, 5 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SENATORS at SABRES
-This is the fourth and final meeting between the Sabres and Senators this season.
-Last meeting: Ottawa defeated Buffalo, 4-3 (OT), in Buffalo on March16.
-The Sabres are 4-3-3 in their last 10 games vs. the Senators; 3-3-4 at home.
-This is the 116^th game all-time between Buffalo and Ottawa; Buffalo leads the series with a 56-42-17 record. Buffalo is 30-19-7 at home against the Senators all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• April 5, 1980: Mike Ramsey scores his first NHL goal in a 9-1 win at PIT.
• April 5, 2006: Danny Briere scores in overtime to give the Sabres a 5-4 victory vs. OTT and 100 points in the standings for the first time since the 1983-84 season.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• April is the Sabres’ best month since 2005-06; they have a 24-11-3 April record (.671) in that span, including a 1-0-0 record so far this season.
• The Sabres have had 14 of their last 18 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.
• Buffalo will look to avoid tying their season-high three game winless streak tonight after going 0-1-1 in their last two home games.

DEADLINE RECAP
The Sabres acquired two players (forward Johan Larsson and goaltender Matt Hackett) and six draft picks in the three trades the team made before Wednesday’s trade deadline. Buffalo now has 11 first- or second-round draft picks in the next three years:

• 2013: Two first-round picks, two second-round picks
• 2014: One first-round pick, three second-round picks
• 2015: One first-round pick, two second-round picks

FRANCHISE GOALTENDERS
Ryan Miller needs 12 more saves to break Dominik Hasek’s franchise record of 13,297 saves as a member of the Buffalo Sabres. After breaking the Hasek’s franchise record for most games played by a goaltender on Tuesday, Miller now owns the franchise records for games played, wins and minutes by a goaltender. Between the two of them, Miller and Hasek 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 have a 7-6-2 record this season against their divisional rivals after going 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.

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 and points (stats as of 4/4):

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.

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
OTT 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 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.

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 (150), Weber (90), Foligno (78)
Blocked Shots: Ehrhoff (67), Weber (65), Sekera (54)
Shots: Hodgson (95), Vanek (94), Stafford (93)

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: 3-2-2 (8), 19/19, 4/27, 17/25

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, 4-3 (GDG-Matt Hendricks)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Patrick Kaleta … 7 games … 300 career games played
Ryan Miller … 8 games … 500 career games played
Goals
Thomas Vanek … 1 goal … 247 career goals (ties Mike Foligno, 6^th in franchise history)

RECENT MILESTONES
Christian Ehrhoff … 600 career games played … 3/30 vs. WSH
Ryan Miller … 491 career games played (tied Dominik Hasek, most in franchise history) … 3/31 vs. BOS