Game Preview: 4/11/13 vs. MTL

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Tuesday, April 9
Buffalo 1 at Winnipeg 4
Goals: Porter
Goalie: Miller (26 saves/29 shots); 1 ENG
PP: 0/3; PK: 1/1; Shots: Winnipeg 30 – Buffalo 30

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 105)
Alexander Sulzer (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 21 games
Ville Leino (upper body, March 31) – 5 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
N/A

UPCOMING GAMES
Saturday, April 13: Philadelphia at Buffalo, 3 p.m.
Sunday, April 14: Tampa Bay at Buffalo, 5 p.m.
Wednesday, April 17: Buffalo at Boston, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, April 19: NY Rangers at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, April 20: Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
CANADIENS at SABRES
-This is the fifth and final meeting between the Sabres and Canadiens this season.
-Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Montreal, 2-1, in Montreal on March 23.
-The Sabres are 8-1-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Canadiens; 6-2-2 at home.
-This is the 258^th game all-time between Buffalo and Montreal; the Sabres are 119-101-37 against the Canadiens (69-34-24 at home).

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Buffalo enters tonight’s game looking for a win in a third consecutive home game for the first time since the team won five in a row from Feb. 19 to March 12, 2012.
• The Sabres have more wins against the Canadiens (119) than any other franchise; they have 116 against the Bruins.
• Buffalo is 4-0-1 in their last five home games against Montreal. The Canadiens’ last regulation win in Buffalo was a 3-2 victory on Nov. 5, 2010.
• Thomas Vanek will play in his first home game since March 16 vs. OTT. His eight goals at home are the most by a Sabres player this season. Vanek missed the last five home games with an upper body injury.
• April is the Sabres’ best month since 2005-06; they have a 26-12-3 (.671) April record in that span, including a 3-1-0 record so far this season.
• The Sabres have had 15 of their last 21 games decided by one goal. Buffalo is 7-3-5 in those 15 games and 10-8-6 in their 24 one-goal games this season.

STOPPING THE HABS
Both of Buffalo’s goaltenders have had success against the Canadiens in their careers. Ryan Miller is 25-9-6 against Montreal, with a .924 save percentage and a 2.27 goals against average. The 25 wins are 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 and a 2.27 goals against average.

LATE-SEASON PUSH
The Sabres have performed at or above a .625 points percentage (103-point pace over 82 games) in the final 20 games in each of the last three seasons. This was an improvement upon their record from the first 62 games of the season each time.

So far this season, Buffalo is at .583 in games that fall in the final 20 of the season, .154 better than their performance in the 28 games leading up to that point.

READY WHEN CALLED UPON
Six of Buffalo’s top seven players in terms of record when in the lineup have spent at least 20 games with the Rochester Americans this season: Luke Adam (3-0-0), Adam Pardy (6-2-1), Mark Pysyk (7-4-1), Matt Ellis (3-2-1), Brian Flynn (9-6-4), Kevin Porter (11-8-5).

The only outlier is Ville Leino (4-2-3), who has the Sabres’ fourth-best points percentage when in the lineup. Interim head coach Ron Rolston, who coached the Americans through their first 48 games of the season, has a 10-8-5 record with the Sabres, which would rank eighth among the players.

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 4/10):

LOGGING BIG MINUTES
Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff has averaged 25:10 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-MTL CONNECTIONS
BUF G Ryan Miller, MTL RW Erik Cole and MTL RW Brian Gionta all played for Team USA at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino.

BUF D Christian Ehrhoff and MTL LW Travis Moen played together with the San Jose Sharks during the 2008-2009 season.

Ehrhoff was also teammates with MTL D Josh Gorges in San Jose when they both played for the Sharks in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons.

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 13th overall and Nokelainen was taken 16th overall.

BUF D Adam Pardy and MTL F Brandon Prust played together for the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights from 2005-2007 and the Quad City Flames from 2007-2008.

BUF C Cody Hodgson, MTL D P.K. Subban and MTL F Mike Blunden were all born in Toronto, ON.

BUF AC Kevyn Adams and MTL RW Rene Bourque were teammates on the 2007-08 Chicago Blackhawks.

Bourque also played with BUF D Adam Pardy for three seasons (2008-2011) on the Calgary Flames.

Pardy and MTL RW Michael Ryder played together for the Dallas Stars in 2011-12.

BUF LW Ville Leino, BUF C Tyler Ennis and MTL C Gabriel Dumont all share the same birthday: Oct. 6. Leino, born in 1983, is six years older than Ennis, who was born in 1989, and seven years older than Dumont, who was born in 1990.

Ennis, BUF F John Scott and MTL F Brendan Gallagher were all born in Edmonton, AB.

BUF D Andrej Sekera, MTL LW Brandon Prust and MTL D Alexei Emelin were all third-round draft selections in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Prust, drafted by Calgary, was the 70th overall selection. Sekera, drafted by Buffalo, was the 71st overall selection and Emelin, drafted by Montreal, was the 84th overall pick.

Prust and BUF F John Scott both played for the New York Rangers in 2011-12.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ott (171), Weber (101), Foligno (87)
Blocked Shots: Weber (78), Ehrhoff (72), Sekera (59)
Shots: Stafford (103), Hodgson (101), Vanek (96)

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: 5-3-2 (12), 27/27, 4/35, 26/35

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 (5-4; 48-41 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)
April 7 vs. New Jersey: W, 3-2 (GDG-Nathan Gerbe)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Patrick Kaleta … 4 games … 300 career games played
Ryan Miller … 5 games … 500 career games played
Goals
Thomas Vanek … 1 goal … 247 career goals (ties Mike Foligno, 6^th in franchise history)
Steve Ott … 7 goals … 100 career goals

RECENT MILESTONES
N/A