Game Preview: 4/14/13 vs. TBL

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Saturday, April 13
Philadelphia 0 at Buffalo 1
Goals: Ehrhoff
Goalie: Enroth (29 saves/29 shots)
PP: 0/1; PK: 3/3; Shots: Philadelphia 29 – Buffalo 21

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 110)
Alexander Sulzer (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 23 games
Ville Leino (upper body, March 31) – 7 games
Tyler Myers (leg, April 13) – 1 game

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
4/11: Signed D Chad Ruhwedel to a two-year, entry-level contract.

UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Monday, April 22: Winnipeg at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Friday, April 26: NY Islanders at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TODAY’S GAME
LIGHTNING at SABRES
-This is the third and final meeting between the Sabres and Lightning this season.
-Last meeting: Tampa Bay defeated Buffalo, 2-1, in Tampa Bay on March 26.
-The Sabres are 4-6-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Lightning; 6-4-0 at home.
-This is the 77^th game all-time between Buffalo and Tampa Bay; Buffalo leads the series with a 48-23-5 record. They are 22-13-2 at home against the Lightning.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Today is Buffalo’s ninth afternoon game of the season. They are 3-4-1 in the first eight. The Sabres will play nine afternoon games this season, up from four in 2011-12.
• April is the Sabres’ best month since 2005-06; they have a 27-13-3 (.6663) April record in that span, including a 4-2-0 record so far this season.
• The Sabres have had 16 of their last 23 games decided by one goal. Buffalo is 8-3-5 in those 16 games and 11-8-6 in their 25 one-goal games this season.
• Brian Flynn has had a positive or even plus/minus rating in 19 of his 20 games this season. The Sabres are 9-7-4 in those games.

LEADING THE WAY AGAINST TAMPA BAY

• Four Sabres (Vanek, Hodgson, Foligno, Flynn) average at least a point per game against the Lightning in their careers.
• Ryan Miller is 19-8-0 all-time against TBL with a 2.66 GAA; Jhonas Enroth is 1-0-0 with a 2.00 GAA.
• Thomas Vanek leads all Sabres with 35 points (23+12) in 30 games against TBL

BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game wraps up Buffalo’s eighth of nine sets of back-to-back games this season after the team had a league-high 21 sets last season. They defeated the Philadelphia Flyers, 1-0, at home yesterday afternoon. The Sabres are 4-2-2 in the first game and 1-5-1 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 (2) and zero points (2).

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 .571 in games that fall in the final 20 of the season, .142 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 (3-1-0), Adam Pardy (7-3-1), Matt Ellis (3-2-1), Mark Pysyk (7-5-1), Brian Flynn (9-7-4) and Kevin Porter (11-9-5).

The only outlier is Ville Leino (4-2-3), who has the Sabres’ third-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 11-9-5 record with the Sabres.

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 4/13):

LOGGING BIG MINUTES
Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff has averaged 25:04TOI 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-TBL CONNECTIONS
BUF C Steve Ott and TBL RW B.J. Crombeen played together from 2007-2009 as members of the Dallas Stars.

BUF G Ryan Miller and TBL LW 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.

BUF C John Scott and TBL LW Benoit Pouliot played together for the Minnesota Wild from 2008-2010.

Four players in tonight’s game were drafted in the first round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft: BUF C Cody Hodgson, BUF C Tyler Ennis, BUF D Tyler Myers and TBL C Steven Stamkos. Stamkos was the first overall selection, Hodgson was picked 10th overall, Myers was the 12th overall selection and Ennis was the 26th overall pick.

BUF C Jochen Hecht and TBL D Eric Brewer played together for the Edmonton Oilers during the 2001-2002 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 2007-2008 World Junior championships. Sweden won the silver medal in the tournament, and Hedman was named one of the top two defensemen of the tournament.

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, and D Alex Sulzer during the 2011-2012 season.

BUF D Mark Pysyk and TBL RW Brett Connolly were both picked in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Connolly was taken 6th overall, and Pysyk was taken 23rd overall.

BUF LW Marcus Foligno and TBL RW Brett Connolly both played for Team Canada in the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championships, which took place in Buffalo, NY.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ott (176), Weber (106), Foligno (94)
Blocked Shots: Weber (83), Ehrhoff (74), Sekera (63)
Shots: Stafford (107), Hodgson (106), Ennis/Vanek (99)

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
41-48: 1-1-0 (2), 2/5, 0/3, 9/11

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 … 2 games … 300 career games played
Ryan Miller … 4 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
Chad Ruhwedel … 1st NHL game … 4/13 vs. PHI