GAME-DAY RESOURCES
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LAST GAME
Sunday, April 14
Tampa Bay 1 at Buffalo 4
Goals: Ennis, Hecht, Porter
Goalie: Enroth (32 saves/33 shots)
PP: 1/3; PK: 1/1; Shots: Tampa Bay 33 – Buffalo 22
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 113)
Alexander Sulzer (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 24 games
Ville Leino (upper body, March 31) – 8 games
Tyler Myers (leg, April 13) – 2 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
4/11: Signed D Chad Ruhwedel to a two-year, entry-level contract.
4/16: Recalled F Mikhail Grigorenko from Quebec (QMJHL).
REMAINING GAMES
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.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at BRUINS
-This is the fifth and final meeting between the Sabres and Bruins this season.
-Last meeting: Boston defeated Buffalo, 2-0, in Buffalo on March 31.
-The Sabres are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Bruins; 5-3-2 at home.
-This is the 268th game all-time between Buffalo and Boston; Buffalo has a 116-111-40 series record; Buffalo is 71-43-21 all-time against the Bruins at home.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
April 17, 1980: Gilbert Perreault assisted on four goals, setting the franchise record for most assists in a playoff game, in a 6-4 win vs. Chicago. The record, which has been matched twice, still stands today.
April 17, 1999: In the only other regular-season game on this date in franchise history, the Sabres lost a road game to the Bruins in overtime by a score of 2-1.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- April is the Sabres’ best month since 2005-06; they have a 28-13-3 (.670) April record in that span, including a 5-2-0 (.714) record so far this season.
- The Sabres have had 16 of their last 24 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 20 of his 21 games this season. The Sabres are 10-7-4 in those games.
- Three Sabres topped their career highs in ice time in Buffalo’s last game: Kevin Porter (18:56), Bryan Flynn (18:32) and Mark Pysyk (18:30).
KALETA REACHES 300
Tonight is Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta’s 300th NHL game. Kaleta becomes the fifth active Sabres player to play 300 games with the franchise, joining Jochen Hecht, Thomas Vanek, Drew Stafford and Andrej Sekera.In 299 career games entering tonight, Kaleta has recorded 51 points (27+24) and 501 penalty minutes.
NORTHEAST DIVISION
The Sabres have an 8-7-2 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. With tonight’s matchup being the last divisional game of the season for the Sabres, they are guaranteed to keep this streak intact regardless of the result of tonight’s game.
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 .600 in games that fall in the final 20 of the season, .171 better than their performance in the 28 games leading up to that point.
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Final 20 Games
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Before last 20
|
Change
|
|||||
|
W
|
L
|
OTL
|
PTS
|
PTS%
|
PTS%
|
PTS%
|
|
|
2009-10
|
12
|
7
|
1
|
25
|
.625
|
.605
|
+.020
|
|
2010-11
|
13
|
4
|
3
|
29
|
.725
|
.540
|
+.185
|
|
2011-12
|
12
|
5
|
3
|
27
|
.675
|
.500
|
+.175
|
|
Total
|
37
|
16
|
7
|
81
|
.675
|
.549
|
+.126
|
|
2012-13
|
8
|
5
|
2
|
18
|
.600
|
.429
|
+.171
|
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 4/16):
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Player
|
Team
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GP
|
G
|
A
|
P
|
|
Cody Hodgson
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BUF
|
43
|
13
|
17
|
30
|
|
Slava Voynov
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LAK
|
42
|
5
|
18
|
23
|
|
Brayden Schenn
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PHI
|
41
|
7
|
16
|
23
|
|
Cody Eakin
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DAL
|
42
|
6
|
14
|
20
|
|
Carl Hagelin
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NYR
|
41
|
9
|
11
|
20
|
LOGGING BIG MINUTES
Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff has averaged 25:05TOI 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 16th 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 Nathan Gerbe and BOS C Patrice Bergeron and share a birth date. Bergeron was born on July 25, 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 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.
BOS LW Daniel Paille was 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, scoring 35 goals and 42 assists for 77 points. He played 153 games for the Rochester Americans, where he also scored 35 goals and had 42 assists for 77 points.
BUF D Andrej Sekera and BOS D Zdeno Chara played together for Slovakia in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
BUF D Christian Ehrhoff played with BOS D Dennis Seidenberg 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.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ott (177), Weber (108), Foligno (96)
Blocked Shots: Weber (85), Ehrhoff (75), Sekera (64)
Shots: Stafford (109), Hodgson (106), Ennis (101)
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: 2-1-0 (4), 5/6, 1/6, 10/12
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 … 1 game … 300 career games played
Ryan Miller … 4 games … 500 career games played
Goals
Thomas Vanek … 1 goal … 247 career goals (ties Mike Foligno, 6th in franchise history)
Steve Ott … 7 goals … 100 career goals
RECENT MILESTONES
Chad Ruhwedel … 1st NHL game … 4/13 vs. PHI
