Game Preview: 4/22/13 vs. WPG

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Friday, April 19
NY Rangers 8 at Buffalo 4
Goals: Hodgson, Gerbe, Stafford, Pysyk
Goalie: Miller (10 saves/14 shots); Enroth (11 saves/15 shots) – L
PP: 2/4; PK: 1/1; Shots: NY Rangers 29 – Buffalo 28

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 119)
Alexander Sulzer (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 26 games
Ville Leino (upper body, March 31) – 10 games
Tyler Myers (leg, April 13) – 4 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
4/16: Recalled F Mikhail Grigorenko from Quebec (QMJHL).

REMAINING GAMES
Tuesday, April 23: Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, April 26: NY Islanders at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
JETS at SABRES
-This is the third and final meeting between the Sabres and Jets this season.
-Last meeting: Winnipeg defeated Buffalo, 4-1, in Winnipeg on April 9.
-The Sabres are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Jets; 5-2-3 at home.
-This is the 51^st game all-time between Buffalo and Winnipeg/Atlanta; Buffalo has a 21-18-11 series record.
-The Sabres are 14-7-4 all-time at home against Winnipeg/Atlanta.

 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• April is the Sabres’ best month since 2005-06; they have a 29-14-3 (.663) April record in that span, including a 6-3-0 (.667) record so far this season.
• The Sabres have had 17 of their last 26 games decided by one goal. Buffalo is 9-3-5 in those 17 games and 12-8-6 in their 26 one-goal games this season.
• Brian Flynn has had a positive or even plus/minus rating in 20 of his 23 games this season. The Sabres are 10-6-4 in those 20 games.
• The Sabres have been held to one goal in their last five games against the Jets. In the five games against the franchise prior to those, the Sabres scored a total of 21 goals.
• Buffalo has lost the last five matchups with Winnipeg. The Sabres have lost six consecutive games to the Winnipeg/Atlanta franchise once (Feb. 1, 2008 to Oct. 17, 2009).

LATE-SEASON SUCCESS
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 .588 in games that fall in the final 20 of the season, .159 better than their performance in the 28 games leading up to that point.

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 both goals and points:

LOGGING BIG MINUTES
Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff has averaged 25:05 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-WPG CONNECTIONS
The Sabres took WPG RW Chris Thorburn in the second round (50th overall) of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. He played two career games with the Sabres, totaling one assist and seven penalty minutes.

WPG C Olli Jokinen was a member of the Calgary Flames from 2009-2012. He played with BUF D Adam Pardy from 2009-2011 during his stint with Calgary.

BUF C Cody Hodgson, BUF C Tyler Ennis, BUF D Tyler Myers and WPG LW Evander Kane all played together for the 2009 Canadian World Junior team. The team won the gold medal and Hodgson was the leading scorer in the tournament with 16 points (5+11).

WPG LW Andrew Ladd, WPG RW Blake Wheeler and BUF RW Drew Stafford were all taken in the first round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Ladd was taken 4th overall by Carolina, Wheeler was taken 5th overall by Phoenix and Stafford was taken 13th overall by Buffalo.

BUF D Mike Weber and WPG C Bryan Little played together for the Barrie Colts during the 2006-07 season.

BUF G Ryan Miller played with WPG C Jim Slater during the 2001-02 season for the Michigan State Spartans.

BUF D Christian Ehrhoff played with WPG C Kyle Wellwood for the Vancouver Canucks in 2009-10.

WPG C Kyle Wellwood played with BUF C Steve Ott for the Windsor Spitfires of the OHL during the 2001-02 season.

BUF LW Nathan Gerbe played with WPG RW Blake Wheeler on the 2006 United States World Junior team. The United States finished fourth in the tournament.

BUF D Tyler Myers, BUF C Tyler Ennis, BUF C Cody Hodgson and WPG D Zach Bogosian were all taken in the first round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Bogosian was taken 3rd overall by Atlanta, Hodgson was selected 10th overall by Vancouver, Myers was taken 12th overall and Ennis was taken 26th overall.

WPG D Ron Hainsey and BUF C Steve Ott were both taken in the first round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. Hainsey was selected 13th overall by Montreal and Ott was taken 25th overall by Dallas.

BUF LW Thomas Vanek and WPG D Mark Stuart were both selected in the first round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. Vanek was taken 5th overall by Buffalo and Stuart was taken 21st overall by Boston.

WPG D Mark Stuart and BUF RW Drew Stafford both played for the United States in the 2004 World Junior Championship, hosted by Finland. The United States won the gold medal in the tournament, and Stafford and Stuart each finished with two assists in six games.

BUF C Cody Hodgson and WPG C Nik Antropov share a birth date. Antropov was born on Feb. 18, 1980, and Hodgson was born exactly 10 years later, on Feb. 18, 1990.

WPG C Kyle Wellwood and BUF C Mikhail Grigorenko share a birth date. Wellwood was born on May 16, 1983, and Grigorenko was born 11 years later, on May 16, 1994.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ott (181), Weber (114), Foligno (103)
Blocked Shots: Weber (88), Ehrhoff (77), Sekera (67)
Shots: Stafford (115), Hodgson (109), Vanek (106)

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: 3-2-0 (6), 12/16, 5/16, 13/15

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 (6-4; 49-41 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)
April 17 at Boston: W, 3-2 (GDG-Drew Stafford)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Ryan Miller … 2 games … 500 career games played
Adam Pardy … 3 games … 200 career games played
Goals
Thomas Vanek … 1 goal … 248 career goals (sole posession, 6^th in franchise history)
Steve Ott … 7 goals … 100 career goals

RECENT MILESTONES
Patrick Kaleta … 300 career games played … 4/17 at BOS
Mark Pysyk … 1^st NHL goal … 4/19 vs. NYR