Game Preview: 11/15/13 vs. Toronto

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Tuesday, November 12
Los Angeles 2 at Buffalo 3 (SO)
Goals: Hodgson (2); GDG-Moulson
Goalie: Miller (43 saves/45 shots)
PP: 1/2; PK: 5/5; Shots: Los Angeles 45 – Buffalo 17

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 75)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Mike Weber (upper body; Oct. 26; injured reserve) – 8 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
11/13: Assigned F Joel Armia to Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Saturday, Nov. 16: Buffalo at Toronto, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 19: St. Louis at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 21: Buffalo at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 24: Detroit at Buffalo, 5 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 27: Montreal at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
MAPLE LEAFS at SABRES

• This is the first of five meetings between the Sabres and Maple Leafs this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Toronto, 5-4 (SO), in Buffalo on March 21
• The Sabres are 5-4-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Maple Leafs; 8-1-1 at home.
• This is the 189^th game all-time between Buffalo and Toronto; Buffalo leads the series with a 104-61-23 record.
• The Sabres are 62-25-8 at home against the Maple Leafs all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 7-7-4 all-time on November 15.
• November 15, 1987: Doug Smith scores the 5,000^th goal in franchise history, helping the Sabres to a 5-4 win over the Maple Leafs at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
• November 15, 1995: The Sabres retire the numbers of Rick Martin (#7) and Rene Robert (#14) in a pre-game ceremony, as they join their French Connection linemate Gilbert Perreault as the second and third Sabres players honored with a banner in the rafters. Pat LaFontaine capped the night by scoring the game-winning goal to lead the Sabres to a 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• The Sabres are 11-1-1 in their last 13 home games against the Maple Leafs. Toronto hasn’t won consecutive games in Buffalo since March 21 and Dec. 12, 2008. Their last regulation win in Buffalo was a 2-1 win on Feb. 16, 2011.
• Drew Stafford leads all Sabres with 27 points (12+15) in 36 career games against the Maple Leafs.
• Ryan Miller is 29-15-1 all-time against Toronto with a 2.48 GAA and a .920 SV%; Miller has more wins (29) and shutouts (4) against the Maple Leafs than any other team.
• Jhonas Enroth picked up a win in his only appearance against the Maple Leafs, stopping 23 of 25 Toronto shots in a 3-2 shootout win on Nov. 6, 2010.

HOME-AND-HOME

• The Sabres and the Leafs will face off tonight before heading to Toronto for the second half of a home-and-home series tomorrow night.
• Buffalo has not lost the home portion of a home-and-home series with Toronto since the first such series (a 4-2 loss on Dec. 20, 1970).
• The Sabres are 9-1-2 (two ties) all-time in the home portion of their 12 previous home-and-home series with the Maple Leafs and 2-9-1 in the road games.
• Six of the previous 12 home-and-home sets between the Sabres and Maple Leafs took place on consecutive nights.
• Buffalo’s points breakdown in those 12 home and home sets were: four points (2), three points (0), two points (8), one point (1) and zero points (1).

MEET THE NEW BOSS
After being named interim head coach of the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 13, Ted Nolan began the 20th head coaching tenure in Sabres history. He joins Scotty Bowman as the second head coach to reprise his role with the Sabres in the franchise’s 43-year history after logging a 73-72-19 record in 1995-96 and 1997-98 with the Sabres. For a complete Ted Nolan bio, visit http://www.sabresdigitalpressbox.com/tednolan.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD
Pat LaFontaine was appointed president of hockey operations for the Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 13. In this role, he will work with Sabres assistant general manager Kevin Devine on day-to-day hockey operations while also conducting the search for the Sabres’ next general manager.

As a player, LaFontaine enjoyed an illustrious 15-year NHL career, including six seasons with the Sabres, before retiring from the league in 1998 as the second highest-scoring American-born player in NHL history with 468 goals and 1,013 points in 865 games. Today, he ranks sixth among all Americans in goals and ninth in points, and his 1.17 points-per-game average ranks 11th among the 79 1,000-point scorers in NHL history. For a complete Pat LaFontaine bio, visit http://www.sabresdigitalpressbox.com/patlafontaine.

SABRES COACHING HISTORY
The Sabres have an all-time record of 9-6-1 in the first game with a new head coach:

MAKING HIS MARK

• Matt Moulson has 16 points (7+9) in his last 13 games.
• Entering Thursday night’s games, Moulson’s six multi-point games this season tie for third in the league, trailing only Corey Perry (8) and Kyle Okposo (7). He recorded four of these in his seven games with the Sabres.
• Entering Thursday’s games, Moulson is tied with Bobby Ryan and John Tavares for ninth among active NHL players with 120 goals since the beginning of the 2009-10 season.

STAYING CLEAN
Brian Flynn has played 46 regular-season NHL games without taking a penalty. According to Elias Sports Bureau, it is the longest such streak to start a career since Mason Raymond played his first 47 games without taking a penalty in 2007-08 as a member of the Vancouver Canucks.

BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game opens up Buffalo’s fifth of 13 sets of back-to-back games this season. The Sabres are 1-3-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 1-3-0 in the second game this season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to-back sets this season is: four points (0), three points (0), two points (2), one point (0) and zero points (2).

YOUTH MOVEMENT
With teenage rookies Zemgus Girgensons, Mikhail Grigorenko, Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov on the roster, the Sabres have become the first NHL team since 1995-96 to dress four teenagers during the course of a season. That year, the Sabres (Jay McKee, Martin Biron, Wayne Primeau, Vaclav Varada, Curtis Brown) joined Florida (4) and Winnipeg (6) as the last teams to dress at least four teenagers in a season.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, the Sabres have become the first team to dress four teenagers in a single game since March 30, 1996, when Winnipeg dressed four 19-year-olds (Shane Doan, Chad Kilger, Deron Quint and Oleg Tverdovsky) in a 5-2 loss to Detroit. The only time the Sabres have ever dressed four teenagers simultaneously was in the 1982-83 season, when forwards Dave Andreychuk and Paul Cyr and defensemen Phil Housley and Hannu Virta all played in 21 games together.

WELCOME TO BUFFALO
The Sabres have six players on their roster who scored on their first shot with the team: Moulson (10/28/13 vs. DAL), Zadorov (10/23/13 vs. BOS), Girgensons (10/2/13 at DET), McBain (10/8/13 vs. TBL), Ott (1/20/13 vs. PHI), Leino (10/7/11 vs. ANA).

BUF-TOR CONNECTIONS
BUF LW Marcus Foligno and TOR RW Carter Ashton both played for Team Canada at the 2011 World Junior Championship held in Buffalo.

BUF D Tyler Myers and TOR RW Troy Bodie were teammates for the Kelowna Rockets (WHL) during the 2005-06 season.

Myers (12^th overall), BUF C Cody Hodgson (10^th overall), BUF C Tyler Ennis (26^th overall) and TOR D Jake Gardiner (17^th overall) were all chosen in the first round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

BUF D Jamie McBain also played with Bodie for the Carolina Hurricanes in 2010-11.

BUF LW Matt Moulson (263^rd overall) and Bodie (278^th overall) were both selected in the 9^th round of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

McBain and Gardiner both played at the University of Wisconsin during the 2008-09 season.

Moulson and TOR G Jonathan Bernier played together for the Los Angeles Kings and Manchester Monarchs (AHL) for two seasons (2007-2009)

BUF LW John Scott was teammates with TOR C Dave Bolland for two seasons (2010-2012).

Scott, Ennis and TOR D Dion Phaneuf were all born in Edmonton, Alberta.

BUF D Henrik Tallinder was teammates with TOR RW David Clarkson (2010-2013) and TOR D Mark Fraser (2010-11) for the New Jersey Devils.

BUF C Cody McCormick was teammates with Clarkson on the Belleville Bulls (OHL) for parts of two seasons (2001-2003).

McCormick and TOR C Nazem Kadri were both born in London, Ontario.

Hodgson and Clarkson are both natives of Toronto.

Ennis, BUF LW Ville Leino and Kadri all share the same birthday. Ennis was born on October 6, 1989, Kadri on the same day in 1990 and Leino on October 6, 1983.

BUF G Ryan Miller played with TOR RW Phil Kessel on the 2010 US Olympic Team.

Leino and Van Riemsdyk were teammates with the Philadelphia Flyers from 2009-2011.

BUF RW Drew Stafford and Kessel both represented the United States at the 2006 and 2008 World Hockey Championships.

McBain (63^rd overall), BUF G Jhonas Enroth (46^th overall), BUF D Mike Weber (57^th overall) and TOR LW Nikolai Kulemin (44^th overall) were all drafted in the second round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

BUF C Steve Ott and TOR C Jay McClement both played for Team Canada in the 2002 World Junior Championship.

Ott and TOR LW Mason Raymond both represented Canada at the 2010 World Hockey Championship.

BUF D Christian Ehrhoff played with Raymond for the Vancouver Canucks for two seasons (2009-2011).

BUF C Mikhail Grigorenko (12^th overall), BUF C Zemgus Girgensons (14^th overall) and TOR D Morgan Rielly (5^th overall) were all selected in the first round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ott (71), Foligno (52), Girgensons (40)
Blocked Shots: Ehrhoff (33), Weber (24), Pysyk (23)
Shots: Stafford/Hodgson (48), Moulson (42), Ott/Ennis/Ehrhoff (34)

SABRES’ RECORD IN 10-GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 1-8-1 (3), 13/28, 3/35, 27/32
11-20: 3-7-0 (6), 23/35, 5/24, 29/37

OVERTIME RESULTS (0-1; 94-94 all-time)
October 10 vs. Tampa Bay: L, 3-2 (GWG-Killorn, 1:50)

SHOOTOUT RESULTS (3-0; 53-41 all-time)
October 17 at NY Islanders: W, 4-3 (GDG-Ennis)
November 5 at San Jose: W, 5-4 (GDG-Hodgson)
November 12 vs. Los Angeles: W, 3-2 (GDG-Moulson)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Goals
Steve Ott … 4 goals … 100 career goals
Points
Cody Hodgson … 8 points … 100 career points