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LAST GAME
Thursday, December 5
NY Rangers 3 at Buffalo 1
Goals: Ennis
Goalie: Miller (28 saves/31 shots)
PP: 0/2; PK: 2/2; Shots: NY Rangers 31 – Buffalo 28
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 82)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Alexander Sulzer (upper body, Dec. 5; injured reserve) – 1 game
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
12/4: Assigned D Brayden McNabb to Rochester (AHL)
12/5: Recalled D Brayden McNabb from Rochester (AHL); Activated F Cody McCormick from IR; Placed D Alexander Sulzer on IR
UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, Dec. 10: Ottawa at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 12: Buffalo at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 14: Calgary at Buffalo, 2 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 17: Winnipeg at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 19: Boston at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at CANADIENS
- This is the second of four meetings between the Sabres and Canadiens this season.
- Last meeting: Montreal defeated Buffalo, 3-1, in Buffalo on November 27
- Next meeting: Saturday, March 16 in Buffalo
- The Sabres are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Canadiens; 7-3-0 on the road
- This is the 260th game all-time between Buffalo and Montreal; Buffalo has a 119-103-37 series record.
- The Sabres are 50-67-13 on the road against the Canadiens all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 5-10-4 all-time on December 7.
- December 7, 2002: The Sabres record the 1,200th win in franchise history on a game-winning goal from Adam Mair, as they defeat the Washington Capitals, 4-3, at home.
- December 7, 2010: Luke Adam scores his first NHL goal in a 3-2 overtime loss at Boston.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- The Sabres have gone 11-3-1 in their last 15 games against the Canadiens.
- Drew Stafford leads all Sabres with 15 points (4+11) in 38 career games against the Canadiens
- The Sabres are 7-1-0 in their last eight games at Montreal and 10-3-0 in their last 13. Each of those 10 Sabres wins were by a margin of two goals or fewer.
- Matt Moulson leads all Sabres with seven goals in 16 games against Montreal.
- The Sabres have more wins against the Canadiens (119) than any other franchise; they have 117 against the Bruins.
STOPPING THE HABS
Both of Buffalo’s goaltenders have had success against the Canadiens in their careers. Ryan Miller is 25-11-6 against Montreal, with a .922 save percentage and a 2.35 goals against average. The 25 wins are topped only by his 30 wins against Toronto. Jhonas Enroth is 3-0-0 in five appearances against the Canadiens, with almost identical numbers: a .922 save percentage and a 2.34goals against average.
LEINO THRIVING UNDER NOLAN
Ville Leino has averaged 17:33 of ice time in the nine games since Ted Nolan took over as interim head coach, tallying four assists and 11 shots on goal. In his eight games played prior to Nolan’s arrival, Leino averaged 12:02 TOI per game with one assist and one shot. Leino’s Corsi for Percentage* (CF%) has also improved from 38.8% in his first eight games of the season to 49.8% in his last nine.
*Corsi for Percentage: The percentage of all shot attempts (shots on goal/missed shots/blocked shots) which are taken by the player’s team with that player on the ice in 5-on-5 situations. (Data via ExtraSkater.com)
TRENDING UPWARD
The Sabres have improved their team 5-on-5 Corsi for Percentage from 35.6% before Ted Nolan’s hiring to 46.7% in the eight games under his guidance. The 11.1% improvement is larger than the amount (10.6%) that currently separates the third and 29th ranked teams in the NHL.
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.
BUF-MTL CONNECTIONS
MTL RW Daniel Briere played with the Sabres for four seasons (2002-03 – 2006-07). Briere was the team’s top point scorer in 2003-04 (65) and 2006-07 (95). He tied Jochen Hecht for most assists (37) in 2003-04 and led the team in assists (63) in 2006-07. During his four seasons with Buffalo, Briere played in 225 games, amassing 230 points (92+138).
BUF RW Matt D’Agostini spent four seasons as a member of the Canadiens organization between Montreal and Hamilton (AHL). Drafted by the Canadiens in the sixth round (190th overall) of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, D’Agostini contributed 25 points (14+11) over 94 games with the club.
BUF AC Teppo Numminen was teammates with Briere for six seasons on the Phoenix Coyotes from 1997-2003 before being dealt to the Sabres during the 2002-03 season.
BUF LW Ville Leino played with Briere for the Philadelphia Flyers from 2009-2011.
BUF G Ryan Miller and MTL RW Brian Gionta were both members of Team USA at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Torino.
Gionta is a native of Rochester, NY.
Gionta and MTL C Lars Eller both played for the St. Louis Blues during the 2009-10 season.
BUF C Cody Hodgson, BUF D Tyler Myers, BUF C Tyler Ennis and MTL D P.K. Subban all represented Canada at the 2009 World Junior Championship.
Hodgson and Subban were both born in Toronto, Ontario.
Ennis, BUF LW John Scott and MTL RW Brendan Gallagher were all born in Edmonton, Alberta.
Scott and Prust both played for the New York Rangers in 2011-12.
BUF AC Joe Sacco coached MTL G Peter Budaj for the Colorado Avalanche for two seasons from 2009-2011.
BUF C Cody McCormick was also teammates with Budaj for the Avalanche from 2005-2009.
McCormick and MTL RW George Parros also played together briefly with Colorado during the 2006-07 season.
McCormick and MTL LW Brandon Prust were both born in London, Ontario.
BUF D Christian Ehrhoff was teammates with three current Montreal players as a member of the San Jose Sharks: Douglas Murray (2005-2009), LW Travis Moen (2008-09) and D Josh Gorges (2005-2007).
BUF D Henrik Tallinder and Murray both represented Sweden at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
BUF D Jamie McBain and MTL D Davis Drewiske played together at the University of Wisconsin from 2006-2008.
BUF LW Matt Moulson played with Drewiske for the Los Angeles Kings and Manchester Monarchs (AHL) from 2007-2009.
BUF C Mikhail Grigorenko (12th overall), BUF C Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and MTL C Alex Galchenyuk (3rd overall) were all first-round selections in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
BUF RW Drew Stafford and Galchenyuk were both born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
BUF C Steve Ott and MTL C Tomas Plekanec were teammates with the Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) during the 2004-05 season.
BUF D Mark Pysyk (23rd overall) was selected one pick after MTL D Jared Tinordi (22nd overall) in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft
BUF D Alexander Sulzer played with MTL D Francis Bouillon for the Nashville Predators from 2009-2011.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ott (101), Foligno (73), Girgensons/Myers/Weber (52)
Blocked Shots: Ehrhoff (49), Myers (36), Pysyk (35)
Shots: Hodgson (70), Stafford (69), Moulson (61)
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
21-30: 2-6-1 (5), 13/25, 4/25, 19/27
OVERTIME RESULTS (1-2; 95-95 all-time)
October 10 vs. Tampa Bay: L, 3-2 (GWG-Killorn, 1:50)
November 29 vs. Toronto: W, 3-2 (GWG-Ehrhoff, 0:38)
November 30 at New Jersey: L, 1-0 (GWG-Bernier, 4:19)
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)
Games Played
John Scott … 5 games … 200 career games played
Mike Weber … 10 games … 200 career games played
Goals
Steve Ott … 3 goals … 100 career goals
Assists
Tyler Myers … 10 assists … 100 career assists
Points
Matt D’Agostini … 4 points … 100 career points
Cody Hodgson … 6 points … 100 career points
