GAME-DAY RESOURCES
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LAST GAME
Saturday, December 7
Buffalo 2 at Montreal 3
Goals: Ennis, Girgensons
Goalie: Enroth (16 saves/19 shots)
PP: 0/1; PK: 1/1; Shots: Buffalo 25 – Montreal 19
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 83)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Alexander Sulzer (upper body, Dec. 5; injured reserve) – 2 games
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
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.
Saturday, Dec. 21: Buffalo at Boston, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SENATORS at SABRES
- This is the second of five meetings between the Sabres and Senators this season.
- Last meeting: Ottawa defeated Buffalo, 1-0, in Buffalo on Oct. 4
- Next meeting: Thursday, Dec. 12 in Ottawa
- The Sabres are 3-4-3 in their last 10 games vs. the Senators; 4-3-3 at home
- This is the 118th game all-time between Buffalo and Ottawa; Buffalo has a 57-43-17 series record.
- The Sabres are 31-20-7 at home against the Senators all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 9-7-1 all-time on December 10.
- December 10, 1989: Dave Andreychuk records his 500th NHL point in a 4-3 win vs. Washington. Andreychuk, who ranks second in Sabres history with 804 points, is one of just nine Sabres player to notch 500 points with the team.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- The Sabres have gone 4-1-3 in their last eight home games against the Senators. They haven’t lost two straight home games in regulation to Ottawa since they lost three straight from Feb. 3, 2010 to Oct. 22, 2010.
- Drew Stafford leads all Sabres with 23 points (6+17) in 37 career games against the Senators.
- Mike Weber has three points (1+2) in his last three games against the Senators. Weber’s seven points (1+6) in 18 career games against the Senators are his highest total against any team.
HOME-AND-HOME
- The Sabres and the Senators will face off tonight before heading to Ottawa for the second half of a home-and-home series on Thursday.
- This home-and-home series will be the seventh between these two teams and the first since Feb.7 and Feb. 11, 2009.
- The Sabres are 4-2-0 in the home portion of their six previous home-and-home series with the Senators and 2-2-2 (one tie) in the road games.
- Buffalo has a record of 3-2-1 in the first game in the previous series and 3-2-1 in the second game.
- The Sabres’ points breakdown in the previous six home and home sets was: four points (1), three points (1), two points (3), one point (1) and zero points (0).
TRENDING UPWARD
The Sabres have improved their team 5-on-5 Corsi for Percentage* from 35.6% before Ted Nolan’s hiring to 47.4% in the 10 games under his guidance. The 11.8% improvement is larger than the amount (11.6%) that currently separates the third and 30th ranked teams in the NHL.
*Corsi for Percentage: The percentage of all shot attempts (shots on goal/missed shots/blocked shots) in 5-on-5 situations which are taken by the team. (Data via ExtraSkater.com)
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-OTT CONNECTIONS
OTT LW Clarke MacArthur played for the Sabres from 2006-2010. While with the team, MacArthur appeared in 187 games and recorded 79 points (41+38).
BUF D Tyler Myers, BUF C Cody Hodgson, BUF C Tyler Ennis and OTT D Erik Karlsson were all drafted in the first round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Myers was the 12th overall pick, Hodgson was chosen 10th overall, Karlsson was selected 15th overall and Ennis was drafted with the 26th overall pick.
Karlsson and BUF G Jhonas Enroth both represented Sweden at the 2012 World Hockey Championship.
OTT LW Cory Conacher played for Canisius College in Buffalo from 2007-2011.
BUF D Christian Ehrhoff played with OTT LW Milan Michalek on the San Jose Sharks from 2003-2009.
BUF C Cody Hodgson and OTT C Jason Spezza were both born in Toronto.
Spezza also played with BUF C Cody McCormick with the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League during the 2002-03 season.
BUF LW John Scott, Ennis and OTT LW Matt Kassian were all born in Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Scott and Kassian were teammates on the AHL’s Houston Aeros during the 2008-09 season.
Larsson and OTT G Robin Lehner played together as members of Team Sweden at the 2011 World Junior Championship held in Buffalo.
McCormick and OTT C Mika Zibanejad were both born on April 18. McCormick, born in 1983, is exactly 10 years older than Zibanejad, who was born in 1993.
Enroth and Zibanejad were born in the same city of Stockholm, Sweden.
OTT HC Paul MacLean was an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings when Sabres LW Ville Leino (2008-2010) played for the team.
MacLean also coached current Sabres AC Teppo Numminen when he was an assistant for the 1996-97 Phoenix Coyotes.
Ryan and BUF G Ryan Miller both represented the United States at the 2010 Olympics held in Vancouver.
McBain has been teammates with two current Senators players: Turris at the University of Wisconsin (2007-08) and D Joe Corvo with Carolina (2009-2011, 2012-13).
OTT G Craig Anderson, Corvo and BUF RW Drew Stafford both represented the United States at the 2006 World Hockey Championship. Anderson and Stafford suited up for the United States in 2008 as well.
BUF LW Marcus Foligno and OTT D Jared Cowen were both members of Team Canada at the 2011 World Junior Championship held in Buffalo. The Canadian squad was coached by current OTT AC Dave Cameron.
BUF C Luke Adam and OTT RW Chris Neil share the same birthday. Adam was born on June 18, 1990, while Neil was born 11 years earlier on June 18, 1979.
Adam and OTT LW Colin Greening were both born in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Adam (44th overall) and OTT D Patrick Wiercioch (42nd overall) were both chosen in the second round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.
BUF RW Matt D’Agostini and OTT RW Erik Condra were teammates for Riessersee SC (Germany) briefly during the 2012-13 season.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Ott (103), Foligno (78), Girgensons (58)
Blocked Shots: Ehrhoff (49), Myers/Weber (36), Pysyk (35)
Shots: Hodgson (72), Stafford (71), Moulson (62)
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: 2-7-1 (5), 15/28, 4/26, 20/28
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 … 9 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 … 5 points … 100 career points
