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LAST GAME
Sunday, December 29
Washington 1 at Buffalo 2 (SO)
Goals: Stafford; GDG-Ott
Goalie: Miller (49 saves/50 shots)
PP: 0/0; PK: 2/2; Shots: Washington 50 – Buffalo 17
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 105)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (upper body, Dec. 17; injured reserve) – 6 games
Cody Hodgson (upper body, Dec. 21) – 4 games
Kevin Porter (lower body, Dec. 23; injured reserve) – 3 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
N/A
UPCOMING GAMES
Thursday, Jan. 2: Buffalo at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 4: New Jersey at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 7: Carolina at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 9: Florida at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 12: Buffalo at Washington, 3 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at JETS
- This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Jets this season.
- Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Winnipeg, 4-2, in Buffalo on Dec. 17
- The Sabres are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Jets; 2-4-4 on the road
- This is the 53rd game all-time between Buffalo and Winnipeg/Atlanta; Buffalo has a 22-19-11 series record.
- The Sabres are 7-11-7 on the road against the Jets/Thrashers all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 13-9-5 all-time on December 31.
- December 31, 1987: The Sabres trade Paul Cyr and a 10th-round draft pick in 1988 (Eric Fenton) to the New York Rangers for Mike Donnelly and a fifth-round pick in 1988 (Alexander Mogilny).
- December 31, 1993: Alexander Mogilny appears in his 300th NHL game and Dominik Hasek stops 39 of 40 shots as the Sabres defeat the Rangers, 4-1, at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
- December 31, 1997: Michael Peca scores two shorthanded goals in a 3-0 win over Ottawa. Peca still shares the franchise record for most shorthanded goals scored in one game by a single player with Alexei Zhitnik, Bob Sweeney and Don Luce.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- The Sabres are looking for their first win in the city of Winnipeg since Feb. 10, 1993.
- With a win tonight, the Sabres will have won consecutive matchups with the Jets/Thrashers for the first time since they won three in a row from Feb. 23 to Nov. 8, 2011.
- If he is in the lineup, tonight will be Mike Weber’s 200th NHL game.
- Matt Moulson leads all Sabres with 18 points (11+7) in 16 career games against the Jets/Thrashers, including eight points (5+3) in his last seven.
- Despite a 0-1-1 record, Jhonas Enroth has been strong in his two career starts against the Jets, logging a .950 save percentage and a 2.00 goals against average.
- Ryan Miller has gone 5-2-1 in December with a .948 save percentage and a 1.82 goals against average. Miller was named the NHL’s second star for the week ending Dec. 29 after posting a 2-0-1 record with a 1.55 goals against average and .961 save percentage.
AULD LANG SYNE
The Sabres have played 27 games on New Year’s Eve in franchise history, going 13-9-5 in those games. However, before tonight, only the first four of these 27 games were on the road
- 1971: 3-3 tie at Pittsburgh
- 1972: 4-2 loss at Chicago
- 1973: 6-5 win at Detroit
- 1977: 2-2 tie at New York Rangers
TRENDING UPWARD
- In the 19 games since Ted Nolan was hired, the Sabres have taken 46.4% of all shots in their games (a minus-4.4 differential per game), up from 40.2% (a minus-12 differential per game) in the 20 games before his hiring.
- Four Sabres have a positive on-ice shot differential with the team this season: Ennis (53.4%), Moulson (51.9%), D’Agostini (51.9%), Leino (50.9%)
- The team has improved its team 5-on-5 Corsi for Percentage* from 35.6% before Ted Nolan’s hiring to 46.8% in the 19 games under his guidance. The 11.2% improvement is a significant mark, larger than the amount (11.1%) 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-WPG CONNECTIONS
WPG D Adam Pardy played 17 games for the Sabres during the 2012-13 season, recording four points (0+4) and a plus-4 rating. He was acquired along with BUF C Steve Ott from the Dallas Stars in exchange for Derek Roy on July 2, 2012.
The Sabres selected 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.
BUF RW Matt D’Agostini and Thorburn were both born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
BUF C Cody Hodgson, C Tyler Ennis, D Tyler Myers and WPG LW Evander Kane all won gold medals with the 2009 Canadian World Junior Championship team.
Ott and Kane both represented Canada at the 2010 World Hockey Championship.
WPG LW Andrew Ladd, RW Blake Wheeler, WPG G Al Montoya 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, Montoya was selected 4th overall by the NY Rangers and Stafford was taken 13th overall by Buffalo.
BUF AC Joe Sacco coached Ladd for the Lowell Lock Monsters (AHL) during the 2005-06 season.
BUF C Mikhail Grigorenko (12th overall), BUF C Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and WPG D Jacob Trouba (9th overall) were all first-round selections in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
BUF D Mike Weber and WPG C Bryan Little played together for the Barrie Colts during the 2006-07 season.
Ennis, BUF LW John Scott and Little were all born in Edmonton, Alberta.
Scott and WPG LW Michael Frolik both played for the Chicago Blackhawks from 2010-2012.
BUF G Ryan Miller played with WPG C Jim Slater during the 2001-02 season for the Michigan State Spartans.
Myers, Ennis, 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.
Hodgson and WPG RW Matt Halischuk were both born in Toronto, Ontario.
BUF LW Linus Omark (97th overall) and Halischuk (117th overall) were both selected in the fourth round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft.
Stafford, WPG D Mark Stuart and Montoya all won gold medals with Team USA in the 2004 World Junior Championship. Montoya and Stafford were also teammates for the United States at the 2009 World Hockey Championship.
BUF LW Matt Moulson and Montoya were teammates with the New York Islanders for two seasons from 2010-2012.
BUF C Kevin Porter played with Montoya at the University of Michigan during the 2004-05 season and also for the San Antonio Rampage (AHL) from 2007-10. The two also played together for the Phoenix Coyotes during the 2008-09 season, along with WPG C Olli Jokinen.
Stafford was teammates with both Stuart (2008) and Bogosian (2009) for the United States at the World Hockey Championship.
BUF D Henrik Tallinder and WPG D Tobias Enstrom were teammates for Sweden at the 2010 Olympics held in Vancouver.
BUF AC Teppo Numminen played with Jokinen for Team Finland at the 2002 and 2006 Olympics.
BUF C Cody McCormick and WPG RW Anthony Peluso share the same birthday. McCormick was born April 18, 1983, while Peluso was born six years later on April 18, 1989.
Moulson and Peluso were both born in North York, Ontario.
BUF D Christian Ehrhoff and WPG RW Devin Setoguchi played together for the San Jose Sharks for two seasons from 2007-2009.
BUF D Alexander Sulzer played with Frolik and WPG D Keaton Ellerby for the Florida Panthers during the 2010-11 season.
Sulzer played with WPG RW Matt Halischuk for the Nashville Predators during the 2010-11 season.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Shots: Stafford (93), Moulson (92), Ennis (83)
Hits: Ott (130), Foligno (92), Girgensons/Weber (78)
Blocked Shots: Ehrhoff (60), Myers (55), Weber (52)
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
31-40: 5-2-2 (12), 20/19, 3/32, 24/26
OVERTIME RESULTS (2-3; 96-96 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)
December 14 vs. Calgary: L, 2-1 (GWG-Stajan, 0:42)
December 23 vs. Phoenix: W, 2-1 (GWG-Pysyk, 3:47)
SHOOTOUT RESULTS (5-1; 55-42 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)
December 10 vs. Ottawa: W, 2-1 (GDG-Girgensons)
December 27 at Toronto: L, 4-3 (GDG-Lupul)
December 29 vs. Washington: W, 2-1 (GDG-Ott)
MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Mike Weber … 1 game … 200 career games played
Marcus Foligno … 4 games … 100 career games played
Tyler Myers … 5 games … 300 career games played
Goals
Steve Ott … 1 goal … 100 career goals
Assists
Tyler Myers … 8 assists … 100 career assists
Points
Matt D’Agostini … 3 points … 100 career points
Cody Hodgson … 4 points … 100 career points
Christian Ehrhoff … 6 points … 300 career points
RECENT MILESTONES
Games Played
John Scott … 200th career game … Dec. 27 at TOR
