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LAST GAME
Wednesday, January 15
Buffalo 3 at Toronto 4 (SO)
Goals: Ellis, Moulson, Hodgson
Goalie: Miller (36 saves/39 shots)
PP: 1/2; PK: 2/2; Shots: Toronto 39 – Buffalo 30
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 138)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (upper body, Dec. 17; injured reserve) – 13 games
Kevin Porter (lower body, Dec. 23; injured reserve) – 11 games
Henrik Tallinder (upper body, Dec. 31; injured reserve) – 7 games
Marcus Foligno (upper body, Jan. 15) – 1 game
Matt D’Agostini (upper body) – 0 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
1/15: Activated F Drew Stafford from IR
UPCOMING GAMES
Tuesday, Jan. 21: Florida at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 23: Carolina at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 25: Buffalo at Columbus, 7 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 27: Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday Jan. 28: Washington at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
BLUE JACKETS at SABRES
- This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and Blue Jackets this season.
- Last meeting: Columbus defeated Buffalo, 4-1, in Buffalo on Oct. 10
- The Sabres are 4-6-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Blue Jackets; 4-5-0 in nine home games.
- This is the 16th game all-time between Buffalo and Columbus; Buffalo has a 5-9-1 series record.
- The Sabres are 4-5-0 at home against the Blue Jackets all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 11-2-3 all-time on January 18.
- January 18, 2008: Two Sabres score a hat trick in the same game for the 12th time in franchise history as Drew Stafford records his first career hat trick and Derek Roy records his third in a 10-1 win vs. Atlanta.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- These teams have only gone to overtime once in their 15-game history, a 2-2 tie on Dec. 29, 2001 in Columbus.
- Matt D’Agostini left Wednesday’s game at Toronto with an upper body injury.
- Tyler Myers returned from a three-game suspension on Wednesday and recorded an assist in 26:02 of ice time, his second-highest total TOI of the season.
- If he is the lineup, tonight will be Myers’ 300th NHL game.
- Steve Ott has totaled eight points (3+5) in his last 10 games against the Blue Jackets.
- Linus Omark has six points (2+4) in five career games against the Blue Jackets.
- Ryan Miller earned his first NHL victory against the Blue Jackets in a 5-4 win at home on Nov. 22, 2002.
GOING STREAKING
- Cody Hodgson is on a three-game point streak (2+2) since returning from an upper-body injury that sidelined him for eight games. Hodgson has six points (2+4) in his last seven games, dating back to Dec. 7 at Montreal.
- Tyler Ennis also enters tonight’s game on a three-game point streak (2+1). He has four points (2+2) in his last five games.
- Christian Ehrhoff has an assist in each of his last three games.
CLOSE GAMES
The Sabres enter tonight’s game having played five straight one-goal games. The team has also played five straight one-goal games at home, going 3-1-1 in those games. The Sabres haven’t had six consecutive one-goal home games in a season since Nov. 21 to Dec. 14, 1990 (1-3-2, two ties). They also played six in a row between two seasons, from April 4 to Oct. 10, 2001 (3-3-0).
IT’S MILLER TIME
Ryan Miller has posted a .927 save percentage so far this season, ranking him sixth in the NHL. In 2009-10 – his best season in terms of save percentage – Miller ranked second in the league with a .929 SV% and won the Vezina Trophy. In his last 11 games, Miller is 7-2-2 with a save percentage of .948 and a goals against average of 1.75
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
On Jan. 9, the Sabres hired Tim Murray to serve as the seventh general manager in franchise history. Murray, a 20-year veteran of NHL front offices, comes to the Sabres after most recently serving as the assistant general manager for the Ottawa Senators, a post he held for seven years. Part of his duties as assistant general manager included serving as general manager of Ottawa’s American Hockey League affiliate, the 2011 Calder-Cup champion Binghamton Senators.
The Sabres also hired Craig Patrick as a special assistant and advisor to the hockey department. Patrick, whose career as a hockey executive spans more than three decades, comes to the Sabres after having served as a senior advisor in the Columbus Blue Jackets’ front office since December 2011.
PLAYING FOR THEIR COUNTRIES
- The following Sabres will represent their countries at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia: Ryan Miller (USA), Jhonas Enroth (Sweden), Henrik Tallinder (Sweden), Girgensons (Latvia)
- Interim head coach Ted Nolan will serve as the head coach of Team Latvia.
- Sabres 2013 first-round picks Rasmus Ristolainen and Nikita Zadorov were both named to the media All-Star Team at the 2014 IIHF World Junior Championship in Malmö, Sweden, joining Mike Moller (1982), Brian Campbell (1999) and Jake McCabe (2013) as the only players ever to earn this honor while in the Sabres’ system.
- Ristolainen, who scored the golden goal in the gold-medal game, also received the Directorate Award as the tournament’s best defenseman, joining Maxim Afinogenov (1999) as the only other Sabres player to earn a Directorate Award.
- Mikhail Grigorenko also found success at the tournament, leading bronze-medal winners Russia in scoring with eight points (5+3) in seven games.
BUF-CBJ CONNECTIONS
CBJ RW Corey Tropp played parts of two seasons with the Sabres in the 2011-12 and 2013-14 seasons. Initially drafted by Buffalo in the third round (89th overall) of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, Tropp tallied nine points (3+6) over 43 games with the team. He was claimed off waivers by the Blue Jackets on Nov. 28, 2013 after registering one assist in nine games for the Sabres earlier this season.
CBJ HC Todd Richards coached BUF D Christian Ehrhoff on the 2008-09 San Jose Sharks squad.
BUF C Zenon Konopka spent parts of two seasons playing for the Blue Jackets from 2006-2008, appearing in a total of nine games.
CBJ C Artem Anisimov, BUF G Jhonas Enroth, BUF D Mike Weber and BUF D Jamie McBain were all drafted in the second round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. Enroth was selected 46th overall, Anisimov was chosen 54th, Weber were picked 57th and McBain was the 63rd pick.
CBJ LW RJ Umberger and Weber were both born in Pittsburgh.
CBJ C Brandon Dubinsky and BUF RW Drew Stafford both represented the United States at the 2008 World Hockey Championship.
CBJ LW Nick Foligno was born in Buffalo and is the older brother of BUF LW Marcus Foligno.
Marcus Foligno and CBJ D David Savard were both chosen in the fourth round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Savard went 94th overall, while Foligno was selected 10 picks later, at 104th overall.
CBJ RW Marian Gaborik and BUF LW John Scott were teammates with the Minnesota Wild during the 2008-09 season. The two were reunited as members of the New York Rangers in 2011-12.
CBJ C Ryan Johansen and Marcus Foligno played together for Team Canada at the 2011 World Junior Championship, held in Buffalo.
Johansen and BUF D Mark Pysyk were both first round selections in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Johansen was chosen fourth overall and Pysyk was taken with the 23rd overall pick.
BUF G Ryan Miller (138th overall) and CBJ C Derek MacKenzie (128th overall) were both chosen in the fifth round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.
MacKenzie and BUF C Steve Ott both represented Canada at the 2001 World Junior Championship.
CBJ D Jack Johnson and BUF G Ryan Miller both represented the United States at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.
Johnson and McBain both represented the United States at the 2007 World Junior Championship.
Nick Foligno, Johnson and Stafford were teammates for the United States at the 2009 World Hockey Championship.
Stafford and Johnson also played together at Shattuck-St. Mary’s during the 2002-03 season.
CBJ G Sergei Bobrovsky and BUF LW Ville Leino played together as members of the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2010-11 season.
BUF C Cody McCormick and CBJ G Curtis McElhinney were both born in London, Ontario.
BUF LW Matt Moulson played with CBJ LW Blake Comeau for the New York Islanders for three season (2009-12). CBJ D James Wisniewski and Konopka were also members of the club during the 2010-11 season.
Moulson was also teammates with Johnson for the Los Angeles Kings for parts of two seasons (2007-2009).
BUF RW Matt D’Agostini and CBJ D Nikita Nikitin both played for the St. Louis Blues from 2010-2012.
BUF C Kevin Porter has played with three current members of the Blue Jackets squad: Johnson (University of Michigan, 2005-2007 & USNTDP 2003-04), Foligno (USNTDP, 2003-04) and Jack Skille (USNTDP, 2003-04).
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Shots: Moulson (109), Ennis (101), Stafford (99)
Hits: Ott (151), Weber (106), Foligno (105)
Blocked Shots: Ehrhoff/Weber (67), Myers (61), Pysyk (53)
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: 5-3-2 (12), 20/22, 3/36, 27/29
41-50: 2-2-2 (6), 12/16, 4/22, 19/22
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 (6-3; 56-44 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)
January 9 vs. Florida: L, 2-1 (GDG-Boyes)
January 12 at Washington: W, 2-1 (GDG-Hodgson)
January 15 at Toronto: L, 4-3 (GDG-Lupul)
MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Tyler Myers … 1 game … 300 career games played
Matt D’Agostini … 5 games … 300 career games played
Goals
Steve Ott … 1 goal … 100 career goals
Assists
Tyler Myers … 7 assists … 100 career assists
Points
Christian Ehrhoff … 2 points … 300 career points
RECENT MILESTONES
Matt D’Agostini … 100th career point … Jan. 14 vs. PHI
Cody Hodgson … 100th career points … Jan. 15 at TOR
