Game Preview: 1/28/14 vs. Washington Capitals

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Monday, January 27
Buffalo 0 at Pittsburgh 3
Goals: N/A
Goalie: Miller (31 saves/33 shots); 1 ENG
PP: 0/3; PK: 1/1; Shots: Pittsburgh 34 – Buffalo 24

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 152)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (upper body, Dec. 17; injured reserve) – 18 games
Matt D’Agostini (upper body, Jan. 18; injured reserve) – 5 games
Drew Stafford (upper body, Jan. 27) – 1 game

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
1/21: Activated D Henrik Tallinder from IR; Placed F Matt D’Agostini on IR
1/22: Recalled F Phil Varone from Rochester (AHL); Activated F Kevin Porter from IR; Assigned Porter and D Brayden McNabb to Rochester
1/24: Recalled D Chad Ruhwedel from Rochester (AHL); Assigned D Mark Pysyk to Rochester

UPCOMING GAMES
Thursday, Jan. 30: Buffalo at Phoenix, 9 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 1: Buffalo at Colorado, 3 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 3: Edmonton at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 5: Pittsburgh at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 6: Buffalo at Ottawa, 7:30 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
CAPITALS at SABRES

• This is the third and final meeting between the Sabres and Capitals this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Washington, 2-1 (SO), in Washington on January 12
• The Sabres are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Capitals; 6-3-1 on the road.
• This is the 146^th game all-time between Buffalo and Washington; Buffalo leads the series with an 85-43-17 record.
• The Sabres are 45-20-7 at home against the Capitals all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 3-6-4 all-time on January 28.
• January 28, 1983: The Sabres get goals from six different players as they defeat the Blackhawks, 6-2, at home.
• January 28, 2000: Martin Biron turns aside 21 shots and James Patrick scores the game-winner as the Sabres pick up the win in the 20^th 1-0 game in franchise history vs. Ottawa.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• The last three games played between these teams were decided in a shootout, including two 2-1 Sabres victories this season. Prior to this streak, the teams had never had three consecutive games against each other tied after regulation.
• With a win or overtime loss tonight, the Sabres would have points in at least five straight home games against the Capitals for the first time since March 31, 1991 to Jan. 27, 1994 (5-0-1).
• Tyler Ennis has eight points (2+6) in his last six games against the Capitals.
• Christian Ehrhoff has recorded a point in each of his last three games against the Capitals (1+2).
• Cody Hodgson has tallied points (4+4) in six of eight games since returning from an upper-body injury that sidelined him for eight games.

BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game wraps up Buffalo’s eighth of 13 sets of back-to-back games this season after a 3-0 loss last night in Pittsburgh. The Sabres are 3-5-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 1-4-2 in the second game this season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to-back sets this season is: four points (0), three points (1), two points (3), one point (1) and zero points (2).

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.

BUF-WSH CONNECTIONS
BUF G Jhonas Enroth played with WSH C Nicklas Backstrom on the 2006-07 Swedish World Junior Championship team.

BUF D Henrik Tallinder and Backstrom both represented Sweden at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

Tallinder and WSH D John Carlson share the same birthday. Tallinder was born January 10, 1979, while Carlson was born on January 10, 1990.

BUF LW John Scott was a teammate of WSH RW Troy Brouwer when the two played for the Chicago Blackhawks in 2010-11.

Scott and WSH RW Joel Ward played together for the Houston Aeros (AHL) from 2006-2008.

BUF LW Matt Moulson and Ward were both born in North York, Ontario.

Moulson and WSH D Jack Hillen were teammates with the New York Islanders for two seasons (2009-2011).

BUF C Zenon Konopka played alongside Hillen for the New York Islanders during the 2010-11 season.

BUF D Tyler Myers, BUF LW Tyler Ennis, BUF C Cody Hodgson and WSH D John Carlson were all first-round draft picks in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. Myers was picked 12^th overall, Ennis was the 26^th overall selection, Hodgson was the 10^th overall selection and Carlson was picked with the 27^th overall selection.

Ennis, Scott and WSH LW Jason Chimera were all born in Edmonton.

Hodgson and WSH LW Aaron Volpatti played together for the Vancouver Canucks from 2010-2012. BUF D Christian Ehrhoff was also a member of the club during the 2010-11 season.

Hodgson and WSH RW Tom Wilson were both born in Toronto, Ontario.

BUF C Zemgus Girgensons (14^th overall) and Wilson (16^th overall) were both chosen in the first round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

BUF C Steve Ott and WSH D John Erskine were teammates for four seasons (2002-03–2005-06) when they both played for the Dallas Stars. BUF AC Teppo Numminen was also on the Stars for the 2003-04 season.

Ennis, BUF LW Ville Leino and C Marcus Johansson were all born on Oct. 6. Leino, born in 1983, is six years older than Ennis, who was born in 1989. Johansson, born in 1990, is the youngest of the three.

BUF G Jhonas Enroth, BUF D Mike Weber, BUF D Jamie McBain and WSH G Michal Neuvirth were all drafted in the second round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft. Neuvirth was selected 34^th overall, Enroth was drafted with the 46^th overall pick, Weber was picked 57^th overall and McBain went 63^rd overall.

Weber and Neuvirth both played for the Windsor Spitfires (OHL) during the 2006-07 season.

BUF RW Drew Stafford (13^th overall), WSH LW Alexander Ovechkin (1^st overall) and WSH D Mike Green (29^th overall) were all selected in the first round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

BUF RW Matt D’Agostini played with WSH C Mikhail Grabovski for the Montreal Canadiens during the 2007-08 season and also for the Hamilton Bulldogs from 2006-2008.

BUF D Alexander Sulzer was teammates with Volpatti for the Vancouver Canucks during the 2011-12 season.

Sulzer played with WSH RW Martin Erat and Ward for the Nashville Predators from 2008-2011.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Shots: Moulson (119), Ennis/Stafford (118), Hodgson (98)
Hits: Ott (170), Foligno (129), Weber (123)
Blocked Shots: Weber (79), Ehrhoff (73), Myers (69)

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: 3-4-3 (9), 26/31, 7/36, 28/32
51-60: 0-1-0 (0), 0/3, 0/3, 1/1

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 (6-4; 56-45 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)
January 18 vs. Columbus: L, 4-3 (GDG-Johansen)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Matt D’Agostini … 5 games … 300 career games played
Assists
Tyler Myers … 7 assists … 100 career assists

RECENT MILESTONES
Steve Ott … 100^th career goal … Jan. 21 vs. FLA
Phil Varone … 1^st career game … Jan. 23 vs. CAR
Phil Varone … 1^st career point (assist) … Jan. 23 vs. CAR
Christian Ehrhoff … 300^th career point … Jan. 25 at CBJ