Game Preview: 2/28/14 vs. San Jose Sharks

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Wednesday, February 26
Boston 3 at Buffalo 4 (OT)
Goals: Girgenons, Myers, Moulson, D’Agostini
Goalie: Enroth (29 saves/33 shots)
PP: 1/5; PK: 2/4; Shots: Boston 33 – Buffalo 26

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 172)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Zenon Konopka (finger, Feb. 25) – 2 games
Tyler Ennis (undisclosed, Feb. 26) – 1 game

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
2/25: Activated F Matt Moulson and F Cody McCormick from IR

UPCOMING GAMES
Monday, March 3: Buffalo at Dallas, 8 p.m.
Thursday, March 6: Buffalo at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 7: Buffalo at Florida, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 9: Chicago at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 11: Nashville at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SHARKS at SABRES

• This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Sharks this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated San Jose, 5-4 (SO), in San Jose on Nov. 5
• The Sabres are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Sharks; 9-1-0 at home.
• This is the 31^st game all-time between Buffalo and San Jose; Buffalo has an 19-6-5 series record.
• The Sabres are 14-1-0 at home against the Sharks all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 8-4-2 all-time on February 28.
• February 28, 1971: Steve Atkinson scores three goals against the Minnesota North Stars in a 5-2 win at the Aud. Atkinson, Ron Anderson and Gilbert Perreault all scored in a span of 1:15 in the third period.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Drew Stafford has recorded 11 points (6+5) in his last nine games, making it his most prolific nine-game stretch since 2011-12.
• Matt  Moulson enters tonight’s game on a four-game point streak (1+4). He also has four points (1+3) in his last four games against San Jose.
• Christian Ehrhoff has eight points (3+5) in his last eight games.
• Tyler Ennis has seven points (2+5) in his last seven games.

SABRES-SHARKS NOTES

• The Sabres are currently on a franchise-best five-game winning streak against the Sharks. The previous record was four straight wins, set the first four times the teams faced off (Oct. 25, 1991 to Oct. 23, 1992).
• These teams are facing off twice this season for the first time since 2010-11. San Jose will visit Buffalo for the first time since Dec. 9, 2010 (6-3 Buffalo win).
• The Sharks have only won one game in Buffalo in the franchise’s history (Dec. 2, 2005). The Sabres have won both home games since then.
• Ryan Miller is 7-1-1 against the Sharks in his career with a .932 save percentage and a 2.17 goals against average.

CARDIAC KIDS
Christian Ehrhoff scored the game-winning goal for the Sabres with 44 seconds left in regulation on Tuesday vs. CAR. On Wednesday, Matt Moulson scored with 53 seconds left on the clock to tie the game, 4-4, before Matt D’Agostini scored in overtime to dispatch the Bruins. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this marks the second time in franchise history that the Sabres have won consecutive games when scoring the tying or tiebreaking goal in the final minute of regulation (other: Nov. 17 and Nov. 20, 1976). The Sabres are the only team to accomplish that feat in 2013-14.

HAPPY DREW YEAR

• Drew Stafford’s career point rate from October through December is .486 (105 points in 216 games), putting him on a 40-point pace for an 82-game season. His rate from January through April is .658 (183 points in 278 games), putting him on a 54-point pace. So far this season, he is at a point-per-game pace in 2014.
• In his career, Stafford has recorded 51 points (24+27) in 72 games during the month of February (.708 PTS/GP), his highest point-scoring rate of any month of the season.

OLYMPIC RECAP

• As members of Team Sweden, Henrik Tallinder and Jhonas Enroth each earned a silver medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
• Ryan Miller won his sole start for the United States, a 5-1 win over Slovenia. With the win, Miller improved to 6-1 in seven Olympic games with a .945 save percentage and a 1.30 goals against average. His six wins for the United States rank him second in the nation’s Olympic history behind Jack McCartan (7).
• Ted Nolan led Latvia to the nation’s first ever quarterfinal Olympic game (a 2-1 loss to Canada) after a 3-1 win over Switzerland in the qualification round. The team’s eighth-place finish in Sochi was the best in the nation’s five Olympic Games appearances.
• Zemgus Girgensons (Latvia) registered two points (1+1) in the tournament, scoring his first Olympic goal on the power play in a 5-3 qualifying-round loss to Sweden.

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.

BUF-SJS CONNECTIONS
BUF D Christian Ehrhoff was drafted by the Sharks in the fourth round of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft (106^th overall) and played with the club for parts of five seasons. Ehrhoff appeared in 341 games for the Sharks and recorded 132 points (25+107).

SJS LW Raffi Torres spent part of the 2009-10 season with the Sabres, appearing in 14 games and registering five points (0+5).

BUF interim HC Ted Nolan coached SJS D Jason Demers for the Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) during the 2005-06 season.

SJS RW Adam Burish played with BUF C Steve Ott for the Dallas Stars from 2010-2012.

Ott (25^th overall) and Torres (5^th overall) were both selected in the first round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. The two also both represented Canada at the 2001 World Junior Championship.

Torres played with Ehrhoff for the Vancouver Canucks during the 2010-11 season.

SJS D Scott Hannan was teammates with BUF C Cody McCormick with the Colorado Avalanche from 2007-2009.

BUF LW John Scott played with SJS LW James Sheppard (2008-2010) and SJS RW Marty Havlat (2009-10) for the Minnesota Wild.

BUF C Zemgus Girgensons (14^th overall) and SJS C Tomas Hertl (17^th overall) were both first-round selections in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

SJS G Antti Niemi and BUF D Jamie McBain both played for Pelicans Lahti (SM-liiga) during the 2012-13 NHL work stoppage.

BUF G Ryan Miller and SJS C Joe Pavelski were teammates for Team USA at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics.

SJS D Brad Stuart and BUF LW Ville Leino played together for the Detroit Red Wings from 2008-2010.

McCormick and SJS C Joe Thornton were both born in London, Ontario.

Torres and BUF C Cody Hodgson are both natives of Toronto, Ontario

SJS C Tomas Hertl (17^th overall) and BUF C Zemgus Girgensons (14^th overall) first-round selections in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

BUF RW Matt D’Agostini and SJS RW Tyler Kennedy were both born in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Shots: Ennis (143), Moulson (130), Stafford (129)
Hits: Ott (194), Foligno (154), Weber (149)
Blocked Shots: Weber (96), Ehrhoff (80), Myers (74)

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: 3-5-1 (7), 21/34, 6/34, 26/34

OVERTIME RESULTS (3-4; 97-97 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)
January 28 vs. Washington: L, 5-4 (GWG-Green, 1:00)
February 26 vs. Boston: W, 5-4 (GWG-D’Agostini, 0:22)

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
Drew Stafford … 6 games … 500 career games played
Matt Ellis … 6 games … 300 career games played
Assists
Tyler Myers … 6 assists … 100 career assists
Tyler Ennis … 9 assists … 100 career assists

RECENT MILESTONES
N/A