Game Preview: 3/5/14 at Tampa Bay Lightning

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Monday, March 3
Buffalo 2 at Dallas 3
Goals: Ennis (2)
Goalie: Enroth (36 saves/39 shots)
PP: 0/1; PK: 5/6; Shots: Dallas 39 – Buffalo 23

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 173)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
N/A

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
2/28: Acquired G Jaroslav Halak, F Chris Stewart, F William Carrier, a first-round pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft and another conditional draft pick from St. Louis in exchange for G Ryan Miller and F Steve Ott
3/5: Claimed F Cory Conacher off waivers from Ottawa
3/5: Acquired F Nicolas Deslauriers and F Hudson Fasching from Los Angeles in exchange for D Brayden McNabb, F Jonathan Parker, a second-round pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft and a second-round pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.
3/5: Acquired G Michal Neuvirth and D Rostislav Klesla from Washington in exchange for G Jaroslav Halak and a third-round pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.
3/5: Acquired F Torrey Mitchell, a second-round pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft and a second-round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft from Minnesota in exchange for F Matt Moulson and F Cody McCormick.

UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Thursday, March 13: Buffalo at Carolina, 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 15: Buffalo at NY Islanders, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at LIGHTNING

• This is the third of four meetings between the Sabres and Lightning this season.
• Next meeting: Saturday, March 29 in Buffalo
• Last meeting: Tampa Bay defeated Buffalo, 3-2, in Tampa Bay on Oct. 26
• The Sabres are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Lightning; 5-5-0 on the road.
• This is the 80^th game all-time between Buffalo and Tampa Bay; Buffalo has a 49-24-6 series record.
• The Sabres are 26-11-3 on the road against the Lightning all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 14-4-5 all-time on March 6.
• March 6, 1982: Fred Hunt and Tim Horton become the fourth and fifth members to be inducted into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame.
• March 6, 1988: Phil Housley registers a goal and an assist, including his 400^th NHL point, as the Sabres shut out the Bruins, 3-0, at the Aud.
• March 6, 1989: The Sabres trade Calle Johansson and a second-round draft choice in 1989 (Byron Dafoe) to Washington for Clint Malarchuk, Grant Ledyard and a sixth-round draft choice in 1991 (Brian Holzinger).

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Buffalo will look to avoid losing three consecutive road games to the Lightning for the first time in franchise history.
• Cody Hodgson has seven points (2+5) in seven career games against the Lightning
• Jhonas Enroth is 2-0-1 in his career against Tampa Bay with a .935 SV% and a 1.98 GAA.
• Drew Stafford has recorded 12 points (6+6) in his last 11 games.
• Christian Ehrhoff has nine points (3+6) in his last 10 games. Ehrhoff hasn’t gone three games without recording a point since November.
• Tyler Ennis has nine points (4+5) in his last eight games and 17 points (8+9) in his last 18 games.

TOPPING TAMPA

• In the last eight seasons, the Sabres have scored seven or more goals in a single game against the Lightning six times. Including this season, Buffalo has compiled a record of 22-10-1 (.682) against Tampa Bay in that stretch.
• Buffalo’s franchise record of 49-24-6 (.619) against Tampa Bay is the team’s best all-time record against any Eastern Conference opponent. The team’s record against San Jose (20-10-1, .661) is the only better all-time series record.
• The Sabres’ 26-11-3 (.688) record at Tampa Bay is the team’s best road record against any Eastern Conference opponent. The Sabres’ only better road records are their records at Minnesota (5-2-0) and at Nashville (6-2-0). Their next best road record against an Eastern Conference opponent is their 40-23-10 (.616) mark at Washington.

SUNSHINE SUCCESS
The Sabres have swept nine of their previous 31 Florida/Tampa Bay road trips in franchise history. In the other 21 sets, the Sabres earned: three points (3), two points (13), one point (2) and zero points (4). This gives them record of 34-23-5 (.589) in previous trips. They continue this trip tomorrow night at FLA.

TRADE DEADLINE RECAP
A list of players and picks traded to and from the Sabres yesterday, sorted by position:

 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 .657 (184 points in 280 games), putting him on a 54-point pace. He has 12 points (6+6) in 13 games so far in 2014 (.923 PTS/GP).

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-TBL CONNECTIONS
BUF C Zenon Konopka played for the Lightning for parts of two seasons from 2008-10.  He contributed six points (2+4) over a total of 81 games while skating for the club.

BUF LW Cory Conacher played for the Lightning during the 2012-13 season, contributing 24 points (9+15) over a total of 35 games.

BUF RW Matt D’Agostini and TBL RW B.J Crombeen were teammates for the St. Louis Blues from 2009-11.  TBL G Ben Bishop was also a member of the club during the 2010-11 season.

D’Agostini and TBL C Tom Pyatt both played for the Montreal Canadiens during the 2009-10 season.

D’Agostini and TBL D Eric Brewer were teammates for the St. Louis Blues during the 2009-10 season.  The two, along with Halak, BUF RW Chris Stewart and TBL G Ben Bishop were all members of the Blues during the 2010-11 season.

NYR RW Ryan Callahan played for the Buffalo Lightning (OPJHL) during the 2001-02 season.

BUF RW Drew Stafford and Callahan both represented the United States in the 2005 World Junior Championships.

D’Agostini and Callahan played together for the Guelph Storm (OHL) for two seasons (2004-2006).

The Sabres and Lightning combine to feature a total of four players who were drafted in the first round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft: BUF C Cody Hodgson, BUF C Tyler Ennis, BUF D Tyler Myers and TBL C Steven Stamkos. Stamkos was the first overall selection, Hodgson was picked 10^th overall, Myers was the 12^th overall selection and Ennis was the 26^th overall pick.

TBL D Matt Carle and BUF D Christian Ehrhoff played together for the San Jose Sharks from 2005-2008. Carle also played with BUF LW Ville Leino for the Philadelphia Flyers from 2009-2011.

TBL D Sami Salo played with Ehrhoff (2009-2011) and Hodgson (2010-2012) for the Vancouver Canucks.

TBL C Valtteri Filppula and Leino were teammates for three seasons with the Detroit Red Wings (2008-2010).

BUF G Jhonas Enroth and TBL D Victor Hedman played together for Sweden in the 2008 World Junior Championship. Sweden won the silver medal in the tournament.

BUF AC Jerry Forton coached TBL C Alex Killorn at Harvard University during the 2011-12 season, when Forton served as an AC for the Crimson.

Konopka played alongside Bishop for the Ottawa Senators during the 2011-12 season.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Shots: Ennis (148), Stafford (135), Ehrhoff (129)
Hits: Foligno (162), Weber (152), Girgensons (134)
Blocked Shots: Weber (102), Ehrhoff (86), Myers (76)

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: 4-5-1 (9), 25/36, 7/36, 28/36
61-70: 0-1-0 (0), 2/3, 0/1, 5/6

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 … 4 games … 500 career games played
Matt Ellis … 4 games … 300 career games played
Assists
Tyler Myers … 4 assists … 100 career assists
Tyler Ennis … 9 assists … 100 career assists
Points
Torrey Mitchell … 10 points … 100 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
N/A