Game Preview: 4/1/14 vs. New Jersey

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Saturday, March 29
Tampa Bay 4 at Buffalo 3 (OT)
Goals: D’Agostini, Hodgson, Conacher
Goalie: Hackett (29 saves/33 shots)
PP: 0/3; PK: 2/4; Shots: Tampa Bay 33 – Buffalo 28

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 238)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Chris Stewart (lower body, March 7) – 12 games
Alexander Sulzer (upper body, March 15) – 8 games
Michal Neuvirth (lower body, March 16) – 7 games
Jhonas Enroth (lower body, March 18) – 6 games
Zenon Konopka (back, March 25) – 3 games
Tyler Myers (undisclosed, March 27) – 2 games
Torrey Mitchell (undisclosed, March 27) – 2 games
Ville Leino (upper body, March 29) – 1 game

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
3/27: Recalled F Johan Larsson and D Rasmus Ristolainen from Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Thursday, April 3: Buffalo at St. Louis, 8 p.m.
Friday, April 4: Buffalo at Detroit, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 6: Buffalo at Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, April 8: Detroit at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Thursday, April 10: Buffalo at NY Rangers, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
DEVILS at SABRES

• This is the third and final meeting between the Sabres and Devils this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated New Jersey, 2-1, in Buffalo on Jan. 4
• The Sabres are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Devils; 5-4-1 at home.
• This is the 142^nd game all-time between Buffalo and New Jersey; Buffalo has a 72-45-24 series record.
• The Sabres are 39-22-10 at home against the Devils all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 15-5-3 all-time on April 1.
• April 1, 1973: TheSabres clinch their first-ever playoff spot with a 3-1 win vs. St. Louis on the last day of the season.
• April 1, 1984: Phil Housley picks up two assists to reach 77 points in a 4-2 win at Toronto.
• April 1, 1997: Rob Ray plays in his 500^th NHL game, becoming the 17^th player in franchise history to play 500 games as a member of the Sabres. Ray finished his Sabres career with 889 games played and now ranks fourth in franchise history.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Ted Nolan has been named the head coach of the Sabres and signed to a three-year extension, after serving as the club’s interim head coach since Nov. 13.
• The Sabres are looking for a fourth consecutive home win against the Devils for the first time since their four wins between Feb. 21, 2000 and Jan. 12, 2002.
• April is the Sabres’ best month since 2005-06; they have a 31-15-3 (.663) April record in that span, including an 8-4-0 (.667) record last season.

STEPPING IN AND STEPPING UP

• The Sabres have iced five different goaltenders this year (Enroth, Hackett, Lieuwen, Miller, Neuvirth), the most since 1995-96 (Biron, Blue, Hasek, Shields, Trefilov).
• Since the team traded Ryan Miller to the Blues, the Sabres’ goaltenders have combined to post a save percentage of .924, including a .935 save percentage at even strength.

A NEW LOOK

• Only nine Sabres players dressed for both the first game of the season and Saturday’s game vs. Tampa Bay: Ehrhoff, Ennis, Flynn, Girgensons, Hodgson, Ristolainen, Stafford, Tallinder, Weber
• With Matt Hackett’s Sabres debut on March 20 at Edmonton, 43 different players have played at least one game for the Sabres this season.
• According to Elias Sports Bureau, this ties the franchise record, set in the 1986-87 season and matched in 1991-92.

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 .648 (190 points in 293 games), putting him on a 53-point pace. He has 18 points (11+7) in 26 games so far in 2014 (.692 PTS/GP).

TRADE DEADLINE RECAP
A list of players and picks traded to and from the Sabres on March 5, sorted by position:

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-NJD CONNECTIONS
BUF D Henrik Tallinder spent three seasons with the Devils from 2010-2013. In 146 total games, he recorded 26 points (6+20).

NJD RW Steve Bernier played 17 games for the Sabres during the 2007-08 season. The Sabres acquired Bernier and a 2008 first-round draft pick from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Brian Campbell and a 2008 seventh-round draft pick on November 26, 2008. He totaled nine points (3+6) during his time in Buffalo.

NJD RW Dainius Zubrus played with the Sabres in 2006-07. He appeared in 19 games and notched eight points (4+4).

BUF RW Matt D’Agostini played 13 games for the Devils during the 2012-13 season, tallying four points (2+2).

BUF LW Marcus Foligno is the son of NJD AC Mike Foligno. The elder Foligno was also a member of the Sabres for the better part of 10 seasons from 1981-1991. During his career in Buffalo, he appeared in 664 games and registered 511 points (247+264). Foligno enjoyed the best season of his NHL career in 1985-86, when he set career-best marks in goals (41), assists (39) and points (80) as a member of the Sabres.

D’Agostini also played for NJD AC Dave Barr for Guelph (OHL) from 2004-2006 when Barr served as HC of the Storm.

D’Agostini was teammates with NJD RW Michael Ryder for the Montreal Canadiens during the 2007-08 season.

NJD C Stephen Gionta was born in Rochester, NY.

BUF AC Teppo Numminen played alongsideNJD C Tuomo Ruutu for Team Finland at the 2006 Olympics.

BUF D Jamie McBain and NJD D Anton Volchenkov share the same birthday. McBain was born on February 21, 1988, while Volchenkov was born six years earlier on February 21, 1982.

BUF D Christian Ehrhoff and Bernier played together from 2005-2008 as members of the San Jose Sharks. and then once again for the Vancouver Canucks during the 2009-10 season. NJD G Cory Schneider also spent time with the Canucks in 2009-10.

Ehrhoff and BUF D Alexander Sulzer were teammates with Schneider in Vancouver during the 2010-11 season.

Sulzer alsoplayed with Bernier and NJD LW Ryan Carter under current NJD HC Peter DeBoer for the Florida Panthers during the 2010-11 season.

BUF C Torrey Mitchell also played alongside Bernier for the San Jose Sharks during the 2007-08 season.

Ehrhoff and NJD LW Ryane Clowe played together for the San Jose Sharks from 2005-2009. Mitchell was also a member of the Sharks for two of those seasons (2007-09) and continued to play alongside Clowe with the club through the 2011-12 season.

BUF AC Joe Sacco and Zubrus both played for the Washington Capitals from 2000-2002. NJD RW Jaromir Jagr was also a member of the Capitals during the 2001-02 season.

Tallinder, BUF G Jhonas Enroth and NJD C Jacob Josefson were all born in Stockholm, Sweden.

BUF RW Drew Stafford and NJD D Peter Harrold both represented the United States at the 2009 World Hockey Championship.

Stafford (13^th overall), Schneider (26^th overall) and NJD C Travis Zajac (20^th overall) were all chosen in the first round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

Stafford and Schneider also both represented the United States at the 2005 World Junior Championship.

Stafford and Zajac played together at the University of North Dakota for two seasons from 2004-2006.

McBain and Carter were teammates with the Carolina Hurricanes during the 2010-11 season.

Scott and NJD D Marek Zidlicky both played for the Minnesota Wild from 2008-2010.

BUF G Michael Neuvirth played with NJD C Adam Henrique for the Windsor Spitfires during the 2007-08 season.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Shots: Ennis (182), Stafford (171), Hodgson (156)
Hits: Foligno (195), Weber (184), Girgensons (137)
Blocked Shots: Weber (127), Ehrhoff (104), McBain (94)

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: 2-8-0 (4), 14/27, 3/29, 34/41
71-80: 0-3-1 (1), 6/16, 0/10, 10/14

OVERTIME RESULTS (3-5; 97-98 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)
March 29 vs. Tampa Bay: L, 4-3 (GWG-Stamkos, 1:53)

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
Brian Flynn … 2 games … 100 career games played
Assists
Tyler Myers … 3 assists … 100 career assists
Tyler Ennis … 6 assists … 100 career assists
Points
Drew Stafford … 5 points … 300 career points
Jamie McBain … 10 points … 100 career points
Torrey Mitchell … 10 points … 100 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
N/A