Game Preview: 10/18/14 vs. BOS

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Friday, October 17
Florida 1 at Buffalo 0
Goals: Bergenheim
Goalie: Enroth (34 saves/35 shots)
PP: 0/5; PK: 5/5; Shots: Florida 35 – Buffalo 26

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 20)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hackett (lower body, Oct. 9; injured reserve) – 5 games
Patrick Kaleta (upper body, Oct. 9; injured reserve) – 5 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
10/16: Assigned D Jake McCabe and D Mark Pysyk to Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Wednesday, Oct. 22: Buffalo at Anaheim, 10:30 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 23: Buffalo at Los Angeles, 10:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 25: Buffalo at San Jose, 4 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 28: Buffalo at Toronto, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 30: Boston at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
BRUINS at SABRES

• This is the first of four meetings between the Sabres and Bruins this season.
• Next meeting: Thursday, Oct. 30 in Buffalo
• The Sabres are 5-5-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Bruins; 6-3-1 at home.
• This is the 274^th game all-time between Buffalo and Boston; Buffalo has a 119-114-40 series record.
• The Sabres are 73-44-21 at home against the Bruins all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 10-4-3 all-time on October 18.
• October 18, 1970: Gerry Meehan scores the first Sabres goal at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium at 5:48 of the second period against Pittsburgh. The Sabres and Penguins combine for 90 penalty minutes in a 1-1 tie, the first in Sabres history. The Sabres would account for 58 minutes, while Reg Fleming alone picked up 39 penalty minutes in the game.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Entering tonight, Buffalo has won two straight home games against Boston for the first time since 2011-12. With a win tonight, the Sabres will have beaten the Bruins in Buffalo three times in a row for the first time since they won four straight from March 30, 2008 to April 11, 2009.
• The Bruins and Sabres have had 11 games decided in shootout (Sabres are 5-6), tying for the Sabres’ highest mark against any opponent (Ottawa, 7-4 and New Jersey, 7-4).
• Brian Flynn recorded a goal and an assist in each of his last two home games against the Bruins.
• Marcus Foligno recorded five points (1+4) in five games against the Bruins last season.
• Brian Gionta (13+12 in 46 GP) and Drew Stafford (12+13 in 42 GP) tie to lead the Sabres with 25 career points against the Bruins.

BACK AND FORTH
Neither of these teams has won consecutive games against the other since the 2011-12 season, when Boston won the first and last two matchups, with Buffalo winning games three and four. They have traded wins in the 10 games in the last two seasons. The Sabres will look to continue the pattern with a win tonight.

EXPANDED ROLE FOR MYERS
Tyler Myers has led all Sabres skaters in ice time in each of the team’s five games and ranks 10^th in the league with an average of 26:28 per game. His 29:25 last Tuesday at CAR was his highest total since his career-high 31:05 on Jan. 14, 2012 at NYI. Myers last led the Sabres in ice time in a season in his rookie season of 2009-10, when he averaged 23:44 per game.

BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game wraps up Buffalo’s second of 18 sets of back-to-back games this season, which began with a 1-0 loss vs. FLA last night. The Sabres are 0-2-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 1-0-0 in the second game. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to- back sets is: four points (0), three points (0), two points (1), one point (0) and zero points (0).

A NEW LOOK
Only 10 of the 20 Sabres players who dressed for the first game of the 2013-14 season appeared on the team’s 2014-15 opening day roster. Only six players on this year’s opening day roster suited up for the team in the season-opener two years ago: Tyler Ennis, Jhonas Enroth, Marcus Foligno, Cody Hodgson, Tyler Myers and Drew Stafford

A FRESH FACE
With his debut on Thursday vs. CBJ, Sam Reinhart became the seventh 18-year-old ever to dress for the Sabres and the fourth to do so on opening day. The Sabres have now had an 18-year-old in the opening day lineup each of the last three years (2013-14: Rasmus Ristolainen; 2012-13: Mikhail Grigorenko).

YOUNGEST SABRES DEBUTS

FEARLESS LEADERS

• Brian Gionta has been selected to wear the captain’s “C” for the Sabres in 2014-15, becoming the 19^th full-season captain in franchise history (excludes rotating captaincies in 2003-04 and 2007-08).
• Gionta, who spent the last four seasons as captain of the Montreal Canadiens, will be the 27th player to wear the captain’s “C” for at least a one-month period.
• Josh Gorges and Matt Moulson were named the team’s alternate captains.

2014-15 ROSTER NOTES
Of the 23 players on Buffalo’s opening night roster:

• 10 were originally drafted by the Sabres — seven were first-round Buffalo selections (Stafford, 2004; Myers and Ennis, 2008; Girgensons, 2012; Ristolainen and Zadorov, 2013; Reinhart, 2014), two were second-round picks (Enroth and Weber, 2006) and one was a fourth-round pick (Foligno, 2009)
• Six were acquired in trades: Deslauriers, Gorges, Hodgson, Mitchell, Neuvirth, Stewart
• Seven were signed as free agents: Benoit, Flynn, Gionta, Meszaros, McCormick, Moulson, Strachan
• 17 played in Buffalo at some point last season
• Six are new to the Sabres this season: Benoit, Gionta, Gorges, Meszaros, Reinhart, Strachan
• Three are opening the season on an NHL roster for the first time in their careers: Deslauriers, Reinhart, Zadorov

BUF-BOS CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:         

• Daniel Paille was a part of the Sabres’ organization from 2002-2009. He was selected in the first round (20^th overall) by the Sabres in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft. He played 195 games for the Sabres, recording 77 points (35+42). He played 153 games for the Rochester Americans, where he also recorded 77 points (35+42).
• Joe Sacco served as an assistant coach for the Sabres during the 2013-14 season.

Ted Nolan:

• Coached Brad Marchand for the Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) during the 2005-06 season.

Andre Benoit:          

• Played with Chris Kelly for the Ottawa Senators during the 2010-11 season.
• He and Gregory Campbell were teammates for the Kitchener Rangers during the 2002-03 season.

Jhonas Enroth:          

• Played with Loui Eriksson for Team Sweden at the 2014 Olympics as well as the 2011 and 2012 World Hockey Championships.

Marcus Foligno:

• Played with Dougie Hamilton for Team Canada at the 2011 World Junior Championship held in Buffalo.

Josh Gorges:

• Played with Patrice Bergeron for Team Canada at the 2004 World Junior Championship.

Andrej Meszaros:

• Played for the Bruins during the 2013-14 season, recording five points (2+3) over 14 games before adding a pair of assists in four playoff appearances.
• Played alongside Zdeno Chara for the Ottawa Senators during the 2005-06 season.
• Played with Chris Kelly for the Ottawa Senators from 2005-2008.  The two, along with Zdeno Chara, were also reunited with the Bruins during the 2013-14 season.
• Played with Simon Gagne during the 2012-13 season.

Nikita Zadorov:

• Played with Seth Griffith for the London Knights during the 2012-13 season.

Hometown Connections:         

• Cody Hodgson, Reilly Smith, Chris Kelly and Dougie Hamilton are all natives of Toronto, Ontario.
• Tyler Ennis and Johnny Boychuk are from Edmonton, Alberta.
• Mike Weber and Matt Bartkowski were both born in Pittsburgh, PA.
• Cody McCormick and Gregory Campbell are both from London, Ontario.

2006 Entry Draft:
Michael Neuvirth (34^th overall), Jhonas Enroth (46^th overall), Mike Weber (57^th overall) and Milan Lucic (50^th overall) were all selected in the second round of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (19), Weber (18), Foligno (13)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (22), Benoit (12), Weber (11)
Shots: Gionta/Stewart (11), Moulson/Girgensons/Myers (10)

SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 1-4-0 (2), 8/18, 0/15, 19/22

OVERTIME RESULTS (0-0; 97-98 all-time)
N/A

SHOOTOUT RESULTS (1-0; 58-46 all-time)
October 14 at Carolina: W, 4-3 (GDG-Girgensons)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Torrey Mitchell … 3 games … 100 career games played
Assists
Tyler Ennis … 3 assists … 100 career assists
Tyler Myers … 3 assists … 100 career assists
Points
Josh Gorges … 2 points … 100 career points
Torrey Mitchell … 8 points … 100 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
Matt Moulson … 400 career games played … Oct. 13 vs. ANA