Game Preview: 10/30/14 vs. BOS

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Tuesday, October 28
Buffalo 0 at Toronto 4
Goals: N/A
Goalie: Neuvirth (33 saves/37 shots)
PP: 0/2; PK: 5/6; Shots: Toronto 37 – Buffalo 10

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 30)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hackett (lower body, Oct. 9; injured reserve) – 10 games
Patrick Kaleta (upper body, Oct. 9; injured reserve) – 10 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
N/A

UPCOMING GAMES
Saturday, Nov. 1: Buffalo at Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 2: Detroit at Buffalo, 5 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 5: Montreal at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 7: Edmonton at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 8: Pittsburgh at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
BRUINS at SABRES

• This is the second of four meetings between the Sabres and Bruins this season.
• Next meeting: Sunday, Dec. 21 in Boston
• Last meeting: Boston defeated Buffalo, 4-0, in Buffalo on Oct. 18
• The Sabres are 4-6-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Bruins; 5-4-1 at home.
• This is the 275^th game all-time between Buffalo and Boston; Buffalo has a 119-115-40 series record.
• The Sabres are 73-45-21 at home against the Bruins all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 8-8-4 all-time on October 30.
• October 30, 1971: Rookie forward Rick Martin picks up his first career hat trick, including two goals in a span of 1:23, as the Canucks and Sabres play to a 4-4 tie in Vancouver.
• October 30, 1977: Ric Seiling scores his first Sabres goal in a 4-0 win at Montreal.
• October 30, 1992: The Sabres defeat the expansion Ottawa Senators, 12-3, in the first-ever meeting between the teams.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Tonight’s game is Buffalo’s first home game since these teams met on Oct. 18.
• The Sabres are looking for their first win against an Atlantic Division opponent in the last 11 tries. Their last Atlantic Division win came on March 6 at TBL.
• 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 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.
• Entering tonight, the Sabres have lost two straight games to the Bruins for the first time since 2012. They will look to avoid dropping three straight to Boston for the first time since Apr. 8 to Dec. 7, 2010.

IN THE LINE OF FIRE

• Josh Gorges has blocked an NHL-best 46 shots, 12 more than the next highest total (Kris Russell, CGY – 34 BS in 10 GP). Gorges has blocked 16.3 percent of all opponent shot attempts taken with him on the ice this season, the third-highest percentage among NHL defensemen who have faced at least 50 shot attempts (see chart below).
• His best full-season on-ice shot blocking percentage was 13.0 percent in 2011-12 with Montreal. No NHL-regular defenseman has topped 14 percent in a full season since the league started counting blocked shots in 2005-06.

A FRESH FACE
With his debut on Oct. 9 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).

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 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.

Former Bruins:

• 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.

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 alongside Zdeno Chara for the Ottawa Senators during the 2005-06 season.
• Played with Chris Kelly for the Ottawa Senators from 2005-08. 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.
• Mike Weber and Matt Bartkowski were both born in Pittsburgh, Pa.
• Cody McCormick and Gregory Campbell are both from London, Ontario.

NHL 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 Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Weber (33), Deslauriers/Girgensons (29), Foligno (28)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (46), Weber (23), Benoit (20)
Shots: Stewart (26), Moulson (20), Girgensons (19)

SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 2-8-0 (2), 11/33, 0/32, 33/39

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
Andrej Meszaros … 6 games … 600 career games played
Chris Stewart … 8 games … 400 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
Sam Reinhart … 1^st career point (assist) … Oct. 25 at SJS