GAME-DAY RESOURCES
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LAST GAME
Thursday, October 30
Boston 3 at Buffalo 2 (OT)
Goals: Stafford, Ennis
Goalie: Enroth (34 saves/37 shots)
PP: 1/2; PK: 2/2; Shots: Boston 37 – Buffalo 15
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 32)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hackett (lower body, Oct. 9; injured reserve) – 11 games
Patrick Kaleta (upper body, Oct. 9; injured reserve) – 11 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
10/31: Assigned F Sam Reinhart to Kootenay (WHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Tuesday, Nov. 11: Buffalo at St. Louis, 8 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at PENGUINS
- This is the first of three meetings between the Sabres and Penguins this season.
- Next meeting: Saturday, Nov. 8 in Buffalo
- The Sabres are 4-6-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Penguins; 3-7-0 at home.
- This is the 177th game all-time between Buffalo and Pittsburgh; Buffalo has a 64-71-41 series record.
- The Sabres are 24-46-19 at home against the Penguins all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 9-5-2 all-time on November 1.
- November 1, 1981: Bob Sauve stops 37 shots and Tony McKegney scores twice in a 6-2 victory over the Flyers at The Aud.
- November 1, 2008: Ryan Miller earns his eighth NHL shutout and Thomas Vanek scores twice as the Sabres defeat the Capitals, 4-0, at home.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- The last 17 meetings between the Sabres and Penguins have been decided in regulation. The last overtime game was a 2-1 Penguins shootout win on Dec. 19, 2009 in Buffalo.
- Cody Hodgson has four points (1+3) in four games in Pittsburgh.
- Brian Gionta leads the Sabres with 38 career points (18+20) in 52 games against the Penguins.
- The Sabres are looking to avoid their first four-game losing streak against the Penguins since they lost six straight from Feb. 1, 2010 to March 8, 2011.
IN THE LINE OF FIRE
- Josh Gorges has blocked an NHL-best 51 shots, 17 more than the next highest total (Kris Russell, CGY – 34 BS in 11 GP) through Thursday’s games. Gorges has blocked 16.1 percent of all opponent shot attempts taken with him on the ice this season, the highest percentage among NHL defensemen who have faced at least 100 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.
|
Top NHL Defensemen, On-Ice Shot Blocking Percentage |
|||||
| Rank | Player | Team | GP | BS | On-IceBS% |
| 1 | Josh Gorges | BUF | 11 | 51 | 16.1% |
| 2 | Kris Russell | CGY | 11 | 34 | 15.2% |
| 3 | Jared Spurgeon | MIN | 9 | 25 | 15.0% |
| 4 | Karl Alzner | WSH | 9 | 19 | 13.5% |
| 5 | Radko Gudas | TBL | 7 | 16 | 13.1% |
BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game opens up Buffalo’s fourth of 19 sets of back-to-back games this season, which will continue tomorrow when the Sabres host the Red Wings. The Sabres are 0-3-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 1-2-0 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 (2).
FEARLESS LEADERS
- Brian Gionta has been selected to wear the captain’s “C” for the Sabres in 2014-15, becoming the 19th 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.
BUF-PIT CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:
- Christian Ehrhoff spent three seasons as a member of the Sabres from 2011-2014, tallying 87 points (16+71) over 192 outings.
Ted Nolan:
- Played 18 games and tallied two points (1+1) for the Penguins during the 1985-86 NHL season.
Danny Flynn:
- Coached Zach Still when he was a member of the Moncton Wildcats from 2007-2010.
Bryan Trottier:
- Played three seasons for the Penguins (1990-1992, 1993-94), tallying 72 points (24+48) in 156 games before serving as an AC from 1994-1997. Trottier was part of Pittsburgh’s Stanley Cup champion teams in 1990-91 and 1991-92
Andre Benoit:
- Played with Steve Downie for the Colorado Avalanche during the 2013-14 season.
Jhonas Enroth:
- Played with Patric Hornqvist for Team Sweden at the 2007 World Junior Championship and the 2012 World Championship.
Marcus Foligno:
- Represented Team Canada alongside Simon Despres at the 2011 World Junior Championship held in Buffalo.
Brian Gionta:
- Played for Jacques Martin in Montreal from 2009-2012, when Martin served as HC of the Canadiens.
- Played with Rob Scuderi at Boston College from 1997-2001.
- Played with Paul Martin for New Jersey Devils from 2003-2009. They were also teammates for the United States at the 2005 World Championship.
Josh Gorges:
- Played for Jacques Martin in Montreal from 2009-2012, when Martin served as HC of the Canadiens.
- Gorges, Christian Ehrhoff and Marcel Goc all played for the San Jose Sharks from 2005-07.
- Played with Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury for Team Canada at the 2004 World Junior Championship.
- Played with Blake Comeau for the Kelowna Rockets from 2001-2004. Both players were part of Kelowna’s 2004 Memorial Cup-winning team.
Cody Hodgson:
- Shares a birthday with Blake Comeau. Comeau was born on Feb. 18, 1986, and Hodgson was born on Feb. 18, 1990.
Patrick Kaleta:
- Played with Steve Downie for the Peterborough Petes during the 2005-06 season.
Andrej Meszaros:
- Played with Steve Downie for the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2008-2010 and again for the Philadelphia Flyers last season.
Torrey Mitchell:
- Played with Marcel Goc for the San Jose Sharks from 2007-2009.
- Played with Thomas Greiss for the San Jose Sharks for three seasons (2007-08 to 2011-12).
Matt Moulson:
- Drafted by the Penguins in the ninth round (263rd overall) of 2003 NHL Draft but never suited up for Pittsburgh.
- Played with Blake Comeau for the New York Islanders from 2009-2012
Tyler Myers:
- Played with Steve Downie for Team Canada at the 2010 World Championship.
Drew Stafford:
- Played with Sidney Crosby for Shattuck-St. Mary’s during the 2002-03 season.
Tyson Strachan:
- Played with Marcel Goc for the Florida Panthers from 2011-2013.
Mike Weber:
- Weber was born in Pittsburgh.
- Played with Steve Downie for the Windsor Spitfires from 2003-2006.
NHL Draft:
- Drew Stafford, Andrej Meszaros and Evgeni Malkin were all first-round selections in the 2004 NHL Draft. Malkin was the second overall pick, Stafford was picked 13th overall and Meszaros went 24th
- Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Olli Maatta (22nd overall) were both chosen in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers/Weber (34), Foligno (33), Girgensons (31)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (51), Weber (25), Benoit (22)
Shots: Stewart (28), Moulson (22), Myers (20)
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
11-20: 0-0-1 (1), 2/3, 1/2, 2/2
OVERTIME RESULTS (0-1; 97-99 all-time)
October 30 vs. Boston: L, 3-2 (GDG-Marchand, 1:20)
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 … 7 games … 400 career games played
Assists
Tyler Ennis … 2 assists … 100 career assists
Tyler Myers … 2 assists … 100 career assists
Points
Josh Gorges … 2 points … 100 career points
Torrey Mitchell … 7 points … 100 career points
RECENT MILESTONES
N/A
