Game Preview: 11/7/14 vs. EDM

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Wednesday, November 5
Montreal 2 at Buffalo 1 (SO)
Goals: Stafford
Goalie: Neuvirth (31 saves/32 shots)
PP: 1/4; PK: 1/1; Shots: Montreal 32 – Buffalo 32

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 38)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hackett (lower body, Oct. 9; injured reserve) – 13 games
Patrick Kaleta (upper body, Oct. 9; injured reserve) – 13 games
Marcus Foligno (upper body, Nov. 2) – 2 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
11/2: Recalled F Johan Larsson from Rochester (AHL); Signed F Justin Bailey to a three-year, entry-level contact

UPCOMING GAMES
Saturday, Nov. 8: Pittsburgh at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 11: Buffalo at St. Louis, 8 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 13: Buffalo at Minnesota, 8 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 15: Toronto at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 18: San Jose at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
OILERS at SABRES

• This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Oilers this season.
• Next meeting: Thursday, Jan. 29 in Edmonton
• The Sabres are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Oilers; 3-5-2 at home.
• This is the 68^th game all-time between Buffalo and Edmonton; Buffalo has a 22-35-10 series record.
• The Sabres are 13-14-7 at home against the Oilers all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 6-11-3 all-time on November 7.
• November 7, 1981: John Van Boxmeer records five points (3+2) in a 6-2 win at NYI. Van Boxmeer shares the record for most points recorded in a single game by a Sabres defenseman with Phil Housley.
• November 7, 1986: Gilbert Perreault scores the last two goals of his NHL career in a 7-6 loss vs. VAN. Perreault’s 512 goals as a member of the Sabres still stand as the franchise record, 130 more than the next closest player (Rick Martin-382).
• November 7, 2009: Jhonas Enroth makes his NHL debut, Tim Connolly appears in his 500^th NHL game and Henrik Tallinder appears in his 400^th NHL game in a 4-2 loss at BOS.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• The Sabres have gone 7-1-0 in their last eight games against the Oilers, outscoring them by a 31-14 margin.
• Four Sabres average at least a point per game in their limited experience against the Oilers: Drew Stafford (6 GP, 7+2), Matt Moulson (5 GP, 1+4), Mike Weber (4 GP, 2+2), Zemgus Girgensons (1 GP, 0+1).
• Chris Stewart leads the Sabres with 17 career points (11+6) in 21 games against the Oilers.
• The Sabres are seeking their first three-game point streak since they won three straight home games from Feb. 25 to Feb. 28.

HOCKEY FIGHTS CANCER
The Sabres will take part in the NHL Hockey Fights Cancer™ program during tonight’s game, presented by ECMC. To commemorate the night, all Sabres players will wear purple jerseys and use sticks with purple tape during warm-ups, and the jerseys and sticks will be auctioned off on NHL.com immediately following the game to benefit cancer care and research. There will also be a ceremonial puck drop before the game, so fans are strongly encouraged to be in their seats early.

Fans attending the game will have the opportunity to purchase autographed “RJ” hats donated by New Era Cap Company in honor of Sabres broadcaster Rick Jeanneret and his fight against cancer. A portion of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to cancer care and research.

IN THE LINE OF FIRE

• Josh Gorges has blocked an NHL-best 56 shots, 13 more than the next highest total (Kris Russell, CGY – 43 BS in 14 GP) through Wednesday’s games. Gorges has blocked 14.1 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 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.

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, is 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-EDM CONNECTIONS
Tyler Ennis

• He was born in Edmonton, as was Andrew Ference.
• Shares a birthday with Nail Yakupov. Ennis was born on Oct. 6, 1989, and Yakupov was born four years later on Oct. 6, 1993.

Jhonas Enroth:

• Played with Viktor Fasth for Team Sweden at the 2012 World Hockey Championship.

Brian Gionta:           

• Played with Benoit Pouliot for the Montreal Canadiens from 2009-2011.

Josh Gorges:

• He and Justin Schultz are both from Kelowna, British Columbia.
• Played with Benoit Pouliot for the Montreal Canadiens from 2009-2011.

Cody Hodgson

• He and Luke Gazdic were born in Toronto, Ontario.
• Shares a birthday with Martin Marincin. Hodgson was born on Feb. 18, 1990, and Marincin was born two years later on Feb. 18, 1992.
• Played with Jordan Eberle for Team Canada at the 2008 World U-18 Championship.
• Represented Team Canada alongside Ben Scrivens at the 2014 World Championship.

Johan Larsson:

• Shares a birthday with Luke Gazdic. Larsson was born on July 25, 1992, while Gazdic was born three years earlier in 1989.

Andrej Meszaros:

• Played with Teddy Purcell for the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2009-10 season.

Matt Moulson:

• Played with Teddy Purcell for the Los Angeles Kings from 2007-2009.
• Teammates with Jesse Joensuu for the New York Islanders from 2009-2013.

Tyler Myers:

• Played with Jordan Eberle for Team Canada at the 2010 World Championship.
• Represented Team Canada alongside Ben Scrivens at the 2014 World Championship.

Michal Neuvirth:

• Teammates with Matt Hendricks for the Washington Capitals from 2010-2013 and Boyd Gordon from 2008-2011.
• He and Taylor Hall both played for the Windsor Spitfires (OHL) during the 2007-08 season.

Rasmus Ristolainen:

• He and Leon Draisaitl were both born on Oct. 27. Ristolainen was born on Oct. 27, 1994, and Draisaitl was born a year later on Oct. 27, 1995.

Chris Stewart:

• Played with Jordan Eberle for Team Canada at the 2011 World Championship.
• Played with Matt Hendricks for the Colorado Avalanche from 2008-2010. Cody McCormick was also part of the team during the 2008-09 season.
• Teammates with Nikita Nikitin for the St. Louis Blues during the 2011-12 season.
• Played with David Perron for the St. Louis Blues from 2011-2013.

Tyson Strachan:

• Teammates with Nikita Nikitin for the St. Louis Blues during the 2010-11 season.
• Played with David Perron for the St. Louis Blues from 2008-2011.

2009 World Juniors:         

• Tyler Ennis, Cody Hodgson, Tyler Myers, Keith Aulie and Jordan Eberle all represented Team Canada at the 2009 World Junior Championship. Hodgson and Eberle were first and tied for second, respectively, in scoring in the tournament and Canada won the gold medal.

NHL Draft:

• Michal Neuvirth (34^th overall ), Jhonas Enroth (46^thoverall), Mike Weber (57^th overall), Jeff Petry (45^th overall) and Jesse Joensuu (60^th overall) were all chosen in the second round of the 2006 NHL Draft.
• Cody Hodgson (10^th overall), Tyler Myers (12^th overall), Tyler Ennis (26^th overall) and Jordan Eberle (22^nd overall) were all drafted in the first-round of the 2008 Entry Draft.
• Zemgus Girgensons (14^th overall) and Nail Yakupov (1^st overall) were both first-round draft picks in the 2012 NHL Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (44), Weber (37), Foligno/Girgensons (36)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (56), Weber (27), Benoit/Myers (23)
Shots: Stewart (36), Girgensons (27), Stafford/Myers (26)

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: 1-0-2 (3), 6/7, 2/10, 7/7

OVERTIME RESULTS (0-1; 97-99 all-time)
October 30 vs. Boston: L, 3-2 (GDG-Marchand, 1:20)

SHOOTOUT RESULTS (2-1; 59-47 all-time)
October 14 at Carolina: W, 4-3 (GDG-Girgensons)
November 2 vs. Detroit: W, 3-2 (GDG-Girgensons)
November 5 vs. Montreal: L, 2-1 (GDG-Parenteau)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Andrej Meszaros … 4 games … 600 career games played
Chris Stewart … 5 games … 400 career games played
Assists
Tyler Myers … 1 assist … 100 career assists
Points
Josh Gorges … 2 points … 100 career points
Torrey Mitchell … 7 points … 100 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
Tyler Ennis … 100 career assists … Nov. 5 vs. MTL