GAME-DAY RESOURCES
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LAST GAME
Friday, November 7
Edmonton 3 at Buffalo 2
Goals: Moulson, Stafford
Goalie: Neuvirth (49 saves/52 shots)
PP: 0/1; PK: 2/2; Shots: Edmonton 52 – Buffalo 31
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 43)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hackett (lower body, Oct. 9; injured reserve) – 15 games
Patrick Kaleta (upper body, Oct. 9; injured reserve) – 15 games
Marcus Foligno (upper body, Nov. 2) – 3 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
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.
Friday, Nov. 21: NY Rangers at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
PENGUINS at SABRES
- This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and Penguins this season.
- Next meeting: Saturday, April 11 in Buffalo
- Last meeting: Pittsburgh defeated Buffalo, 5-0, in Pittsburgh on Nov. 1.
- The Sabres are 3-7-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Penguins; 3-5-2 at home.
- This is the 178th game all-time between Buffalo and Pittsburgh; Buffalo has a 64-72-41 series record.
- The Sabres are 40-25-22 at home against the Penguins all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 7-4-4 all-time on November 8.
- November 8, 1980: Danny Gare scores twice in a 10-second span in a 3-3 tie at Washington.
- November 8, 1997: Alexei Zhitnik logs 29:10 of ice time and the game-tying-goal in a 2-2 tie, as the Sabres break a three-game road losing streak against the Penguins.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- The last 18 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.
- Brian Gionta leads the Sabres with 38 career points (18+20) in 53 games against the Penguins.
- Buffalo is looking to avoid its first five-game losing streak against Pittsburgh since it lost six straight from Feb. 1, 2010 to March 8, 2011.
- The Sabres have lost their last three home games to the Penguins and are looking to avoid losing four straight at home to Pittsburgh for the first time since Nov. 30, 1999 to Dec. 26, 2000.
IN THE LINE OF FIRE
- Josh Gorges has blocked an NHL-best 58 shots, 14 more than the next highest total (Kris Russell, CGY – 44 BS in 15 GP). Gorges has blocked 13.6 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.
|
Top NHL Defensemen, On-Ice Shot Blocking Percentage (min. 100 shot attempts against) |
|||||
| Rank | Player | Team | GP | BS | On-IceBS% |
| 1 | Jared Spurgeon | MIN | 9 | 25 | 15.1% |
| 2 | Karl Alzner | WSH | 13 | 31 | 14.6% |
| 3 | Josh Gorges | BUF | 15 | 58 | 13.6% |
| 4 | Kris Russell | CGY | 15 | 44 | 13.5% |
| 5 | Anton Volchenkov | NSH | 10 | 17 | 13.4% |
BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game wraps up Buffalo’s fifth of 19 sets of back-to-back games this season, which began with a 3-2 loss vs. EDM last night. The Sabres are 0-5-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 2-2-0 in the second game. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to- back sets is: four points (0), three points (0), two points (2), 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, 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-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 Sill when he was a member of the Moncton Wildcats from 2007-2010.
- Served as an assistant coach alongside Gary Agnew for the London Knights during the 1988-87 season.
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.
- Rick Tocchet played with Trottier for the Penguins during the 1991-92 and 1993-94 seasons.
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 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:
- 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 2008-10 and again for the Philadelphia Flyers last season. Rick Tocchet’s was also the head coach of the Lightning at the time.
Torrey Mitchell:
- Played with Marcel Goc for the San Jose Sharks from 2007-09.
- Played with Thomas Greiss for the San Jose Sharks for three seasons (2007-08, 2009-10 and 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.
Chris Stewart:
- Played under Gary Agnew’s tutelage for the St. Louis Blues from 2012-2014, where Agnew was an assistant coach.
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.
Nikita Zadorov:
- Played with Scott Harrington for the London Knights during the 2012-13 season.
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
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (50), Girgensons/Weber (37), Foligno (36)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (58), Myers/Weber (27), Benoit (26)
Shots: Stewart (40), Ennis (29), Stafford/Girgensons (28)
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: 1-2-2 (3), 8/15, 2/15, 11/14
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 … 3 games … 600 career games played
Chris Stewart … 3 games … 400 career games played
Brian Gionta … 9 games … 800 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
