Game Preview: 11/23/14 at WSH

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Tuesday, November 18
San Jose 1 at Buffalo 4
Goals: Gionta (2), Deslauriers, Flynn
Goalie: Neuvirth (10 saves/10 shots); Enroth (19 saves/20 shots)
PP: 0/2; PK: 3/4; Shots: San Jose 30 – Buffalo 14

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 54)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hackett (lower body, Oct. 9; injured reserve) – 20 games
Josh Gorges (knee, Nov. 13) – 3 games
Michal Neuvirth (lower body, Nov. 21) – 0 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
11/19: Placed D Josh Gorges on IR; Recalled G Nathan Lieuwen from Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Wednesday, Nov. 26: Winnipeg at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 28: Montreal at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 29: Buffalo at Montreal, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 2: Tampa Bay at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Dec. 4: Buffalo at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at CAPITALS

• This is the first of three meetings between the Sabres and Capitals this season.
• Next meeting: Saturday, March 7 in Washington
• The Sabres are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Capitals; 3-6-1 on the road
• This is the 147^th game all-time between Buffalo and Washington; Buffalo has an 85-43-18 series record.
• The Sabres are 40-23-10 on the road against the Capitals all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 7-8-3 all-time on November 22.
• November 22, 2000: The Sabres introduce their first-ever alternate jersey, a red jersey whose logo was a tribute to the original team logo.
• November 22, 2002: Ryan Miller makes 17 saves to earn his first NHL win in a 5-4 victory against Columbus.
• November 22, 2005: The Sabres retire Danny Gare’s number 18 before a matchup with the New York Rangers.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Buffalo’s home game against the Rangers last night was rescheduled due to weather. It will now be held on Friday, Feb. 20, 2015. The Sabres’ home game against the Ottawa Senators, originally scheduled for Feb. 20, will now be played on Monday, Dec. 15.
• The Sabres have won consecutive games entering tonight’s game for the first time since they won three in a row at First Niagara Center from Feb. 25 to Feb. 28.
• If he is in the lineup, Andrej Meszaros will appear in his 600^th NHL game, becoming the 53^rd active defenseman to reach that milestone.

SABRES-CAPS NOTES

• With a win tonight, the Sabres would have consecutive wins in Washington for the first time since they won three in a row from Nov. 26, 2007 to Dec. 14, 2007.
• The last four games between these teams have been settled in overtime or a shootout. With a win or overtime loss tonight, the Sabres would have points in at least five straight games against the Capitals for the first time since they won six straight from Dec. 26, 2006 to Dec. 14, 2007.
• Tyler Ennis has 10 points (2+8) in his last seven games against the Capitals.
• Cody Hodgson has six points (4+2) in his last six games against the Capitals.
• Matt Moulson has eight points (2+6) in his last nine games against the Capitals.
• Drew Stafford has seven points (5+2) in his last eight games against the Capitals.

GOING STREAKING

• Nicolas Deslauriers enters tonight’s game on a three-game point streak (1+2).
• The Sabres have five players on two-game point streaks entering tonight’s game: Brian Flynn (1+2), Cody McCormick (0+2), Andrej Meszaros (0+2), Tyler Myers (1+2), Mike Weber (0+2)

WHO’S HOT?

• Nicolas Deslauriers has three points (1+2) in his last three games.
• Tyler Ennis has nine points (3+6) in his last 10 games.
• Zemgus Girgensons has seven points (4+3) in his last eight games.
• Matt Moulson has six points (2+4) in his last six games.
• Drew Stafford has six points (3+3) in his last seven games.

NOTES FROM LAST GAME

• With the win, the Sabres improved to 16-1-0 all-time at home against the Sharks.
• With his first two goals as a member of the Sabres and an assist, Brian Gionta logged his first three-point game since Oct. 15, 2011.
• With his assist on Gionta’s first goal, Tyler Myers became the 16^th defenseman in Sabres history to record 100 assists with the team.
• Michal Neuvirth left the game after the first period with a lower-body injury.

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-WSH CONNECTIONS
Former Capitals:

• Michal Neuvirth spent parts of five seasons as a member of the Capitals from 2008-2014.  Appearing in a total of 134 games for the club, Neuvirth earned a record of 59-41-13 to go along with a goals-against average of 2.67 and a .910 save percentage.
• Tyson Strachan played for the Capitals during the 2013-14 season, registering two assists in 18 games. He also had 19 points (4+15) in 60 games for the Hershey Bears.
• Arturs Irbe served as Washington’s goaltending coach from 2009-2011.

Local Players:

• Brooks Orpik grew up in Amherst, N.Y. and attended Nichols High School.

Tyler Ennis:

• He and Jason Chimera were both born in Edmonton, Alberta.
• Ennis (1989) and Marcus Johansson (1990) were both born on Oct. 6.

Jhonas Enroth:

• Played with Nicklas Backstrom on the 2007 Swedish World Junior Championship team.
• Played with Backstrom and Marcus Johansson for Sweden at the 2014 Olympics.

Brian Gionta:

• Played with Brooks Orpik at Boston College from 1998-2001. The Golden Eagles won the NCAA National Championship in 2001.

Cody Hodgson:

• He and Tom Wilson were both born in Toronto, Ontario.
• Represented Team Canada alongside Jason Chimera at the 2014 World Championship.

Matt Moulson:

• Played with Jack Hillen for the New York Islanders from 2009-2011.

Tyler Myers:

• Represented Team Canada alongside Jason Chimera at the 2014 World Championship.

Drew Stafford:

• Played with Brooks Orpik for the United States at the 2006 World Championship.

Nikita Zadorov:

• He and Alexander Ovechkin were both born in Moscow, Russia.

NHL Draft:

• Drew Stafford (13^th overall), Andrej Meszaros (24^th overall), Alexander Ovechkin (1^st overall) and Mike Green (29^th overall) were all selected in the first round of the 2004 NHL Draft.
• Chris Stewart (18^th overall) and Nicklas Backstrom (4^th overall) were both first-round draft picks in the 2006 NHL Draft.
• Tyler Myers, Tyler Ennis, Cody Hodgson and John Carlson were all first-round draft picks in the 2008 NHL Draft. Myers was picked 12^th overall, Ennis was the 26^th overall selection, Hodgson was the 10^th overall selection and Carlson was picked with the 27^th overall selection.
• Nicolas Deslauriers and Michael Latta were both chosen in the third round of the 2009 NHL Draft. Latta was taken 72^nd overall by Nashville, and Deslauriers went 84^th overall to Los Angeles.
• Zemgus Girgensons (14^th overall) and Tom Wilson (16^th overall) were both chosen in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft.
• Rasmus Ristolainen (8^th overall), Nikita Zadorov (16^th overall), and Andre Burakovsky (23^rd overall) were all selected in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (66), Weber (57), Foligno (52)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (60), Myers (40), Weber (36)
Shots: Stewart (47), Ennis (40), Girgensons (40)

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: 3-5-2 (8), 23/36, 4/27, 28/39

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 … 1 game … 600 career games played
Brian Gionta … 2 games … 800 career games played
Jhonas Enroth … 8 games … 100 career games played
Cody McCormick … 8 games … 400 career games played
Points
Josh Gorges … 1 point … 100 career points
Torrey Mitchell … 6 points … 100 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
Tyler Myers … 100 career assists … Nov. 15 vs. SJS