Game Preview: 11/28/14 vs. MTL

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Wednesday, November 26
Winnipeg 2 at Buffalo 1
Goals: Stewart
Goalie: Enroth (24 saves/26 shots)
PP: 0/4; PK: 2/3; Shots: Winnipeg 26 – Buffalo 20

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 61)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hackett (lower body, Oct. 9; injured reserve) – 22 games
Josh Gorges (knee, Nov. 13; injured reserve) – 5 games
Cody McCormick (upper body; Nov. 26) – 1 game
Tyler Myers (lower body; Nov. 26) – 1 game

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
11/23: Assigned G Nathan Lieuwen to Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Saturday, Dec. 6: Buffalo at Florida, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 9: Los Angeles at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
CANADIENS at SABRES        

• This is the second of four meetings between the Sabres and Canadiens this season.
• Next meeting: Saturday, Nov. 29 in Montreal
• Last meeting: Montreal defeated Buffalo, 2-1 (SO), in Buffalo on Nov. 5
• The Sabres are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Canadiens; 4-4-2 at home
• This is the 264^th game all-time between Buffalo and Montreal; Buffalo has a 119-106-38 series record.
• The Sabres are 69-37-25 at home against the Canadiens all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 13-4-2 all-time on November 28.
• November 28, 1972: Gilbert Perreault scores two goals and adds an assist as the Sabres beat the New York Islanders, 7-2, to start a 10-game unbeaten streak in games played on November 28.
• November 28, 2009: Tyler Myers records his first career three-point game, assisting on three of Buffalo’s five third-period goals to propel the Sabres to a 5-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• The Sabres enter tonight’s game having gained at least a point in their last four divisional matchups. They’ll try to make it five in a row for the first time since Feb. 26 to March 23, 2013, when they earned at least a point in six straight divisional games.
• The Sabres have gone 11-6-2 in their last 19 games against the Canadiens, but need a win tonight to avoid losing seven straight games to the Habs for the first time in franchise history.
• The Sabres have 119 wins in 263 games against the Canadiens, tying their franchise-record win total against the Bruins, who they have played 275 times.
• The Sabres need a win tonight to avoid losing five straight home games to the Canadiens for the first time in franchise history. In addition to their current four-game home skid, the Sabres lost four straight home games to the Canadiens once before: Feb. 15, 1985 to Nov. 29, 1985.
• Michal Neuvirth is 5-3-1 in 10 career games against the Canadiens, with a .928 save percentage and a 2.10 goals-against average.
• Brian Gionta leads the Sabres with 18 career points (11+7) in 25 games against the Canadiens.

HOME-AND-HOME

• The Sabres and Canadiens open their 25^th all-time home-and-home set tonight, and their first since Nov. 23 and 24, 2007. Buffalo is 16-22-10 all-time in home-and-home sets against Montreal.
• Buffalo is 10-6-8 in the home portion of the home-and-home. The Sabres enter tonight’s game winners of their last two and with a 5-2-1 record in the last eight such home games against the Canadiens.
• When the first game of a Sabres and Canadiens home-and-home is played in Buffalo, the Sabres are 7-3-5.
• Overall, the Sabres have won the last four meetings as part of a home-and-home and are 5-0-1 in the last three sets.
• Buffalo’s points breakdown in the 24 home-and-home sets against Montreal is: four points (2), three points (5), two points (7), one point (5) and zero points (5).

MY NAME IS JHONAS
Jhonas Enroth hasn’t allowed an even-strength goal in his last 208:35 on the ice, posting a 1.50 goals-against average and a .956 save percentage in his last three games. Enroth’s .956 save percentage in his last games games is his best in a three-game span since he posted a .972 mark from April 11-14, 2013.

WHO’S HOT?

• Brian Gionta has four points (2+2) in his last three games.
• Tyler Ennis has 10 points (3+7) in his last 12 games.
• Matt Moulson has seven points (3+4) in his last eight games.
• Patrick Kaleta registered six hits and drew two penalties in just 7:30 of ice time Wednesday vs. WPG
• Nikita Zadorov logged a career-high 25:52 of ice time Wednesday vs. WPG

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 have been named the team’s alternate captains.

BUF-MTL CONNECTIONS
Former Canadiens:

• Brian Gionta played for the Canadiens from 2009-2014, registering 173 points (97+76) in 303 games played. He also served as the team’s captain from 2010-2014.
• Josh Gorges was a member of the Canadiens from 2006-2014, registering 88 points (13+75) in 464 games played.

Andre Benoit:            

• Played for the Hamilton Bulldogs from 2005-2007 and again during the 2009-10 season while he was a member of the Montreal Canadiens organization. Benoit totaled 93 points (23+70) in 212 games for the Bulldogs but never dressed for Montreal.
• Teamed with Sergei Gonchar for the Ottawa Senators during the 2010-11 and 2012-13 seasons.
• Played with P.A. Parenteau for the Colorado Avalanche during the 2013-14 season.

Tyler Ennis:

• He and Brendan Gallagher were both born in Edmonton, Alberta.

Cody Hodgson:

• He and P.K. Subban were both born in Toronto, Ontario.
• Teammates with Manny Malhotra for the Vancouver Canucks from 2010-2012. Dale Weise joined them on the Canucks during the 2011-12 season.

Cody McCormick:

• He and Brandon Prust were both born in London, Ontario.

Andrej Meszaros:

• Played with Dustin Tokarski for the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2009-10 season.

Torrey Mitchell:

• He was born in Montreal.
• Played with Manny Malhotra for the San Jose Sharks during the 2009-10 season.
• Played alongside Tom Gilbert for the Minnesota Wild during the 2012-13 season.

Matt Moulson:

• Played with P.A. Parenteau for the New York Islanders from 2010-2012.

Tyson Strachan:

• Played with Lars Eller for the Peoria Rivermen during the 2009-10 season. The duo also played one game together for the St. Louis Blues that season.
• Played with Mike Weaver for the St. Louis Blues from 2008-2010 and for the Florida Panthers from 2011-2013.

Drew Stafford:

• He and Alex Galchenyuk were both born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• Played with Tom Gilbert for the United States at the 2008 World Hockey Championship.

2009 World Juniors:

• Cody Hodgson, Tyler Myers, Tyler Ennis and P.K. Subban all represented Canada at the 2009 World Junior Championship.

NHL Draft:

• Zemgus Girgensons (14^th overall) and Alex Galchenyuk (3^rd overall) were both first-round selections in the 2012 NHL Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (73), Weber (61), Foligno (59)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (60), Myers (44), Weber (40)
Shots: Stewart/Ennis (49), Stafford (44), Moulson (43)

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
21-30: 1-1-0 (2), 4/2, 0/5, 2/4

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
Brian Gionta … 2 games … 800 career games played
Jhonas Enroth … 6 games … 100 career games played
Cody McCormick … 7 games … 400 career games played
Zemgus Girgensons … 8 games … 100 career games played
Points
Josh Gorges … 1 point … 100 career points
Torrey Mitchell … 5 points … 100 career points
Brian Gionta … 8 points … 500 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
Andrej Meszaros … 600^th NHL game … Nov. 22 at WSH