Game Preview: 12/2/14 vs. TBL

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Game Notes

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LAST GAME
Saturday, November 29
Buffalo 4 at Montreal 3 (SO)
Goals: Girgensons, Stewart, Flynn; GDG-Flynn
Goalie: Enroth (41 saves/44 shots)
PP: 0/1; PK: 2/2; Shots: Montreal 44 – Buffalo 26

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 69)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hackett (lower body, Oct. 9; injured reserve) – 24 games
Josh Gorges (knee, Nov. 13; injured reserve) – 7 games
Cody McCormick (upper body; Nov. 26) – 3 games
Andrej Meszaros (upper body; Nov, 29) – 1 game
Drew Stafford (lower body; Nov. 29) – 1 game

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
11/28: Signed F Jean Dupuy to a three-year, entry-level contract
11/29: Recalled F Tim Schaller from Rochester (AHL)
11/30: Assigned F Tim Schaller to Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Thursday, Dec. 11: Calgary at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 13: Florida at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
LIGHTNING at SABRES

• This is the first of five meetings between the Sabres and Lightning this season.
• Next meeting: Thursday, Dec. 4 in Tampa Bay
• The Sabres are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Lightning; 5-3-2 at home
• This is the 82^nd game all-time between Buffalo and Tampa Bay; Buffalo has a 50-24-7 series record.
• The Sabres are 23-13-4 at home against the Lightning all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 6-10-1 all-time on December 2.
• December 2, 1969: The NHL announces its decision to expand to Buffalo and Vancouver in the 1970-71 season.
• December 2, 2011: Tyler Ennis appears in his 100^th NHL game, a 4-1 loss vs. Detroit.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• The Sabres enter tonight’s game having gained at least a point in six straight divisional matchups (4-0-2) for the first time since they had points in nine straight Northeast Division games from Dec. 4, 2010 to Feb. 15, 2011 (8-0-1).
• Tonight’s game kicks off the second-ever home-and-home series between the Sabres and the Lightning. The other such series took place on Oct. 22 and 25, 2011, with the Lightning winning both games.
• Cody Hodgson has 10 points (4+6) in nine career games against the Lightning. Matt Moulson has 13 (6+7) in 14.
• Jhonas Enroth is 3-1-0 in four career games against the Lightning, with a .949 save percentage and a 1.74 goals-against average.
• Tyler Myers (31:34) and Tyson Strachan (30:39) each logged career-high ice times in the Sabres’ victory at Montreal on Saturday.

TOPPING TAMPA

• In the last eight seasons, Buffalo compiled a record of 23-10-2 (.686) against Tampa Bay. The Sabres have scored seven or more goals in a single game against the Lightning six times during that stretch.
• Buffalo’s franchise record of 50-24-7 (.660) against Tampa Bay is the team’s best all-time record against any Eastern Conference opponent. The team’s record against San Jose (22-6-5, .742) is the only better all-time series record.

MY NAME IS JHONAS
Jhonas Enroth is 4-1-0 in the Sabres’ last five games, posting a 1.69 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage. His .952 save percentage is good for his best five-game stretch since he logged a .961 mark from Oct. 27 to Nov. 11, 2011. With a win in his next appearance, Enroth would have his first three-game winning streak since the final three games of that stretch.

HEATING UP BEFORE WINTER

• The Sabres finished the month of November with a 5-1-0 stretch, their best six-game stretch since the team won five straight games in March 2012.
• With a .500 record (6-6-1) in November, the Sabres had their best month since they went 5-5-2 in December 2013. The 13 points earned by the team last month was Buffalo’s highest total in a month since the team went 8-4-0 in April 2013.

WHO’S HOT?

• Tyler Ennis has 13 points (4+9) in his last 14 games.
• Brian Gionta has five points (2+3) in his last five games.
• Zemgus Girgensons hasn’t gone two games without a point since Oct. 30 and Nov. 1. He has logged 10 points (5+5) in 12 games since then, including seven (4+3) in his last seven.
• Matt Moulson has nine points (4+5) in his last 10 games.

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-TBL CONNECTIONS
Former Lightning:

• Andrej Meszaros played for Tampa Bay from 2008-2010, registering 33 points (8+25) in 133 games.

Local Players:

• Ryan Callahan was born in Rochester, N.Y. and played for the Buffalo Lightning (OPJHL) during the 2001-02 season.

Danny Flynn:

• Coached Mark Barberio from 2007-2010 when he was a member of the Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL).

Jhonas Enroth:

• Played with Victor Hedman for Sweden in the 2008 World Junior Championship. Sweden won the silver medal in the tournament. They also played together for Sweden at the 2012 World Championship.

Marcus Foligno:

• Played with Brett Connolly for Team Canada in the 2011 World Junior Championship held in Buffalo.

Josh Gorges:

• Played with Matthew Carle and Evgeni Nabokov for the San Jose Sharks from 2005-2007.

Andrej Meszaros:

• Played with Matthew Carle for the Lightning during the 2008-09 season and again for the Philadelphia Flyers from 2010-2012.

Torrey Mitchell:

• Mitchell, Matthew Carle and Evgeni Nabokov were all members of the San Jose Sharks during the 2007-08 season.

Matt Moulson:

• Played with Evgeni Nabokov for the New York Islanders from 2011-2013.
• He and Brian Boyle were both members of the Los Angeles Kings from 2007-2009.

Michal Neuvirth:

• Neuvirth (1988) and Mark Barberio (1990) were both born on March 23.

Drew Stafford:

• Played with Matthew Carle for the United States in the 2004 World Junior Championship.
• Played with Ryan Callahan for the United States in the 2005 World Junior Championship.

Chris Stewart:              

• Played with Ben Bishop for the St. Louis Blues during the 2010-11 season.
• Played with Branden Morrow for the St. Louis Blues for part of the 2013-14 season.

Tyson Strachan:

• Played with Ben Bishop for the St. Louis Blues during the 2008-09 and 2010-11 seasons. They also played together from 2007-2011 for the Peoria Rivermen.
• Played with Jason Garrison for the Florida Panthers during the 2011-12 season.

Nikita Zadorov:

• He and Nikita Kucherov were both born in Moscow, Russia.

NHL Draft:

• Torrey Mitchell (126^th overall) and Ryan Callahan (127^th overall) were chosen with consecutive picks in the fourth round of the 2004 NHL Draft.
• The Sabres and Lightning combine to feature a total of four players who were drafted in the first round of the 2008 NHL Draft: Cody Hodgson (10^th overall), Tyler Myers (12^th overall), Tyler Ennis (26^th overall), and Steven Stamkos (1^st overall).
• Nikita Zadorov (16^th overall) and Jonathan Drouin (3^rd overall) were both taken in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (78), Foligno (64), Weber (63)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (60), Myers (47), Weber (46)
Shots: Ennis (55), Stewart (54), Moulson (50)

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: 3-1-0 (6), 10/6, 1/10, 6/9

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

SHOOTOUT RESULTS (3-1; 60-47 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)
November 29 at Montreal: W, 4-3 (GDG-Flynn)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Jhonas Enroth … 4 games … 100 career games played
Zemgus Girgensons … 6 games … 100 career games played
Cody McCormick … 7 games … 400 career games played
Tyler Ennis … 9 games … 300 career games played
Points
Josh Gorges … 1 point … 100 career points
Torrey Mitchell … 4 points … 100 career points
Brian Gionta … 7 points … 500 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
Tim Schaller … 1^st NHL game … Nov. 29 at MTL
Brian Gionta … 800^th NHL game played … Nov. 29 at MTL