Game Preview: 12/29/14 at OTT

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Saturday, December 27
NY Islanders 3 at Buffalo 4 (SO)
Goals: Deslauriers, Girgensons, Stewart; GDG- Ennis
Goalie: Enroth (33 saves/36 shots)
PP: 0/3; PK: 2/2; Shots: NY Islanders 36 – Buffalo 26

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 127)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Matt Hackett (lower body, Oct. 9; injured reserve) – 36 games
Torrey Mitchell (lower body, Dec. 16; injured reserve) – 5 games
Tyson Strachan (lower body, Dec. 20; injured reserve) – 4 games
Tyler Myers (lower body, Dec. 21) – 3 games
Marcus Foligno (undisclosed, Dec. 23) – 2 games
Brian Gionta (upper body, Dec. 23) – 2 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
12/23: Recalled F Joel Armia from Rochester (AHL); Placed F Marcus Foligno on IR
12/24: Assigned F Joel Armia, F Mikhail Grigorenko, F Tim Schaller and D Mark Pysyk to Rochester (AHL)
12/27: Recalled F Mikhail Grigorenko from Rochester (AHL); Activated F Cody McCormick and D Mike Weber from IR
12/28: Recalled D Mark Pysyk from Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Wednesday, Dec. 31: Tampa Bay at Buffalo, 6 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 2: Florida at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 3: Buffalo at NY Rangers, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 6: Buffalo at New Jersey, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 8: Buffalo at Carolina, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at SENATORS

• This is the second of four meetings between the Sabres and Senators this season.
• Next meeting: Tuesday, Feb. 10 in Buffalo
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Ottawa, 5-4 (SO), in Buffalo on Dec. 15
• The Sabres are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Senators; 5-5-0 at home.
• This is the 122nd game all-time between Buffalo and Ottawa; Buffalo has a 59-45-17 series record.
• The Sabres are 26-25-10 on the road against the Senators all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 7-9-4 all-time on December 29.
• December 29, 1984: Real Cloutier scores three times in a span of 5:21 in the second period to kick-start the Sabres’ offense in an 8-5 win vs. Quebec.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Jhonas Enroth has compiled a 10-3-1 record in his last 14 games.
• The Sabres are seeking wins in consecutive matchups with the Senators for the first time since they won six in a row from Dec. 4, 2010 to Nov. 11, 2011. They haven’t won in Ottawa since March 10, 2012, losing the last four road meetings.
• Buffalo and Ottawa have had nine of their last 11 matchups decided by a single goal, including each of the last five.
• The Sabres are 8-4 all-time in shootouts against the Senators. Their 12 shootouts against the Senators are a franchise high against a single team.
• Brian Gionta leads all Sabres with 30 points (18+12) in 43 career games against the Senators.
• Mike Weber has seven points (1+6) in 20 career games against the Senators, his highest total against any team.

FAMILIAR FOES       

• Tonight’s game marks the eighth of nine divisional games in the month of December, more than any other month this season. Buffalo is 3-3-1 against divisional opponents so far this month.
• Having played five divisional games in November, the Sabres will play 14 of their 30 divisional games during November and December. Buffalo is 7-3-2 against divisional foes since Nov. 2.

IN THE LINE OF FIRE

• Josh Gorges is tied for second in the NHL with 92 blocked shots entering Sunday’s games despite missing nine games to injury this season.
• Gorges has blocked 13.0 percent of all opponent shot attempts taken with him on the ice this season, the third-highest percentage among NHL defensemen who have played at least 10 games (see chart below) through Saturday’s games.
• 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.

“BALSO PAR ZEMGU”

• Second-year Latvian forward Zemgus Girgensons ended week five of the 2015 NHL All-Star Game Fan Vote with 1,291,186 votes. This total makes him a distant leader, ahead of second-place Patrick Kane (815,990) and third-place Jonathan Toews (803,034).
• His 10 goals this season have already bested his total of eight from his 70-game rookie season.
• Girgensons has averaged 20:32 of ice time in his last 16 games and leads all Sabres forwards with an average ice time of 18:56 per game this season.

BUF-OTT CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:

• Clarke MacArthur played for the Sabres from 2006-2010. While with the team, MacArthur appeared in 187 games and recorded 79 points (41+38).

Former Senators:

• Andrej Meszaros was a member of the Senators from 2005-2008, tallying 110 points over 246 games (26-84). Meszaros was Ottawa’s first round selection (23rd overall) in the 2004 NHL Draft.
• Andre Benoit played for the Senators during the 2010-11 season and once again during the 2012-13 season. Overall, he compiled 11 points (3+8) over 41 games.

Jhonas Enroth:

• Enroth and Mika Zibanejad were born in the same city of Stockholm, Sweden.
• Played with Erik Karlsson for Team Sweden at the 2012 World Hockey Championship.

Marcus Foligno:        

• Played with Jared Cowen for Team Canada at the 2011 World Junior Championship held in Buffalo. The Canadian squad was coached by Ottawa head coach Dave Cameron.

Brian Gionta:

• Played with David Legwand for the United States at the 2000, 2001 and 2005 World Hockey Championships.

Josh Gorges:         

• Gorges (1984) and Kyle Turris (1989) were both born on Aug. 14.
• Played with Milan Michalek for San Jose Sharks from 2005-2007.

Cody Hodgson:

• Played with Kyle Turris for Team Canada at the 2014 World Hockey Championship.

Cody McCormick

• McCormick (1983) and Mika Zibanejad (1993) were both born on April 18.

Torrey Mitchell

• Played with Milan Michalek on the San Jose Sharks from 2007-2009.

Tyler Myers:

• Played with Kyle Turris for Team Canada at the 2014 World Hockey Championship.

Drew Stafford:

• Represented the United States alongside Craig Anderson at the 2006 and 2008 World Hockey Championships.

Chris Stewart:

• Played with Marc Methot for Team Canada at the 2011 World Hockey Championship.

NHL Draft:

• Tyler Myers, Cody Hodgson, Tyler Ennis and D Erik Karlsson were all drafted in the first round of the 2008 NHL Draft. Myers was the 12th overall pick, Hodgson was chosen 10th overall, Karlsson was selected 15th overall and Ennis was drafted with the 26th overall pick.
• Zemgus Girgensons (16th overall) and Cody Ceci (17th overall) were taken one pick apart in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (113), Foligno (92), Girgensons/Weber (75)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (92), Myers (71), Ristolainen (61)
Shots: Ennis (84), Moulson (75), Stewart (71)

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: 7-3-0 (14), 22/22, 2/25, 20/25
31-40: 2-3-1 (5), 17/26, 3/17, 14/21

OVERTIME RESULTS (1-2; 98-100 all-time)
October 30 vs. Boston: L, 3-2 (GDG-Marchand, 1:20)
December 13 vs. Florida: W, 4-3 (GDG-Zadorov, 0:29)
December 21 at Boston: L, 4-3 (Eriksson, 2:14)

SHOOTOUT RESULTS (6-1; 63-47 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)
December 2 vs. Tampa Bay: W, 2-1 (GDG-Hodgson)
December 15 vs. Ottawa: W, 5-2 (GDG-Moulson)
December 27 vs. NY Islanders: W, 4-3 (GDG-Ennis)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Cody McCormick … 2 games … 400 career games played
Points
Torrey Mitchell … 3 points … 100 career points
Brian Gionta … 4 points … 500 career points
Matt Moulson … 10 points … 300 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
N/A