Game Preview: 1/2/15 vs. FLA

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Wednesday, December 31
Tampa Bay 5 at Buffalo 1
Goals: Ennis
Goalie: Enroth (20 saves/25 shots)
PP: 1/2; PK: 2/3; Shots: Tampa Bay 25 – Buffalo 11

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 137)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Torrey Mitchell (lower body, Dec. 16; injured reserve) – 7 games
Tyler Myers (lower body, Dec. 21; injured reserve) – 5 games
Marcus Foligno (undisclosed, Dec. 23) – 4 games
Brian Gionta (upper body, Dec. 23) – 4 games
Rasmus Ristolainen (illness, Dec. 29) – 2 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
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)
12/29: Activated D Tyson Strachan from IR; Placed D Tyler Myers on IR; Placed G Matt Hackett on waivers
12/30: Assigned G Matt Hackett to Rochester (AHL)
1/1: Assigned D Mark Pysyk to Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Friday, Jan. 9: Buffalo at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 13: Detroit at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
PANTHERS at SABRES

• This is the fourth of five meetings between the Sabres and Panthers this season.
• Next meeting: Saturday, Feb. 28 in Florida
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Florida, 3-2 (OT), in Buffalo on Dec. 13
• The Sabres are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Panthers; 4-5-1 at home.
• This is the 83rd game all-time between Buffalo and Florida; Buffalo has a 45-30-7 series record.
• The Sabres are 25-13-4 at home against the Panthers all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 6-4-5 all-time on January 2.
• January 2, 1999: Miroslav Satan extends his goal streak to eight games with a game-winning tally in a 7-1 win at home against Calgary.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Tonight’s game is the Buffalo’s third straight game against an Atlantic Division opponent.
• The Sabres enter tonight’s game with a 9-3-0 record in their last 12 home games.
• Jhonas Enroth has compiled a 10-5-1 record in his last 16 games.

SABRES-PANTHERS

• With a win tonight, the Sabres would have wins in consecutive matchups with the Panthers for the first time since they won three in a row from Feb. 10 to Oct. 20, 2011.
• The Sabres and Panthers have had 11 of their last 13 matchups decided by a single goal, including six overtime games.
• Brian Gionta leads all Sabres with 30 points (20+10) in 42 career games against the Panthers.
• Jhonas Enroth is 2-1-1 in his career against the Panthers, with a 1.47 goals-against average and a .958 save percentage.

IN THE LINE OF FIRE

• Josh Gorges ranks second in the NHL with 101 blocked shots despite missing nine games to injury this season.
• Gorges has blocked 13.3 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 200 shot attempts* (see chart below). *Stats via war-on-ice.com.
• 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 six of the 2015 NHL All-Star Game Fan Vote with 1,466,077 votes. This total makes him a distant leader, ahead of second-place Patrick Kane (1,075,304) and third-place Jonathan Toews (1,061,691).
• His 11 goals this season have already bested his total of eight from his 70-game rookie season.
• Girgensons leads all Sabres forwards with an average ice time of 18:55 per game this season.

BUF-FLA CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:

• Drafted by the Sabres in the sixth round of the 1997 NHL Draft, Brian Campbell played in Buffalo for parts of eight seasons (1999-00 – 2007-08). As a Sabre, Campbell tallied 176 points (32+144) in 391 games. Campbell was selected as an NHL All-Star in 2007 and 2008.
• Brad Boyes skated as a member of the Sabres from 2010-2012. During his two seasons in Buffalo, Boyes played in 86 games, recording 37 points (13+24).

Former Panthers:

• Tyson Strachan Played for Florida from 2011-2013, tallying seven points (1+6) in 53 games for the Panthers.

Marcus Foligno:

• Played with Erik Gudbranson and Dylan Olsen for Team Canada at the 2011 World Junior Championship held in Buffalo.

Cody Hodgson:

• Played with Roberto Luongo for the Vancouver Canucks from 2010-2012.
• Represented Team Canada alongside Jonathan Huberdeau and Erik Gudbranson at the 2014 World Championship.

Andrej Meszaros:

• Played with Jussi Jokinen for the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2008-2010.
• Teammates with Shawn Thornton for the Boston Bruins during the 2013-14 season.

Torrey Mitchell:

• Played with Brian Campbell for the San Jose Sharks during the 2007-08 season.

Matt Moulson:

• Played with Al Montoya for the New York Islanders from 2010-2013. Brad Boyes was also a member of the club during the 2012-13 season.
• Played with Sean Bergenheim for the New York Islanders during the 2009-10 season.

Michal Neuvirth:

• Played with Tomas Fleischmann for the Washington Capitals from 2008-2012.

Drew Stafford:                                                                   

• Played with Al Montoya for Team USA at the 2004 World Junior Championship as well as the 2009 World Hockey Championship.

Tyson Strachan:

• Teammates with Brad Boyes from 2008-2011 as members of the St. Louis Blues.

NHL Draft:

• Drew Stafford (13th overall), Andrej Meszaros (24th overall) and Al Montoya (4th overall) were all taken in the first round of the 2004 Entry Draft.
• Rasmus Ristolainen (8th overall), Nikita Zadorov (16th overall) and Alexander Barkov (2nd overall) were all selected in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (121), Foligno (92), Weber (80)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (101), Myers (71), Ristolainen/Weber (61)
Shots: Ennis (91), Moulson (77), Girgensons (74)

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: 2-5-1 (5), 20/36, 4/23, 18/26

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)
Points
Torrey Mitchell … 3 points … 100 career points
Brian Gionta … 4 points … 500 career points
Matt Moulson … 8 points … 300 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
Cody McCormick … 400th NHL game … Dec. 31 vs. TBL