GAME-DAY RESOURCES
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LAST GAME
Friday, January 2
Florida 2 at Buffalo 0
Goals: N/A
Goalie: Neuvirth (31 saves/33 shots)
PP: 0/1; PK: 0/1; Shots: Florida 33 – Buffalo 30
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 141)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Torrey Mitchell (lower body, Dec. 16; injured reserve) – 8 games
Tyler Myers (lower body, Dec. 21; injured reserve) – 6 games
Marcus Foligno (undisclosed, Dec. 23; injured reserve) – 5 games
Brian Gionta (upper body, Dec. 23) – 5 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
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
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.
Thursday, Jan. 15: Minnesota at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at RANGERS
- This is the first of three meetings between the Sabres and Rangers this season.
- Next meeting: Friday, Feb. 20 in Buffalo
- Last meeting: New York defeated Buffalo, 2-1, in New York on April 10
- The Sabres are 2-5-3 in their last 10 games vs. the Rangers; 4-3-3 on the road.
- This is the 169th game all-time between Buffalo and New York; Buffalo has a 78-57-33 series record.
- The Sabres are 31-32-20 at home against the Rangers all-time.
THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 10-4-5 all-time on January 3.
- January 3, 1974: Rick Martin opens the scoring and then scores twice more to earn his fifth career hat trick as the Sabres dispatch the Penguins, 6-1.
- January 3, 1993: Alexander Mogilny scores twice and assists on Brad May’s overtime goal, stretching his goal streak to eight games, tying a franchise record.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- The Sabres have earned at least a point in seven of their last nine road games against the Rangers, going 4-2-3 in those games.
- Buffalo needs a win tonight to avoid the team’s first five-game losing streak to the Rangers since 1995.
- Tyler Ennis has 13 points (4+9) in 14 career games against the Rangers, including two of his eight career three-point games (4/6/10 and 3/23/12).
- Drew Stafford has eight points (7+1) in his last eight games against the Rangers.
- Jhonas Enroth has compiled a 10-5-1 record in his last 16 games.
BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game wraps up Buffalo’s ninth of 19 sets of back-to-back games this season, which began last night with a 2-0 loss vs. FLA. The Sabres are 2-7-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 3-4-1 in the second game. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to- back sets is: four points (1), three points (0), two points (3), one point (1) and zero points (3).
IN THE LINE OF FIRE
- At the end of last night’s game vs. FLA, Josh Gorges ranked second in the NHL with 103 blocked shots despite missing nine games to injury this season.
- Gorges has blocked 13.2 percent of all opponent shot attempts taken with him on the ice this season, ranking him in the top five among NHL defensemen who have faced at least 200 shot attempts. (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 18:54 per game this season.
BUF-NYR CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:
- Dominic Moore was a member of the Sabres for part of the 2008-09 season, contributing four points (1+3) in 18 games.
Local Players:
- Lee Stempniak was born in West Seneca, N.Y. and played junior hockey for the Buffalo Lightning (OPJHL).
- Dan Girardi was born in Welland, Ontario.
Andre Benoit:
- Played with Matt Hunwick for the Colorado Avalanche during the 2013-14 season.
Jhonas Enroth:
- Played with Carl Hagelin for Team Sweden at the 2008 World Junior Championship. The two, along with Henrik Lundqvist, represented silver medal-winning Sweden at the 2014 Olympics.
Brian Gionta:
- Played with Dominic Moore for the Montreal Canadiens during the 2009-10 season.
Josh Gorges
- Played with Dominic Moore for the Montreal Canadiens during the 2009-10 season.
Cody Hodgson:
- Played under Alain Vigneault for the Vancouver Canucks from 2010-2012.
- Played with Tanner Glass for the Vancouver Canucks during the 2010-11 season.
Johan Larsson:
- Played with Jesper Fast for Team Sweden at the 2011 World Junior Championship held in Buffalo.
Andrej Meszaros:
- Played with Martin St. Louis for the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2008-2010.
Torrey Mitchell:
- Played with Dominic Moore for the San Jose Sharks during the 2011-12 season.
- Played with Dan Boyle for the San Jose Sharks from 2008-2012.
Drew Stafford:
- Stafford and Lee Stempniak were teammates for the United States for three consecutive World Hockey Championship tournaments from 2007-2009.
Chris Stewart:
- Played with Matt Hunwick for the Colorado Avalanche during the 2010-11 season.
Tyson Strachan:
- Played with Lee Stempniak for the St. Louis Blues during the 2008-09 season.
NHL Draft:
- Tyson Strachan (137th overall) and Lee Stempniak (148th overall) were both selected in the fifth round of the 2003 NHL Draft.
- Matt Moulson (263rd overall) and Tanner Glass (265th overall) were both chosen in the ninth round of the 2003 NHL Draft.
- Chris Stewart (18th overall) and Derick Brassard (6th overall) were both taken in the first round of the NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (125), Foligno (92), Girgensons/Weber (80)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (103), Myers (71), Ristolainen/Weber (62)
Shots: Ennis (94), Moulson (79), Girgensons (75)
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: 2-6-1 (5), 20/38, 4/24, 18/27
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
Tyler Ennis … 10 points … 200 career points
RECENT MILESTONES
Cody McCormick … 400th NHL game … Dec. 31 vs. TBL
