GAME-DAY RESOURCES
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LAST GAME
Saturday, January 3
Buffalo 1 at NY Rangers 6
Goals: Stafford
Goalie: Neuvirth (5 saves/9 shots); Enroth (28 saves/30 shots)
PP: 0/3; PK: 1/4; Shots: NY Rangers 39 – Buffalo 25
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 145)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Torrey Mitchell (lower body, Dec. 16; injured reserve) – 9 games
Tyler Myers (lower body, Dec. 21; injured reserve) – 7 games
Marcus Foligno (undisclosed, Dec. 23; injured reserve) – 6 games
Brian Gionta (upper body, Dec. 23) – 6 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
1/1: Assigned D Mark Pysyk to Rochester (AHL)
1/4: Recalled F Tim Schaller and F Phil Varone from Rochester (AHL); Assigned F Johan Larsson to Rochester (AHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Saturday, Jan. 17: Philadelphia at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at DEVILS
- This is the first of three meetings between the Sabres and Devils this season.
- Next meeting: Tuesday, Feb. 17 in New Jersey
- Last meeting: Buffalo defeated New Jersey, 3-2 (SO), in Buffalo on April 1
- The Sabres are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Devils; 6-2-2 on the road.
- This is the 143rd game all-time between Buffalo and New Jersey; Buffalo has a 73-45-24 series record.
- The Sabres are 33-23-14 on the road against the Devils all-time.
THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 13-9-0 all-time on January 6.
- January 6, 1996: Jason Dawe scores his first career hat trick as the Sabres top the Canadiens, 7-6, despite trailing five different times throughout the game and only leading for the last 2:40 of the game.
- January 6, 2001: Martin Biron blanks the Predators in a 2-0 Sabres win, earning a shutout in his second consecutive start. Biron and Dominik Hasek would combine to tie a franchise record with 13 shutouts in the 2000-01 season.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- The Sabres are seeking their first three-game winning streak against the Devils since Oct. 23, 2010 to March 26, 2011.
- The home team has won the last six games between these teams; the Sabres haven’t won in New Jersey since Jan. 24, 2012.
- Nine of the last 16 games between these teams have been settled in overtime or a shootout, including six of the last eight. With 11 shootouts in the 26 matchups since the beginning of 2007-08 season, the Sabres have played more shootouts against the Devils than any other non-divisional opponent (Ottawa-12, Boston/Montreal-11), going 7-4 in those shootouts.
- Jhonas Enroth has compiled a 10-5-1 record in his last 16 decisions.
ALL-STAR Z
- Second-year Latvian forward Zemgus Girgensons led all NHL players with 1,574,896 votes in the 2015 NHL All-Star Game Fan Vote and will become the 30th player in Sabres history to appear in the All-Star Game when he plays in this year’s installment on Jan. 25 in Columbus.
- Of the other 29 Sabres All-Stars, only five others were selected to appear in the game in either of their first two NHL seasons: Tom Barrasso, Phil Housley, Rick Martin, Gilbert Perreault, Christian Ruuttu
- With 11 goals this season, Girgensons has 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.
IN THE LINE OF FIRE
- Entering Monday’s games, Josh Gorges ranks second in the NHL with 105 blocked shots despite missing nine games to injury this season.
- Gorges has blocked 12.9 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. (Shot attempt data 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.
BUF-NJD CONNECTIONS
Former Devils:
- Brian Gionta played for the Devils from 2001-2009, tallying 312 points (152+160) in 473 games. Selected by New Jersey in the third round (82nd overall) of the 1998 NHL Draft, Gionta currently holds the club’s single-season franchise record in goals (48), which he set during the 2005-06 campaign.
Former Sabres:
- Steve Bernier played 17 games for the Sabres during the 2007-08 season. The Sabres acquired Bernier and a 2008 first-round draft pick (Tyler Ennis) from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Brian Campbell and a 2008 seventh-round draft pick on Nov. 26, 2008. He totaled nine points (3+6) during his time in Buffalo.
- Dainius Zubrus played with the Sabres in 2006-07. He appeared in 19 games and notched eight points (4+4).
- Devils assistant coach Mike Foligno is the father of current Sabres player Marcus Foligno. The elder Foligno was also a member of the Sabres for the better part of 10 seasons from 1981-1991. During his career in Buffalo, he appeared in 664 games and registered 511 points (247+264). Foligno enjoyed the best season of his NHL career in 1985-86, when he set career-best marks in goals (41), assists (39) and points (80) as a member of the Sabres.
Tom Coolen:
- Coached Steve Bernier during the 2001-02 season with the Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL).
Jhonas Enroth:
- He and Jacob Josefson were both born in Stockholm, Sweden.
Brian Gionta:
- Brian’s younger brother, Stephen Gionta plays for the Devils. The two were born in Rochester, N.Y.
- Represented the United States alongside Scott Gomez at the 2006 Olympics. The pair also played together for the Montreal Canadiens from 2009-2012.
- Played with Mike Cammalleri for the Montreal Canadiens from 2009-2012.
- Played with Michael Ryder for the Montreal Canadiens during the 2012-13 season.
Josh Gorges:
- Played with Mike Cammalleri and Scott Gomez for the Montreal Canadiens from 2009-2012.
- Played with Michael Ryder for the Montreal Canadiens from 2006-2008 and again during the 2012-13 season.
- Played with Steve Bernier and Ryane Clowe for the San Jose Sharks from 2005-2007.
Cody Hodgson:
- Played with Cory Schneider for the Vancouver Canucks from 2010-2012.
Andrej Meszaros:
- Played with Martin Havlat for the Ottawa Senators during the 2005-06 season.
- Played with Jaromir Jagr for the Philadelphia Flyers during the 2011-12 season.
Torrey Mitchell:
- Played alongside Steve Bernier for the San Jose Sharks during the 2007-08 season.
- Played with Ryane Clowe for the San Jose Sharks from 2007-2012.
Matt Moulson:
- Played alongside Peter Harrold from 2007-2009 with the Los Angeles Kings. Mike Cammalleri was also a member of the team during the 2007-08 season.
Michael Neuvirth:
- Played with Adam Henrique for the Windsor Spitfires during the 2007-08 season.
Drew Stafford:
- Played with Peter Harrold for the United States at the 2009 World Hockey Championship.
- Represented the United States alongside Cory Schneider at the 2005 World Junior Championship.
- Played with Travis Zajac at the University of North Dakota from 2004-2006.
NHL Draft:
- Drew Stafford (13th overall), Andrej Meszaros (24th overall), Cory Schneider (26th overall) and Travis Zajac (20th overall) were all chosen in the first round of the 2004 NHL Draft.
- Marcus Foligno (104th overall) and Seth Helgeson (114th overall) were both fourth-round picks in the 2009 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (127), Foligno (92), Weber (83)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (105), Myers (71), Weber (64)
Shots: Ennis (96), Moulson (82), Girgensons (77)
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: 2-7-1 (5), 21/44, 4/27, 19/31
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
