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LAST GAME
Thursday, February 5
St. Louis 3 at Buffalo 0
Goals: N/A
Goalie: Enroth (27 saves/29 shots)
PP: 0/2; PK: 1/1; Shots: St. Louis 30 – Buffalo 23
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 183)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Marcus Foligno (undisclosed, Dec. 23; injured reserve) – 18 games
Cody McCormick (lower body, Jan. 13; injured reserve) – 9 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
2/4: Assigned G Matt Hackett to Rochester (AHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
Sunday, Feb. 8: NY Islanders at Buffalo, 5 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 10: Ottawa at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 15: Philadelphia at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 17: Buffalo at New Jersey, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 19: Buffalo at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
STARS at SABRES
- This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Stars this season.
- Last meeting: Dallas defeated Buffalo, 3-2, in Dallas on March 3, 2014
- Next meeting: Monday, March 23 in Dallas
- The Sabres are 6-4-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Stars; 7-2-1 at home.
- This is the 115th game all-time between Buffalo and Dallas/Minnesota; Buffalo has a 54-43-17 series record.
- The Sabres are 31-14-11 at home against the Stars/North Stars all-time.
THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 10-7-1 all-time on February 7.
- February 7, 1980: Danny Gare scores his eighth career hat trick and Don Edwards stops 25 shots to earn his 11th career shutout in a 9-0 win vs. Pittsburgh.
- February 7, 1995: Donald Audette plays in his 200th NHL game, a 2-1 win vs. Washington.
- February 7, 2013: Tyler Ennis records his 100th NHL point (assist), in a 5-4 shootout win vs. Montreal.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- Tonight’s game is the second in a stretch of four home games in six days for the Sabres.
- The Sabres are 5-for-18 on the power play in their last seven games.
- Chris Stewart leads all Sabres with 14 points (11+3) in 19 career games against Dallas.
- The Sabres need a win tonight to avoid their first three-game losing streak against the Stars since Oct. 7, 1997 to Oct. 10, 1998.
THE STARS DON’T SHINE IN BUFFALO
The Sabres have gone 8-2-1 (one tie) in their last 11 home games against the Stars. Prior to a 4-3 win at First Niagara Center on Oct. 28, 2013, Dallas had not won a regular season game in Buffalo since Oct. 7, 1997, a 4-2 win in Lindy Ruff’s first home game as Buffalo’s head coach. The Sabres will be looking to avoid losing consecutive home games to the Stars for the first time since they moved to Dallas in 1993.
BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game opens up Buffalo’s 13th of 19 sets of back-to-back games this season, which will conclude with a visit from the Islanders tomorrow at 5 p.m. The Sabres are 2-10-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 3-8-1 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 (7).
MR. 500
Brian Gionta needs one point to become the 60th active NHL player to record 500 career points. The last player to reach this milestone as a member of the Sabres was Miroslav Satan, who recorded his 500th NHL point on Feb. 16, 2004.
STEWART HEATING UP
Chris Stewart has at least a point in 12 of his last 21 games, totaling 14 points (6+8) during that stretch with an average ice time of 16:13 per game. His last 21-game stretch with points in at least 12 games (and his last 21-game stretch with more than 16 minutes of ice time per game) came in February/March 2013, propelling him to the St. Louis Blues’ team lead in goals (18) and points (36) in 48 games during the 2012-13 season.
FINISHING STRONG AFTER THE BREAK
Buffalo is 546-407-186 (.561) all-time in games after the All-Star break. This includes a record of 95-54-24 (.618) in those games since 2005-06. The Sabres are 1-4-0 since the 2015 NHL All-Star Game. These totals do not include games after breaks for the Olympic Games.
LOGGING BIG MINUTES
- Tyler Myers leads all Sabres and ranks 11th in the league entering Friday night with an average time on ice of 25:10 per game.
- He has averaged 24:56 in his last 10 games despite each of those games ending in regulation.
- Myers last led the Sabres in ice time in a season in his rookie campaign of 2009-10, when he averaged 23:44 per game.
IN THE LINE OF FIRE
- Josh Gorges ranked second in the NHL with 139 blocked shots entering Friday’s games despite missing nine games to injury this season. He has ranked in the top 10 in the NHL in blocked shots in each of the last three seasons: 2011-12, 250 (1st); 2012-13, 116 (7th); 2013-14, 117 (T-5th)
- Gorges has blocked 12.2 percent of all opponent shot attempts taken with him on the ice this season, ranking third among NHL defensemen who have played at least 20 games. (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.
BUF-DAL CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:
- Lindy Ruff served as head coach of the Sabres for 14-plus seasons (1997-2013), compiling a record of 571-432-162 in 1,165 games. Ruff is the Sabres’ all-time franchise leader in wins, guiding the team to eight postseason appearances, including a trip to the 1999 Stanley Cup Final. He was awarded the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach in 2006. Ruff also played for the Sabres from 1979-89, appearing in 608 games, recording 285 points (102+183) and serving as team captain for three seasons.
- James Patrick spent seven seasons (2006-2013) as an assistant coach for the Sabres. He also spent six seasons with the Sabres as a player (1998-2004) and registered 74 points (23+51) in 345 games.
Ted Nolan:
- Coached Jason Demers for the Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) during the 2005-06 season.
Andre Benoit:
- Played with Jason Spezza for the Ottawa Senators during the 2010-11 season and the 2012-13 season.
Tyler Ennis:
- Ennis, Vernon Fiddler and David Schlemko were all born in Edmonton, Alberta.
Brian Flynn:
- Shares a birthday with Jordie Benn. Benn was born on July 26, 1987, and Flynn was born a year later on July 26, 1988.
Brian Gionta:
- Played with Erik Cole for the Montreal Canadiens from 2011-2013. The pair also represented the United States at the 2006 Olympics and the 2005 World Championship.
Josh Gorges:
- Gorges (1984) and John Klingberg (1992) were both born on Aug. 14.
Cody Hodgson:
- Hodgson, Jason Spezza and Trevor Daley were all born in Toronto, Ontario.
Andrej Meszaros:
- Played with Patrick Eaves and Jason Spezza for the Ottawa Senators from 2005-2008.
Torrey Mitchell:
- Played with Jason Demers for the San Jose Sharks from 2009-2012.
Tyler Myers:
- Played with Jamie Benn for the Kelowna Rockets (WHL) during the 2008-09 season.
Michal Neuvirth:
- Played with Cody Eakin for the Washington Capitals during the 2011-12 season.
Drew Stafford:
- He and Alex Goligoski represented the United States at the 2005 World Junior Championship.
Chris Stewart:
- Stewart, Jason Spezza and Trevor Daley were all born in Toronto, Ontario.
- Played with Jason Spezza for Team Canada at the 2011 World Championship.
2009 World Junior Championship:
- Tyler Ennis, Cody Hodgson, Tyler Myers and Jamie Benn all represented Team Canada at the 2009 World Junior Championship. Canada won the gold medal and Hodgson led the tournament in scoring with 16 points (5+11).
NHL Draft:
- Brian Gionta (82nd overall) and Erik Cole (71st overall) were both chosen in the third round of the 1998 NHL Draft.
- Nicolas Deslauriers and Cody Eakin were both selected in the third round of the 2009 NHL Draft. Deslauriers was selected 84th overall to Los Angeles, and Eakin was selected one pick later at 85th overall by Washington.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (169), Weber (106), Girgensons (103)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (139), Weber (95), Myers (91)
Shots: Ennis (121), Girgensons (97), Moulson (94)
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
41-50: 0-10-0 (0), 17/43, 6/29, 26/37
51-60: 1-1-0 (2), 3/5, 0/3, 3/3
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
Brian Gionta … 1 point … 500 career points
Torrey Mitchell … 1 point … 100 career points
Tyler Ennis … 4 points … 200 career points
Matt Moulson … 4 points … 300 career points
RECENT MILESTONES
N/A
