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LAST GAME
Sunday, February 8
NY Islanders 3 at Buffalo 2
Goals: Foligno, Stafford
Goalie: Neuvirth (31 saves/28 shots)
PP: 0/3; PK: 1/2; Shots: NY Islanders 31 – Buffalo 10
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 186)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (lower body, Jan. 13; injured reserve) – 11 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
2/4: Assigned G Matt Hackett to Rochester (AHL)
2/8: Activated F Marcus Foligno from IR
UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Friday, Feb. 20: NY Rangers at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 22: Nashville at Buffalo, 6 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SENATORS at SABRES
- This is the third of four meetings between the Sabres and Senators this season.
- Next meeting: Friday, March 6 in Ottawa
- Last meeting: Ottawa defeated Buffalo, 5-2, in Ottawa on Dec. 29
- The Sabres are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Senators; 6-1-3 at home.
- This is the 123rd game all-time between Buffalo and Ottawa; Buffalo has a 59-46-17 series record.
- The Sabres are 33-20-7 at home against the Senators all-time.
THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 11-8-2 all-time on February 10.
- February 10, 1980: George “Punch” Imlach, Roger Crozier and Frank Christie become the first three members of the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame.
- February 10, 1993: Pat LaFontaine posts the last six-point game by a Sabres player, tallying one goal and five assists in a 6-2 Sabres win at Winnipeg.
- February 10, 2008: Patrick Kaleta scores his first NHL goal in a 5-3 win at home against Florida.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- Tonight’s game is the final game in a stretch of four home games in six days for the Sabres.
- Buffalo and Ottawa have had nine of their last 12 matchups decided by a single goal.
- 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 21 career games against the Senators, his highest total against any team.
- Jhonas Enroth went 2-1-0 in three starts last week with a .942 save percentage and a 2.00 goals-against average.
- Marcus Foligno recorded two points (1+1) on Sunday vs. NYI after returning from an injury that sidelined him for 19 games. He now has six points (4+2) in his last seven games played.
SETUP MAN
With his assist on Sunday vs. NYI, Nikita Zadorov now has at least a point in each of his last five games played, totaling six assists in those games. He is the first Sabres defenseman to record a point in five straight games played since Andrej Sekera did so from Feb. 26 to March 6, 2011 (2+8) and the first rookie defenseman to accomplish this feat since Tyler Myers had a point in five straight from March 16 to 24, 2010 (1+5). The last Sabres defenseman to record a point in six consecutive games played was Jason Woolley, from March 8 to 18, 2000 (3+3).
MR. 500
Brian Gionta needs one point to become the 61st active NHL player and the 49th American player in NHL history 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.
FINISHING STRONG AFTER THE BREAK
Buffalo is 547-408-186 (.561) all-time in games after the All-Star break. This includes a record of 96-55-24 (.617) in those games since 2005-06. The Sabres are 2-6-0 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 13th in the NHL with an average time on ice of 25:02 per game. 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 ranks second in the NHL with 145 blocked shots 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-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) in 41 games.
Nicolas Deslauriers:
- Played with Jean-Gabriel Pageau for the Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL) during the 2010-11 season.
Jhonas Enroth:
- Enroth and Mika Zibanejad were both born in 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 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.
Torrey Mitchell
- Played with Milan Michalek for 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. Hodgson was chosen 10th overall, Myers was the 12th overall pick, 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
- Rasmus Ristolainen, Nikita Zadorov and Curtis Lazar were all first-round picks in the 2013 NHL Draft. Ristolainen was selected eight overall, Zadorov went 16th overall and Lazar was taken one pick later at 17th overall.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (175), Weber (109), Girgensons (106)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (145), Myers/Weber (98), Ristolainen (81)
Shots: Ennis (122), Girgensons (99), Moulson (96)
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: 2-2-0 (4), 8/10, 1/8, 5/7
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 … 3 points … 200 career points
Matt Moulson … 3 points … 300 career points
RECENT MILESTONES
N/A