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LAST GAME
Thursday, February 19
Buffalo 2 at Philadelphia 1 (SO)
Goals: Deslauriers, Gionta; GDG-Flynn
Goalie: Neuvirth (36 saves/38 shots)
PP: 0/3; PK: 3/4; Shots: Philadelphia 38 – Buffalo 32
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 199)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (lower body, Jan. 13; injured reserve) – 15 games
Josh Gorges (lower body, Feb. 15) – 3 games
Patrick Kaleta (lower body, Feb. 15) – 3 games
Evander Kane (shoulder, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 3 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
2/15: Recalled F Johan Larsson from Rochester (AHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
Sunday, Feb. 22: Nashville at Buffalo, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 24: Buffalo at Columbus, 7 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 26: Vancouver at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 28: Buffalo at Florida, 3 p.m.
Tuesday, March 3: Buffalo at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
RANGERS at SABRES
- This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and Rangers this season.
- Next meeting: Saturday, March 14 in Buffalo
- Last meeting: New York defeated Buffalo, 6-1, in New York on Jan. 3
- The Sabres are 2-5-3 in their last 10 games vs. the Rangers; 4-5-1 at home.
- This is the 170th game all-time between Buffalo and New York; Buffalo has a 78-58-33 series record.
- The Sabres are 47-25-13 at home against the Rangers all-time.
THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 6-7-3 all-time on February 20.
- February 20, 1971: Gerry Meehan scores the third hat trick in franchise history in a 6-5 road loss to the Detroit Red Wings.
- February 20, 1987: Doug Smith and Phil Housley score twice each as the Sabres chase John Vanbiesbrouck on the way to a 6-3 road win against the New York Rangers.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- Tonight’s game was re-scheduled from Nov. 21 after a snowstorm caused the NHL to postpone the game.
- Buffalo needs a win tonight to avoid the team’s first six-game losing streak to the Rangers since they lost six in a row from March 23, 1971 to March 2, 1972.
- The Rangers are seeking a third consecutive win in Buffalo for the first time since 1995.
- Tyler Ennis has 13 points (4+9) in 15 career games against the Rangers, including two of his nine career three-point games (4/6/10 and 3/23/12).
- Nicolas Deslauriers ranked for eighth in the NHL after last night’s game with 188 hits.
NEUVIRTH EMBRACING STARTING ROLE
Michal Neuvirth stopped 36 of 38 Flyers shots in last night’s shootout win at PHI and has now made 98 saves in the three games since the Sabres traded Jhonas Enroth to Dallas, logging a .951 save percentage and a 1.56 goals-against average in those games.
BIG MINUTES FOR BOGOSIAN
After becoming the first player to lead the team in ice time in his Sabres debut since Jaroslav Spacek (10/4/06) on Sunday vs. PHI, Zach Bogosian led the team again on Tuesday at NJD (29:14) and then once more last night at PHI with a career-high 32:23. Bogosian has logged six shots, 21 hits and 10 blocked shots in his three games with the Sabres.
MILESTONE NIGHT
With his goal last night at PHI, Brian Gionta became the 62nd active NHL player and the 49th American player in NHL history to record 500 career points. Torrey Mitchell recorded the primary assist on the goal, logging his 100th NHL point.
BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game wraps up Buffalo’s 14th of 19 sets of back-to-back games this season, which opened with a 3-2 shootout win at PHI last night. The Sabres are 4-10-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 3-9-1 in the second game. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to-back sets is: four points (1), three points (0), two points (4), one point (1) and zero points (7).
FINISHING STRONG AFTER THE BREAK
Buffalo is 548-410-187 (.560) all-time in games after the All-Star break. This includes a record of 97-57-25 (.612) in those games since 2005-06. The Sabres are 3-7-1 since the 2015 NHL All-Star Game. These totals do not include games after breaks for the Olympic Games.
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.
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.
Anders Lindback:
- Played with Martin St. Louis for the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2012-2014.
- Played with Kevin Klein for the Nashville Predators from 2010-2012.
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 (188), Bogosian (127), Girgensons (121)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (148), Weber (108), Ristolainen (84)
Shots: Ennis (135), Girgensons (110), Stewart (104)
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: 3-4-1 (7), 14/18, 3/21, 15/20
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 (7-2; 64-48 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)
February 17 at New Jersey: L, 2-1 (GDG-Gomez)
February 19 at Philadelphia: W, 3-2 (GDG-Flynn)
MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Zach Bogosian … 4 games … 400 career games played
Anders Lindback … 5 games … 100 career games played
Points
Matt Moulson … 1 point … 300 career points
Tyler Ennis … 2 points … 200 career points
RECENT MILESTONES
Brian Gionta … 500th NHL point … Feb. 19 at PHI
Torrey Mitchell … 100th NHL point … Feb. 19 at PHI
