Game Preview: 3/6/15 at OTT

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Tuesday, March 3
Buffalo 0 at Tampa Bay 3
Goals: N/A
Goalie: Lindback (32 saves/35 shots)
PP: 0/2; PK: 0/2; Shots: Tampa Bay 35 – Buffalo 28

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 234)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (lower body, Jan. 13; injured reserve) – 21 games
Josh Gorges (lower body, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 9 games
Patrick Kaleta (lower body, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 9 games
Evander Kane (shoulder, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 9 games
Zemgus Girgensons (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 3 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
3/2: Acquired a fifth-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft from Montreal in exchange for F Brian Flynn; Acquired G Chad Johnson and a third-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft from NY Islanders in exchange for G Michal Neuvirth; Acquired F Jack Nevins and a seventh-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft from Montreal in exchange for F Torrey Mitchell; Acquired a second-round pick in the 2017 NHL Draft from Minnesota in exchange for F Chris Stewart
3/3: Recalled F Jerry D’Amigo, F Mikhail Grigorenko and F Tim Schaller from Rochester (AHL)
3/4: Assigned F Mikhail Grigorenko to Rochester (AHL)
3/5: Recalled F Mikhail Grigorenko from Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Saturday, March 7: Buffalo at Washington, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, March 11: Buffalo at Toronto, 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 14: NY Rangers at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Monday, March 16: Washington at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, March 17: Buffalo at Boston, 7:30 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at SENATORS

• This is the fourth and final meeting between the Sabres and Senators this season.
• Last meeting: Ottawa defeated Buffalo, 2-1, in Buffalo on Feb. 10
• The Sabres are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Senators; 4-6-0 on the road.
• This is the 124th game all-time between Buffalo and Ottawa; Buffalo has a 59-47-17 series record.
• The Sabres are 26-26-10 on the road against the Senators all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 14-4-5 all-time on March 6.
• March 6, 1988: Phil Housley records his 400th point as a member of the Sabres, reaching a milestone in the sixth of his eight seasons with the Sabres that no other Buffalo defenseman has matched.
• March 6, 1994: The Sabres earn the 900th win in franchise history, as Dominik Hasek stops 43 shots in Detroit on the night Terry Sawchuk’s number is raised to the rafters.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Tonight’s game is the third of five consecutive road games for the Sabres, tying for the longest stretch away from home this season.
• Chad Johnson went 2-2-1 in five games with the Islanders in February, posting a .935 save percentage and a 2.20 goals-against average. Johnson is 1-1-0 in two career games against the Senators, posting a .935 save percentage and a 1.84 goals-against average.
• Brian Gionta leads all Sabres with 30 points (18+12) in 44 career games against the Senators.
• Mike Weber has seven points (1+6) in 22 career games against the Senators, his highest total against any team.

SABRES-SENATORS

• The Sabres are 8-4 all-time in shootouts against the Senators. Their 12 shootouts against the Ottawa tie their total against New Jersey for most against a single opponent.
• Buffalo and Ottawa have had 12 of their 17 matchups since the beginning of the 2011-12 season decided by a single goal, including six of the last seven.
• The Sabres have lost their last five games in Ottawa, with the last win taking place on March 10, 2012. They will look to avoid their first six-game losing streak in Ottawa in franchise history.

BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game opens up Buffalo’s 15th of 19 sets of back-to-back games this season, which concludes tomorrow night in Washington. The Sabres are 4-10-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 3-10-1 in the second game. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to-back sets is: four points (1), three points (0), two points (5), one point (1) and zero points (7).

TRADE DEADLINE RECAP
A list of players and picks traded to and from the Sabres on deadline day:

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 Feb. 15 vs. PHI, Zach Bogosian has led the team in seven of the next eight games as well, including a career-high 32:23 on Feb. 19 at PHI. Bogosian has averaged 27:09 of ice time in nine games with the Sabres, logging two assists, 16 shots, 38 hits and 26 blocked shots.

FINISHING STRONG AFTER THE BREAK
Buffalo is 550-413-188 (.560) all-time in games after the All-Star break. This includes a record of 99-60-26 (.605) in those games since 2005-06. The Sabres are 5-10-2 since the 2015 NHL All-Star Game. These totals do not include games after breaks for the Olympic Games.

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 in 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.

Marcus Foligno: 

• Played with Jared Cowen for Team Canada at the 2011 World Junior Championship held 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.

Cody Hodgson:

• Played with Kyle Turris for Team Canada at the 2014 World Hockey Championship.

Chad Johnson:

• Johnson, Jared Cowen and Eric Gryba were all born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Johan Larsson:

• Represented Team Sweden alongside Erik Karlsson at the 2012 World Championship.

Anders Lindback:

• Played with David Legwand for the Nashville Predators from 2010-2012.

NHL Draft:

• Zach Bogosian, Cody Hodgson, Tyler Ennis and D Erik Karlsson were all drafted in the first round of the 2008 NHL Draft. Bogosian was taken third overall, Hodgson was chosen 10th overall, Karlsson was selected 15th overall and Ennis was drafted with the 26th overall pick.
• Zach Dalpe and Patrick Wiercioch were both second-round draft picks in the 2008 NHL Draft. Wiercioch went 42nd overall and Dalpe was taken three picks later at 45th overall.
• Phil Varone (147th overall) and Mike Hoffman (130th overall) were both selected in the fifth round of the 2009 NHL Draft.
• Mikhail Grigorenko (12th overall), Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Cody Ceci (15th overall) were all selected in a four-pick span 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 (202), Bogosian (144), Weber (133)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (148), Weber (118), Ristolainen (95)
Shots: Ennis (144), Moulson (117), Girgensons (115)

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: 3-5-2 (8), 16/23, 3/27, 26/32
61-70: 2-2-0 (4), 13/13, 1/9, 8/12

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 (7-3; 64-49 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)
February 22 vs. Nashville: L, 2-1 (GDG-Forsberg)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Anders Lindback … 4 games … 100 career games played
Rasmus Ristolainen … 5 games … 100 career games played
Mike Weber … 7 games … 300 career games played
Points
Tyler Ennis … 1 point … 200 career points

RECENT MILESTONES
Zac Dalpe … 100th NHL game … March 3 at TBL