Game Preview: 3/7/15 at WSH

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Friday, March 6
Buffalo 2 at Ottawa 3
Goals: Varone, Ennis
Goalie: Lindback (34 saves/37 shots)
PP: 0/0; PK: 3/3; Shots: Ottawa 37 – Buffalo 26

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 240)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (lower body, Jan. 13; injured reserve) – 22 games
Josh Gorges (lower body, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 10 games
Patrick Kaleta (lower body, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 10 games
Evander Kane (shoulder, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 10 games
Zemgus Girgensons (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 4 games
Chad Johnson (lower body, March 6) – 1 game

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)
3/6: Recalled G Andrey Makarov from Rochester (AHL)
3/7: Recalled G Matt Hackett from Rochester (AHL); Assigned F Mikhail Grigorenko and G Andrey Makarov from Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Friday, March 20: New Jersey at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at CAPITALS

• This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and Capitals this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Washington, 2-1, in Washington on Nov. 22
• Next meeting: Monday, March 16 in Buffalo
• The Sabres are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Capitals; 3-6-1 on the road
• This is the 148th game all-time between Buffalo and Washington; Buffalo has an 86-43-18 series record.
• The Sabres are 41-23-10 on the road against the Capitals all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 7-5-5 all-time on March 7.
• March 7, 1989: The Sabres trade Lindy Ruff to the New York Rangers for a fifth-round draft choice in 1990 (Richard Smehlik).
• March 7, 2002: Martin Biron turns aside 26 New York Islanders shots to earn the first of two shutouts on back-to-back nights, a feat he would complete with another 26-save performance the following night against Montreal.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Tonight’s game is the fourth of five consecutive road games for the Sabres, tying for the longest stretch away from home this season.
• In two starts with the Sabres, Anders Lindback has recorded his two highest save percentages of the 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.
• Brian Gionta leads all Sabres with 24 points (10+14) in 36 career games against the Capitals.

SABRES-CAPITALS

• With a win tonight, the Sabres would have three consecutive wins in Washington for the first time since 2007.
• Six of the seven games between these teams since the beginning of the 2012-13 season have been decided by a single goal, including each of the last five.
• With a win or overtime loss tonight, the Sabres would have points in six straight games against the Capitals for the first time since they won six straight from Dec. 26, 2006 to Dec. 14, 2007.
• Tyler Ennis has 11 points (2+9) in his last eight games against the Capitals.
• Matt Moulson has nine points (3+6) in his last 10 games against the Capitals.
• Cody Hodgson has six points (4+2) in his last seven games against the Capitals.
• Brian Gionta has three points (0+3) in his last three games against the Capitals.

BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game wraps up Buffalo’s 15th of 19 sets of back-to-back games this season, which began with a 3-2 loss last night at OTT. The Sabres are 4-11-0 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 eight of the next nine games as well, including a career-high 32:23 on Feb. 19 at PHI. Bogosian has averaged 26:57 of ice time in 10 games with the Sabres, logging three assists, 19 shots, 40 hits and 26 blocked shots.

FINISHING STRONG AFTER THE BREAK
Buffalo is 550-414-188 (.559) all-time in games after the All-Star break. This includes a record of 99-61-26 (.602) in those games since 2005-06. The Sabres are 5-11-2 since the 2015 NHL All-Star Game. These totals do not include games after breaks for the Olympic Games.

BUF-WSH CONNECTIONS
Former Capitals:

• Tyson Strachan played for the Capitals during the 2013-14 season, registering two assists in 18 games. He also had 19 points (4+15) in 60 games for the Hershey Bears.
• Arturs Irbe served as Washington’s goaltending coach from 2009-2011.

Local Players:

• Brooks Orpik grew up in Amherst, N.Y. and attended Nichols High School.

Zach Bogosian:

• Played with Matt Niskanen for the United States at the 2009 World Championship.

Tyler Ennis:

• He and Jason Chimera were both born in Edmonton, Alberta.
• Ennis (1989) and Marcus Johansson (1990) were both born on Oct. 6.

Brian Gionta:

• Played with Brooks Orpik at Boston College from 1998-2001. The Golden Eagles won the NCAA National Championship in 2001.

Mikhail Grigorenko:

• Represented Team Russia alongside Evgeny Kuznetsov at the 2012 World Junior Championship.

Cody Hodgson:

• He and Tom Wilson were both born in Toronto, Ontario.
• Represented Team Canada alongside Troy Brouwer and Jason Chimera at the 2014 World Championship.

Johan Larsson:

• Played with Nicklas Backstrom for Team Sweden at the 2012 World Championship.

Anders Lindback:

• Played with Joel Ward for the Nashville Predators during the 2010-11 season.
• Played with Michael Latta for the Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) from 2010-2012.

Matt Moulson:

• He and Joel Ward were both born in North York, Ontario.

Phil Varone:

• Played with John Carlson for the London Knights (OHL) during the 2008-09 season.

Nikita Zadorov:

• He and Alexander Ovechkin were both born in Moscow, Russia.

NHL Draft:

• Andrej Meszaros (24th overall), Alexander Ovechkin (1st overall) and Mike Green (29th overall) were all selected in the first round of the 2004 NHL Draft.
• Zach Bogosian, Tyler Ennis, Cody Hodgson and John Carlson were all first-round draft picks in the 2008 NHL Draft. Bogosian was picked 3rd overall, Ennis was the 26th overall selection, Hodgson was the 10th overall selection and Carlson was picked with the 27th overall selection.
• Nicolas Deslauriers and Michael Latta were both chosen in the third round of the 2009 NHL Draft. Latta was taken 72nd overall by Nashville, and Deslauriers went 84th overall to Los Angeles.
• Mikhail Grigorenko (12th overall), Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Tom Wilson (16th overall) were all chosen in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft.
• Rasmus Ristolainen, (8th overall) Nikita Zadorov, (16th overall) and Andre Burakovsky (23rd overall) were all selected in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (210), Bogosian (146), Weber (139)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (148), Weber (122), Ristolainen (98)
Shots: Ennis (146), Moulson (120), 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: 2-3-0 (4), 15/16, 1/9, 11/15

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 … 3 games … 100 career games played
Rasmus Ristolainen … 4 games … 100 career games played
Mike Weber … 6 games … 300 career games played

RECENT MILESTONES
Zac Dalpe … 100th NHL game … March 3 at TBL
Tyler Ennis … 200th NHL point … March 6 at OTT