Game Preview: 3/11/15 at TOR

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Saturday, March 7
Buffalo 1 at Washington 6
Goals: Larsson
Goalie: Hackett (19 saves/23 shots); Lindback (20 saves/22 shots)
PP: 0/3; PK: 1/3; Shots: Washington 45 – Buffalo 17

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 246)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (lower body, Jan. 13; injured reserve) – 23 games
Josh Gorges (lower body, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 11 games
Patrick Kaleta (lower body, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 11 games
Evander Kane (shoulder, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 11 games
Zemgus Girgensons (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 5 games
Chad Johnson (lower body, March 6) – 2 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
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 to Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Saturday, March 21: Buffalo at Nashville, 8 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at MAPLE LEAFS

• This is the third of four meetings between the Sabres and Maple Leafs this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Toronto, 6-2, in Buffalo on Nov. 15
• Next meeting: Wednesday, April 1 in Buffalo
• The Sabres are 4-3-3 in their last 10 games vs. the Maple Leafs; 1-7-2 on the road
• This is the 196th game all-time between Buffalo and Toronto; Buffalo has a 107-63-25 series record.
• The Sabres are 42-38-17 on the road against the Maple Leafs all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 6-7-3 all-time on March 11.
• March 11, 1979: Eight different Sabres score, including a two-goal night from Rene Robert, as the Sabres top the Flames, 9-4, at the Aud.
• March 11, 1999: The Sabres acquire Stu Barnes from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Matthew Barnaby.
• March 11, 2003: The Sabres acquire Daniel Briere and Phoenix’s third-round selection in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft (Andrej Sekera) in exchange for Chris Gratton and Buffalo’s fourth-round choice in the 2004 Entry Draft (Liam Reddox).

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Tonight’s game is the fifth of five consecutive road games for the Sabres, tying for the longest stretch away from home this season.
• The Sabres are seeking consecutive wins against the Maple Leafs for the first time since March 21and Nov. 15, 2013.
• Matt Moulson has recorded 14 points (9+5) in his last 11 games against the Maple Leafs, dating back to the beginning of the 2011-12 season. In 22 career games against Toronto, he has 20 points (14+6).
• Anders Lindback is 2-0-0 in three career games against the Maple Leafs, with a .948 save percentage and a 1.33 goals-against average.
• Six of the last 12 games between these teams have gone to overtime.
• Brian Gionta (17+11) leads all Sabres with 28 career points against the Maple Leafs.
• Nicolas Deslauriers ranked ninth in the league with 213 hits entering play Tuesday.

HOME SWEET HOME
The home team has won 17 of the last 19 games between the Sabres and the Maple Leafs, including each of the last nine. The Sabres will look to avoid losing six straight road games in Toronto for the first time in franchise history with a win tonight. The team’s last win in Toronto came on Jan. 21, 2013.

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 10 games as well, including a career-high 32:23 on Feb. 19 at PHI. Bogosian has averaged 26:21 of ice time in 11 games with the Sabres, logging four assists, 19 shots, 41 hits and 28 blocked shots.

FINISHING STRONG AFTER THE BREAK
Buffalo is 550-415-188 (.559) all-time in games after the All-Star break. This includes a record of 99-62-26 (.599) in those games since 2005-06. The Sabres are 5-12-2 since the 2015 NHL All-Star Game. These totals do not include games after breaks for the Olympic Games.

BUF-TOR CONNECTIONS
Former Maple Leafs:

• Jerry D’Amigo was drafted by Toronto on the sixth round (158th overall) of the 2009 NHL Draft and was a part of the Maple Leafs’ organization for five seasons. He played 22 games for the Maple Leafs during the 2013-14 season and had three points (1+2). D’Amigo also scored 118 points (57+61) in 240 games for the Toronto Marlies (AHL) from 2010-2014.

Danny Flynn:

• Coached Zach Sill for the Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) from 2007-2009.

Zach Dalpe:

• Played with David Booth for the Vancouver Canucks during the 2013-14 season.

Nicolas Deslauriers:

• Played with Brandon Kozun for the Manchester Monarchs (AHL) from 2011-2014.

Tyler Ennis:

• Ennis and Dion Phaneuf were both born in Edmonton, Alberta.
• He and Nazem Kadri share the same birthday. Ennis was born on Oct. 6, 1989, while Kadri was born on the same day in 1990.

Cody Hodgson:

• Hodgson and Peter Holland are both natives of Toronto, Ontario.

Johan Larsson:

• Played with Tim Erixon for Team Sweden at the 2011 World Junior Championship.

Anders Lindback:

• Played with Richard Panik for the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2012-2014.

Andrej Meszaros:

• Played with James Van Riemsdyk for the Philadelphia Flyers from 2010-12.
• Represented Team Slovakia alongside Richard Panik at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Matt Moulson:

• Played with Jonathan Bernier for the Los Angeles Kings and Manchester Monarchs (AHL) for two seasons (2007-2009)

Tyson Strachan:

• Played with Eric Brewer for the St. Louis Blues from 2008-2011.

Phil Varone:

• Played with Nazem Kadri for the Kitchener Rangers (OHL) from 2006-2008 and again for the London Knights (OHL) from 2008-2010.

World Championship:

• Cody Hodgson, Nazem Kadri, James Reimer and Morgan Rielly all represented Team Canada at the 2014 World Championship.

NHL Entry Draft:

• Zach Bogosian (3rd overall), Cody Hodgson (10th overall), Tyler Ennis (26th overall) and Jake Gardiner (17th overall) were all chosen in the first round of the 2008 NHL Draft.
• Jerry D’Amigo (158th overall) and Brandon Kozun (179th overall) were both sixth-round picks in the 2009 NHL Draft.
• Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Morgan Rielly (5th overall) were both selected in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (213), Bogosian (147), Weber (140)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (148), Weber (123), Ristolainen (102)
Shots: Ennis (148), Moulson (121), 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: 2-4-0 (4), 16/22, 1/12, 12/18

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 … 2 games … 100 career games played
Rasmus Ristolainen … 3 games … 100 career games played
Mike Weber … 5 games … 300 career games played
Assists
Zach Bogosian … 9 assists … 100 career assists

RECENT MILESTONES
Tyler Ennis … 200th NHL point … March 6 at OTT