Game Preview: 3/16/15 vs. WSH

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Saturday, March 14
NY Rangers 2 at Buffalo 0
Goals: N/A
Goalie: Lindback (31 saves/32 shots); 1 ENG
PP: 0/3; PK: 3/3; Shots: NY Rangers 33 – Buffalo 20

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 259)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (lower body, Jan. 13; injured reserve) – 25 games
Josh Gorges (lower body, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 13 games
Patrick Kaleta (lower body, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 13 games
Evander Kane (shoulder, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 13 games
Zemgus Girgensons (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 7 games
Chad Johnson (lower body, March 6) – 4 games
Zach Bogosian (lower body, March 14) – 1 game

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
N/A

UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Monday, March 23: Buffalo at Dallas, 8:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 26: Arizona at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
CAPITALS at SABRES

• This is the third and final meeting between the Sabres and Capitals this season.
• Last meeting: Washington defeated Buffalo, 6-1, in Washington on March 6
• The Sabres are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Capitals; 5-3-2 at home
• This is the 149th game all-time between Buffalo and Washington; Buffalo has an 86-44-18 series record.
• The Sabres are 45-20-8 at home against the Capitals all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 10-6-4 all-time on March 16.
• March 16, 1975: Gilbert Perreault scores three goals and assists on three more as the Sabres defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs on the road, 11-3.
• March 16, 1989: The Sabres get a goal from six different scorers (Andreychuk, Arniel, Foligno, Hogue, Krupp, Turgeon) in a 6-1 win at Hartford.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• The last three Sabres-Capitals games at First Niagara Center have been decided in overtime or a shootout.
• The Capitals will be looking for their first consecutive wins in Buffalo since the 2001-02 season.
• Six of the eight games between these teams since the beginning of the 2012-13 season have been decided by a single goal.
• Tyler Ennis has 11 points (2+9) in his last nine games against the Capitals.
• Brian Gionta leads all Sabres with 24 points (10+14) in 37 career games against the Capitals.
• Nicolas Deslauriers ranked ninth in the league with 217 hits after Saturday night’s game.
• If he plays tonight, Rasmus Ristolainen will appear in his 100th NHL game.

BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game opens up Buffalo’s 16th of 19 sets of back-to-back games this season, which concludes tomorrow at BOS. The Sabres are 4-11-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 3-11-1 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 (8).

HOT AT HOME
Matt Moulson has 10 points (2+8) in his last 11 games, dating back to Feb. 19 and eight points (1+7) in his last 10 home games. He was held scoreless Saturday vs. NYR and will try to avoid going two straight home games without a point for the first time since Jan. 13 and 15.

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

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.
• Played with Eric Fehr for the Winnipeg Jets during the 2011-12 season.

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.

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 27th overall.
• 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.
• Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Tom Wilson (16th overall) were both 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 (217), Bogosian (153), Foligno (148)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (148), Weber (133), Ristolainen (105)
Shots: Ennis (153), Moulson (128), 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: 2-5-1 (5), 19/28, 1/17, 19/26

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 (7-4; 64-50 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)
March 11 at Toronto: L, 4-3 (GDG-Bozak)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Rasmus Ristolainen … 1 game … 100 career games played
Mike Weber … 3 games … 300 career games played
Assists
Zach Bogosian … 9 assists … 100 career assists

RECENT MILESTONES
Anders Lindback … 100th NHL game … March 14 vs. NYR