Game Preview: 3/17/15 at BOS

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Monday, March 16
Washington 4 at Buffalo 3 (SO)
Goals: Ennis, Hodgson, Larsson
Goalie: Lindback (35 saves/38 shots)
PP: 1/3; PK: 0/2; Shots: Washington 38 – Buffalo 33

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 267)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (lower body, Jan. 13; injured reserve) – 26 games
Josh Gorges (lower body, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 14 games
Patrick Kaleta (lower body, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 14 games
Evander Kane (shoulder, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 14 games
Zemgus Girgensons (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 8 games
Chad Johnson (lower body, March 6) – 5 games
Zach Bogosian (lower body, March 14) – 2 games
Andrej Meszaros (upper body, March 16) – 1 game

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
3/16: Recalled D Chad Ruhwedel from Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Saturday, March 28: Buffalo at Colorado, 9 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at BRUINS

• This is the fourth and final meeting between the Sabres and Bruins this season.
• Last meeting: Boston defeated Buffalo, 4-3 (OT), in Boston on Dec. 21
• The Sabres are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Bruins; 4-4-2 on the road.
• This is the 277th game all-time between Buffalo and Boston; Buffalo has a 119-115-42 series record.
• The Sabres are 46-70-20 on the road against the Bruins all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 8-10-3 all-time on March 17.
• March 17, 1997: Donald Audette scores twice and Rob Ray fights Jeff Odgers to become the 30th player in NHL history to record 2,000 penalty minutes in his career during a 5-1 win at home against Boston.
• March 17, 2001: Martin Biron makes 42 saves and Chris Gratton scores the game-winning goal in a 3-2 win at Washington.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Entering tonight, the Sabres have lost four straight games to the Bruins for the first time since they lost six in a row from April 9, 1995 to Feb. 3, 1996.
• The last two games between these teams were settled in overtime.
• The Sabres are looking to avoid their first four-game losing streak in Boston since April 19, 1995 to Feb. 3, 1996.
• When these teams last met, Tim Schaller scored his first NHL goal in a 4-3 overtime loss.
• Tyler Ennis has three points (1+2) in his last two games against the Bruins.
• Brian Gionta leads all Sabres with 25 points (13+12) in 49 career games against the Bruins.
• Nicolas Deslauriers was tied for eighth in the league with 223 hits after Monday night’s game.

LIGHTS-OUT LINDBACK
In the six games since he was acquired from the Dallas Stars on Feb. 11, Anders Lindback has recorded a .924 save percentage and a 2.70 goals-against average, stopping at least 30 shots in each of his five starts.

BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game wraps up Buffalo’s 16th of 19 sets of back-to-back games this season, which began yesterday with a 4-3 shootout loss vs. WSH The Sabres are 4-11-1 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).

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

BUF-BOS CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:

• Daniel Paille was a part of the Sabres’ organization from 2002-2009. He was selected in the first round (20th overall) by the Sabres in the 2002 NHL Draft. He played 195 games for the Sabres, recording 77 points (35+42). He played 153 games for the Rochester Americans, where he also recorded 77 points (35+42).
• Joe Sacco served as an assistant coach for the Sabres during the 2013-14 season.

Former Bruins:

• Andrej Meszaros played for the Bruins during the 2013-14 season, recording five points (2+3) in 14 games before adding a pair of assists in four playoff appearances.

Ted Nolan:

• Coached Brad Marchand for the Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) during the 2005-06 season.

Andre Benoit:

• Played with Chris Kelly for the Ottawa Senators during the 2010-11 season.
• He and Gregory Campbell were teammates for the Kitchener Rangers during the 2002-03 season.
• Played with Max Talbot for the Colorado Avalanche during the 2013-2014.
  

Zac Dalpe:

• Played with Matt Bartkowski for the Ohio State Buckeyes (CCHA) from 2008-2010.

Marcus Foligno:

• Played with Dougie Hamilton and Brett Connolly for Team Canada at the 2011 World Junior Championship held in Buffalo.

Andrej Meszaros:

• Played alongside Zdeno Chara for the Ottawa Senators during the 2005-06 season.
• Played with Chris Kelly for the Ottawa Senators from 2005-08.  The two, along with Zdeno Chara, were also reunited with the Bruins during the 2013-14 season.
• Played with Max Talbot for the Philadelphia Flyers from 2012-2014.

Hometown Connections:

• Cody Hodgson, Reilly Smith, Chris Kelly and Dougie Hamilton are all natives of Toronto, Ontario.
• Mike Weber and Matt Bartkowski were both born in Pittsburgh, Pa.

NHL Draft:

• Mike Weber (57th overall) and Milan Lucic (50th overall) were both selected in the second round of the 2006 NHL Draft.
• Nicolas Deslauriers (84th overall by Los Angeles) and Reilly Smith (69th overall by Dallas) were both third-round picks in the 2009 NHL Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (223), Bogosian (153), Foligno (152)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (148), Weber (139), Ristolainen (111)
Shots: Ennis (157), Moulson (132), 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: 2-5-2 (6), 22/32, 2/20, 19/28

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 (7-5; 64-51 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)
March 16 vs. Washington: L, 4-3 (GDG-Kuznetsov)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Mike Weber … 2 games … 300 career games played
Assists
Zach Bogosian … 9 assists … 100 career assists

RECENT MILESTONES
Anders Lindback … 100th NHL game … March 14 vs. NYR
Rasmus Ristolainen … 100 NHL game … March 16 vs. WSH