Game Preview: 3/20/15 vs. NJD

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Tuesday, March 17
Buffalo 2 at Boston 1 (SO)
Goals: Ristolainen; GDG- Ennis
Goalie: Lindback (44 saves/45 shots)
PP: 1/2; PK: 2/2; Shots: Boston 45 – Buffalo 24

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 275)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (lower body, Jan. 13; injured reserve) – 27 games
Josh Gorges (lower body, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 15 games
Patrick Kaleta (lower body, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 15 games
Evander Kane (shoulder, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 15 games
Zemgus Girgensons (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 9 games
Chad Johnson (lower body, March 6) – 6 games
Zach Bogosian (lower body, March 14) – 3 games
Andrej Meszaros (upper body, March 16) – 2 games

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

UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Monday, March 30: Buffalo at Arizona, 10 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
DEVILS at SABRES

• This is the third and final meeting between the Sabres and Devils this season.
• Last meeting: New Jersey defeated Buffalo, 2-1 (OT), in New Jersey on Feb. 17
• The Sabres are 5-2-3 in their last 10 games vs. the Devils; 6-3-1 at home.
• This is the 145th game all-time between Buffalo and New Jersey; Buffalo has a 73-46-25 series record.
• The Sabres are 40-22-10 at home against the Devils all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 12-8-1 all-time on March 20.
• March 20, 1977: The Sabres get goals from five different players, including two from Gilbert Perreault, as they defeat the Washington Capitals, 6-2, on the road.
• March 20, 1996: The Sabres acquire Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre, a second-round pick (Cory Sarich) and a third-round pick (Maxim Afinogenov) from St. Louis in exchange for Yuri Khmylev and an eighth-round pick (Andrei Podkonicky).

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• The Devils haven’t won in Buffalo since Feb. 14, 2012, going 0-1-3 at First Niagara Center with three shootout losses since then.
• With a win, the Sabres would improve their home winning streak over New Jersey to five games for the first time since Nov. 5, 1980 to Feb. 27, 1983.
• Matt Moulson leads all Sabres with 12 points (7+5) in 30 career games against the Devils.
• Nicolas Deslauriers ranked eighth in the league with 226 hits entering Thursday night’s games.

PUTTING IN EXTRA TIME

• Ten of the last 18 games between the Sabres and Devils have been settled in overtime or a shootout, including seven of the last 10.
• With 12 shootouts in the 27 matchups since the beginning of 2007-08 season, the Sabres have played more shootouts against the Devils than any other non-divisional opponent (Boston/Ottawa-12, Montreal-11), going 7-5 in those shootouts.

LIGHTS-OUT LINDBACK
In the seven games since he was acquired from the Dallas Stars on Feb. 11, Anders Lindback has recorded a .934 save percentage and a 2.53 goals-against average, stopping at least 30 shots in each of his six starts.

BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game opens up Buffalo’s 17th of 19 sets of back-to-back games this season, which concludes tomorrow at NSH. The Sabres are 4-11-1 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 4-11-1 in the second game. Buffalo’s point breakdown in previous back-to-back sets is: four points (1), three points (1), 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-NJD CONNECTIONS
Former Devils:

• Brian Gionta played for the Devils from 2001-2009, tallying 312 points (152+160) in 473 games. Selected by New Jersey in the third round (82nd overall) of the 1998 NHL Draft, Gionta currently holds the club’s single-season franchise record in goals (48), which he set during the 2005-06 campaign.

Former Sabres:

• Steve Bernier played 17 games for the Sabres during the 2007-08 season. The Sabres acquired Bernier and a 2008 first-round draft pick (Tyler Ennis) from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Brian Campbell and a 2008 seventh-round draft pick on Nov. 26, 2008. He totaled nine points (3+6) during his time in Buffalo.
• Dainius Zubrus played with the Sabres in 2006-07. He appeared in 19 games and notched eight points (4+4).
• Devils assistant coach Mike Foligno is the father of current Sabres player Marcus Foligno. The elder Foligno was also a member of the Sabres for the better part of 10 seasons from 1981-1991. During his career in Buffalo, he appeared in 664 games and registered 511 points (247+264). Foligno enjoyed the best season of his NHL career in 1985-86, when he set career-best marks in goals (41), assists (39) and points (80) as a member of the Sabres.

Tom Coolen:

• Coached Steve Bernier during the 2001-02 season with the Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL).

Zac Dalpe:

• Played with Tuomo Ruutu for the Carolina Hurricanes from 2010-2013.

Brian Gionta:

• Brian’s younger brother, Stephen Gionta plays for the Devils. The two were born in Rochester, N.Y.
• Represented the United States alongside Scott Gomez at the 2006 Olympics. The pair also played together for the Montreal Canadiens from 2009-2012.
• Played with Mike Cammalleri for the Montreal Canadiens from 2009-2012.
• Played with Michael Ryder for the Montreal Canadiens during the 2012-13 season.

Cody Hodgson:

• Played with Cory Schneider for the Vancouver Canucks from 2010-2012.

Andrej Meszaros:

• Played with Martin Havlat for the Ottawa Senators during the 2005-06 season.

Matt Moulson:

• Played alongside Peter Harrold from 2007-2009 with the Los Angeles Kings. Mike Cammalleri was also a member of the team during the 2007-08 season.

NHL Draft:

• Andrej Meszaros (24th overall), Cory Schneider (26th overall) and Travis Zajac (20th overall) were all chosen in the first round of the 2004 NHL Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (226), Bogosian (153), Foligno (157)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (148), Weber (143), Ristolainen (113)
Shots: Ennis (157), Moulson (134), 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: 3-5-2 (8), 24/33, 3/22, 21/30

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 (8-5; 65-51 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)
March 17 at Boston: W, 2-1 (GDG-Ennis)

MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Mike Weber … 1 game … 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 … 100th NHL game … March 16 vs. WSH