Game Preview: 3/23/15 at DAL

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Saturday, March 21
Buffalo 0 at Nashville 3
Goals: N/A
Goalie: Hackett (40 saves/43 shots)
PP: 0/4; PK: 0/1; Shots: Nashville 43 – Buffalo 24

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 289)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (lower body, Jan. 13; injured reserve) – 29 games
Josh Gorges (lower body, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 17 games
Patrick Kaleta (lower body, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 17 games
Evander Kane (shoulder, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 17 games
Zemgus Girgensons (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 11 games
Chad Johnson (lower body, March 6) – 8 games
Zach Bogosian (lower body, March 14) – 5 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
3/20: Assigned D Chad Ruhwedel and F Tim Schaller to Rochester (AHL); Recalled F Mikhail Grigorenko from Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Wednesday, April 1: Toronto at Buffalo, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, April 3: Chicago at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at STARS

• This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Stars this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Dallas, 3-2, in Buffalo on Feb. 7.
• The Sabres are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Stars; 3-7-0 on the road.
• This is the 116th game all-time between Buffalo and Dallas; Buffalo has a 55-43-17 series record.
• The Sabres are 23-29-6 on the road against the Stars all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 10-5-4 all-time on March 23.
• March 23, 1975: Rene Robert has a four-point night (2+2) as the Sabres defeat the California Golden Seals, 9-4, at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.
• March 23, 1983: The Sabres get two goals and two assists from Gilles Hamel in an 8-3 home win over the Hartford Whalers.
• March 23, 1999: The Sabres acquire Rhett Warrener and a 1999 fifth-round draft choice (Ryan Miller) from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Mike Wilson.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• The Sabres need a win tonight to avoid losing three straight games in Dallas for the first time since March 4, 2001 to March 31, 2003.
• Tyler Ennis has five points (3+2) in his last three games against the Stars.
• Matt Moulson leads all Sabres with 12 points (7+5) in 10 career games against Dallas.
• Johan Larsson has six points (3+3) in his last seven games, averaging 19:55 of ice time per game during that span.
• Nicolas Deslauriers ranked eighth in the league with 231 hits entering Sunday night’s games.

LIGHTS-OUT LINDBACK
In the eight games since he was acquired from the Dallas Stars on Feb. 11, Anders Lindback has recorded a .930 save percentage and a 2.49 goals-against average, stopping at least 30 shots in six of his seven starts.

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

BUF-DAL CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:

• Lindy Ruff served as head coach of the Sabres for 14-plus seasons (1997-2013), compiling a record of 571-432-162 in 1,165 games. Ruff is the Sabres’ all-time franchise leader in wins, guiding the team to eight postseason appearances, including a trip to the 1999 Stanley Cup Final. He was awarded the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach in 2006. Ruff also played for the Sabres from 1979-89, appearing in 608 games, recording 285 points (102+183) and serving as team captain for three seasons.
• James Patrick spent seven seasons (2006-2013) as an assistant coach for the Sabres. He also spent six seasons with the Sabres as a player (1998-2004) and registered 74 points (23+51) in 345 games.
• Jhonas Enroth played for the Sabres for parts of six seasons after being drafted by Buffalo in the second round (46th overall) of the 2006 NHL Draft. He posted a 38-56-14 record with a .910 save percentage and a 2.92 goals-against average in 118 games for Buffalo.

Former Stars:

• Anders Lindback appeared in 10 games for Dallas before being traded to Buffalo with a conditional third-round pick for Jhonas Enroth on Feb. 11.

Ted Nolan:

• Coached Jason Demers for the Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) during the 2005-06 season.

Andre Benoit:     

• Played with Jason Spezza for the Ottawa Senators during the 2010-11 season and the 2012-13 season.

Tyler Ennis:        

• Ennis and Vernon Fiddler were both born in Edmonton, Alberta.

Marcus Foligno:

• Played with Cody Eakin for Team Canada at the 2011 World Junior Championship that was held in Buffalo, N.Y.

Brian Gionta:      

• Played with Travis Moen for the Montreal Canadiens from 2009-2014.

Cody Hodgson:

• Hodgson, Jason Spezza and Trevor Daley were all born in Toronto, Ontario.

Andrej Meszaros:

• Played with Patrick Eaves and Jason Spezza for the Ottawa Senators from 2005-2008.

2009 World Junior Championship:

• Tyler Ennis, Cody Hodgson and Jamie Benn all represented Team Canada at the 2009 World Junior Championship. Canada won the gold medal and Hodgson led the tournament in scoring with 16 points (5+11).

NHL Draft:

• Matt Hackett, Nicolas Deslauriers and Cody Eakin were all selected in the third round of the 2009 NHL Draft. Hackett was taken 77th overall by Minnesota, Deslauriers went 84th overall to Los Angeles, and Eakin was selected one pick later at 85th overall by Washington.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (231), Foligno (168), Weber (158)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (148), Weber (146), Ristolainen (116)
Shots: Ennis (164), Moulson (139), Gionta (117)

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
71-80: 0-2-0 (0), 1/6, 1/8, 2/3

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)
Assists
Zach Bogosian … 9 assists … 100 career assists

RECENT MILESTONES
Mike Weber … 300th NHL game … March 20 vs. NJD