Game Preview: 3/26/15 vs. ARI

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Monday, March 23
Buffalo 3 at Dallas 4
Goals: Gionta (2), Moulson
Goalie: Lindback (35 saves/39 shots)
PP: 1/3; PK: 2/3; Shots: Dallas 39 – Buffalo 28

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 297)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (lower body, Jan. 13; injured reserve) – 30 games
Josh Gorges (lower body, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 18 games
Patrick Kaleta (lower body, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 18 games
Evander Kane (shoulder, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 18 games
Zemgus Girgensons (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 12 games
Chad Johnson (lower body, March 6) – 9 games
Zach Bogosian (lower body, March 14) – 6 games
Jerry D’Amigo (upper body, March 23) – 1 game

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)
3/23: Recalled F Tim Schaller from Rochester (AHL)
3/25: Assigned F Tim Schaller to Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Saturday, April 4: Buffalo at NY Islanders, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
COYOTES at SABRES

• This is the first of two meetings between the Sabres and Coyotes this season.
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Arizona, 3-2, in Phoenix on Jan. 30, 2014
• The Sabres are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Coyotes; 3-5-2 at home.
• This is the 71st game all-time between Buffalo and Arizona; Buffalo has a 41-21-8 series record.
• The Sabres are 23-7-6 at home against the Coyotes all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 9-10-1 all-time on March 26.
• March 26, 1971: Phil Goyette and Gerry Meehan score goals 18 seconds apart in the third period as the Sabres defeat the Vancouver Canucks, 3-1, at the Aud.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• A win tonight would give the Sabres eight wins in their last nine meetings with the Coyotes, dating back to a 2-0 Buffalo win on Jan. 31, 2009.
• Tyler Ennis has scored in each of his last two games against the Coyotes.
• Johan Larsson has seven points (3+4) in his last eight games, averaging 20:01 of ice time per game during that span.
• Nicolas Deslauriers ranked eighth in the league with 235 hits entering Wednesday night’s games.

HOT AT HOME
Matt Moulson has not gone consecutive home games without recording a point since Jan. 13 and 15. Since then, he has posted 10 points (2+8) in 12 home games and 20 points (5+15) in 28 total games. Moulson has averaged a point per game in his last seven outings, tallying three goals and four assists during that stretch.

POINT-PER-GAME
Brian Gionta enters tonight’s game with five points (2+3) in his last five games. With a point tonight, he would have six points in six games for the first time since Dec. 2013. A two-point game would give him his best six-game stretch since March 2013 and a three-point game would mark his best such stretch since Nov. 2010.

LARSSON IMPROVING
Since assuming a larger role at the beginning of March, Johan Larsson has seen a marked improvement in several statistical categories (percentage stats include 5-on-5 play only):

LIGHTS-OUT LINDBACK
In the nine games since he was acquired from the Dallas Stars on Feb. 11, Anders Lindback has recorded a .926 save percentage and a 2.67 goals-against average, stopping at least 30 shots in seven of his eight starts.

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

BUF-ARI CONNECTIONS
Danny Flynn:

• Brandon Gormley played for Danny Flynn for the Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) from 2008-2012, when Flynn was the team’s head coach. Louis Domingue was also a part of the team from 2008-2010. The 2009-2010 team that featured Gormley and Domingue won the QMJHL Championship.

Jerry D’Amigo:

• Played with Tobias Rieder for the Kitchener Rangers during the 2010-11 season.

Nicolas Deslauriers:

• Played with Andrew Campbell for the Manchester Monarchs (AHL) from 2011-2014.

Marcus Foligno:

• Foligno was born on Aug. 10, 1991, exactly two years after Sam Gagner, who was born on Aug. 10, 1989.

Brian Gionta:

• Played with Kyle Chipchura for the Montreal Canadiens during the 2009-10 season.

Mikhail Grigorenko:

• Played with Louis Domingue for the Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) during the 2011-12 season.

Matt Hackett:

• Hackett and Sam Gagner were both born in London, Ontario.

Anders Lindback:

• Played with J. Crombeen for the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2012-2014.
• Played with Martin Erat for the Nashville Predators from 2010-2012.

Andrej Meszaros:

• Played with Mike Smith for the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2008-2010.
• Played with Tye McGinn for the Philadelphia Flyers from 2012-2014.

Rasmus Ristolainen:

• He and Lauri Korpikoski were both born in Turku, Finland.

Tyson Strachan:

• Played with J. Crombeen for the St. Louis Blues from 2008-2011.
• Played with Martin Erat for the Washington Capitals for part of the 2013-14 season.

NHL Draft:

• Andrej Meszaros (24th overall), Lauri Korpikoski (19th overall) and Kyle Chipchura (18th overall) were all first-round selections in the 2004 NHL Draft.
• Marcus Foligno (104th overall) and Jordan Szwarz (97th overall) were both selected in the fourth round of the 2009 NHL Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (235), Foligno (171), Weber (162)
Blocked Shots: Weber (154), Gorges (148), Ristolainen (120)
Shots: Ennis (169), Moulson (140), Gionta (124)

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: 0-3-0 (0), 4/10, 2/11, 4/6

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