GAME-DAY RESOURCES
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LAST GAME
Thursday, March 26
Arizona 4 at Buffalo 3 (OT)
Goals: Ennis, Ristolainen, Gionta
Goalie: Hackett (38 saves/42 shots)
PP: 2/5; PK: 4/5; Shots: Arizona 42 – Buffalo 35
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 303)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (lower body, Jan. 13; injured reserve) – 31 games
Josh Gorges (lower body, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 19 games
Evander Kane (shoulder, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 19 games
Zemgus Girgensons (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 13 games
Chad Johnson (lower body, March 6) – 10 games
Jerry D’Amigo (upper body, March 23) – 2 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
3/23: Recalled F Tim Schaller from Rochester (AHL)
3/25: Assigned F Tim Schaller to Rochester (AHL)
3/26: Activated F Patrick Kaleta from IR
3/27: Recalled F Tim Schaller from Rochester (AHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Monday, April 6: Carolina at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at AVALANCHE
- This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Avalanche this season.
- Last meeting: Colorado defeated Buffalo, 5-1, in Buffalo
- The Sabres are 2-4-4 in their last 10 games vs. the Avalanche; 5-3-2 on the road.
- This is the 137th game all-time between Buffalo and Colorado; Buffalo has a 59-53-24 series record.
- The Sabres are 23-32-13 on the road against the Avalanche all-time.
THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 11-7-4 all-time on March 28.
- March 28, 1982: Fred T. Hunt and Tim Horton are both posthumously inducted into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame. The pair became the fourth and fifth members, joining Roger Crozier, Frank Christie and Punch Imlach.
- March 28, 1999: Alexei Zhitnik scores the 8,000th goal in franchise history in a 4-3 overtime win at home against Pittsburgh.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- The Sabres are 9-9-6 against the Avalanche since they moved to Colorado before the 1995-96 season.
- Johan Larsson has eight points (3+5) in his last nine games, averaging 20:17 of ice time per game during that span.
- Nicolas Deslauriers ranked eighth in the league with 238 hits entering Friday night’s games.
IT’S BEEN AWHILE
- The Sabres are looking for their first win against the Avalanche since Dec. 4, 2005, a 6-4 win in Colorado.
- At over nine years, the Sabres’ drought against the Avalanche is their longest against any opponent.
- While the Avalanche have won the last eight matchups with the Sabres, four were decided in either overtime (once) or a shootout (three times).
- The Sabres need a win tonight to avoid their first four-game losing streak on the road against Colorado/Quebec since they lost 11 in a row from Oct. 8, 1983 to Jan. 25, 1986.
GIONTA HEATING UP
Brian Gionta enters tonight’s game with seven points (3+4) in his last six games, his best six-game stretch since March 2013. He has recorded two points in each of his last two games, marking his first consecutive multi-point games since March 9 and 10, 2013. With a multi-point game tonight, Gionta would have three straight multi-point games for the first time since Nov. 20 to 23, 2008.
BIGGER ROLE FOR LARSSON
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):
|
Johan Larsson, 2014-15 season |
|||||||||
| Month |
GP |
G | A | P | SOG | TOI/GP | +/- | CF%/SAT% | FF%/USAT% |
| Nov. – Feb. | 20 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 9:47 | -1 | 37.9% | 38.4% |
| March | 11 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 21 | 19:22 | +4 | 42.5% | 44.4% |
POINT-PER-GAME
Matt Moulson has averaged a point per game in his last eight outings, tallying three goals and five assists during that stretch. Moulson has not gone consecutive games without recording a point since Feb. 15 and 17. Since then, he has posted 15 points (4+11) in 17 games.
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:
| Acquired:G Chad Johnson
F Jack Nevins NYI 3rd Rd. Pick, 2016 MTL 5th Rd. Pick, 2016 MTL 7th Rd. Pick, 2016 MIN 2nd Rd. Pick, 2017 |
Dealt:G Michal Neuvirth
F Brian Flynn F Torrey Mitchell F Chris Stewart
|
BUF-COL CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:
- Daniel Briere played with the Sabres for four seasons (2002-2007). Briere was the team’s top point scorer in 2003-04 (65) and 2006-07 (95). He tied Jochen Hecht for most assists (37) in 2003-04 and led the team in assists (63) in 2006-07. During his four seasons with Buffalo, Briere played in 225 games, amassing 230 points (92+138).
- Jan Hejda was originally drafted by Buffalo in the fourth round (136th overall) of the 2003 NHL Draft. Hejda was traded to Edmonton in July 2006 for a seventh-round draft pick.
Former Avalanche:
- Andre Benoit spent the 2013-14 season as a member of the Avalanche, tallying 28 points (7+21) over 79 games. He also added one assist over seven postseason appearances.
Arturs Irbe:
- Coached Semyon Varlamov from 2009-2011 when Irbe was the goaltending coach for the Washington Capitals.
Andre Benoit:
- Benoit and Nick Holden are both from St. Albert, Alberta.
- Played with Jan Hejda for the Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL) during the 2006-07 season.
Zach Bogosian:
- Played with Zach Redmond for the Winnipeg Jets from 2012-2014.
Nicolas Deslauriers:
- Played with Marc-Andre Cliche for the Manchester Monarchs (AHL) from 2011-2013.
Matt Ellis:
- Played with Brad Stuart for the Detroit Red Wings during the 2007-08 season.
Tyler Ennis:
- He and Jarome Iginla were both born in Edmonton, Alberta.
- Ennis (1989) and Daniel Briere (1977) were both born on Oct. 6.
Marcus Foligno:
- Played with Tyson Barrie for Team Canada at the 2011 World Junior Championship that was held in Buffalo.
Brian Gionta:
- Played with Daniel Briere for the Montreal Canadiens during the 2013-14 season.
Cody Hodgson:
- He and Freddie Hamilton were both born in Toronto, Ontario.
- Played with Matt Duchene for the Brampton Battalion (OHL) from 2007-2010.
- Played with Nathan MacKinnon for Team Canada at the 2014 World Championship.
Johan Larsson:
- Represented Team Sweden alongside Gabriel Landeskog at the 2012 World Championship.
Andrej Meszaros:
- Played with Alex Tanguay for the Tampa Bay Lightning during the 2009-10 season.
- Played alongside Daniel Briere for the Philadelphia Flyers from 2010-2013.
- Teammates with Jarome Iginla and Jordan Caron for the Boston Bruins during the 2013-14 season.
Matt Moulson:
- Played with D Brad Stuart for the Los Angeles Kings during the 2007-08 season.
Tyson Strachan:
- Played with Nate Guenin for the Ohio State Buckeyes from 2003-2006.
NHL Draft:
- Matt Hackett (77th overall), Nicolas Deslauriers (84th overall) and Tyson Barrie (64th overall) were all taken in the third round of the 2009 NHL Draft.
- Rasmus Ristolainen (8th overall), Nikita Zadorov (16th overall) and Nathan MacKinnon (1st overall) were all first-round draft picks in the 2013 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (238), Foligno (172), Weber (162)
Blocked Shots: Weber (158), Gorges (148), Ristolainen (120)
Shots: Ennis (173), Moulson (142), Gionta (131)
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: 0-3-1 (1), 7/14, 4/16, 8/11
OVERTIME RESULTS (1-3; 98-101 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)
March 26 vs. Arizona: L 4-3 (Gagner, 0:56)
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
N/A
