Game Preview: 3/30/15 at ARI

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Saturday, March 28
Buffalo 3 at Colorado 5
Goals: Meszaros (2), Ristolainen
Goalie: Lindback (10 saves/12 shots); Hackett (7 saves, 10 shots)
PP: 0/3; PK: 1/1; Shots: Buffalo 38 – Colorado 22

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 310)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (lower body, Jan. 13; injured reserve) – 32 games
Josh Gorges (lower body, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 20 games
Evander Kane (shoulder, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 20 games
Zemgus Girgensons (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 14 games
Chad Johnson (lower body, March 6) – 11 games
Jerry D’Amigo (upper body, March 23) – 3 games
Tyler Ennis (lower body, March 28) – 1 game

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
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
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.
Friday, April 10: Buffalo at Columbus, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at COYOTES

• This is the second of two meetings between the Sabres and Coyotes this season.
• Last meeting: Arizona defeated Buffalo, 4-3 (OT), in Buffalo on March 26
• The Sabres are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Coyotes; 6-4-0 on the road.
• This is the 72nd game all-time between Buffalo and Arizona; Buffalo has a 41-21-9 series record.
• The Sabres are 18-14-2 on the road against the Coyotes all-time.

THIS DATE IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 8-11-5 all-time on March 30.
• March 30, 2011: Jhonas Enroth makes 23 saves to record his first career shutout in a 1-0 victory over the New York Rangers at home.
• March 30, 2013: Traded Jordan Leopold to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for a second round pick (Justin Bailey) and a conditional fifth-round pick (Anthony Florentino) in the 2013 NHL Draft.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• A win tonight would give the Sabres five consecutive road wins against the Coyotes, dating back to a 2-0 win on Jan. 31, 2009.
• Buffalo is 7-4-0 in 11 road games against the Coyotes since they relocated from Winnipeg prior to the 1996-97 season.
• Johan Larsson has nine points (3+6) in his last 10 games, averaging 20:10 of ice time per game during that span.
• Brian Gionta has recorded seven points (3+4) in his last seven games.
• Nicolas Deslauriers ranked eighth in the league with 241 hits entering Sunday night’s games.

CONSISTENT PRODUCTION
Matt 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 18 games. Moulson needs a point tonght continue this trend.

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):

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 (241), Foligno (174), Weber (165)
Blocked Shots: Weber (161), Gorges (148), Ristolainen (120)
Shots: Ennis (173), Moulson (144), Gionta (135)

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: 0-4-1 (1), 10/19, 4/19, 9/12

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