Game Preview: 4/6/15 vs. CAR

GAME-DAY RESOURCES

LAST GAME
Saturday, April 4
Buffalo 0 at NY Islanders 3
Goals: N/A
Goalie: Makarov (33 saves/36 shots)
PP: 0/4; PK: 1/2; Shots: NY Islanders 36 – Buffalo 21

CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 344)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Cody McCormick (lower body, Jan. 13; injured reserve) – 36 games
Josh Gorges (lower body, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 24 games
Evander Kane (shoulder, Feb. 15; injured reserve) – 24 games
Zemgus Girgensons (lower body, Feb. 26; injured reserve) – 18 games
Chad Johnson (lower body, March 6) – 15 games
Jerry D’Amigo (upper body, March 23) – 7 games
Matt Hackett (undisclosed, March 30) – 4 games
Matt Moulson (illness, April 3) – 2 games
Mike Weber (lower body, April 3) – 2 games

TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
4/1: Assigned F Tim Schaller to Rochester (AHL)
4/3: Recalled F Tim Schaller from Rochester (AHL)

UPCOMING GAMES
Friday, April 10: Buffalo at Columbus, 7 p.m.
Saturday, April 11: Pittsburgh at Buffalo, 7 p.m.

TONIGHT’S GAME
HURRICANES at SABRES

• This is the third and final meeting between the Sabres and Hurricanes this season.
• Last meeting: Carolina defeated Buffalo, 5-2, in Carolina on Jan. 8, 2015.
• The Sabres are 3-7-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Hurricanes; 4-6-0 at home.
• This is the 192nd game all-time between Buffalo and Carolina; Buffalo has a 98-69-24 series record.
• The Sabres are 55-31-8 at home against the Hurricanes all-time.

THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY

• The Sabres are 7-5-2 all-time on April 6.
• April 6, 1980: Danny Gare scores twice in a 7-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Aud to finish the regular season with 56 goals.
• April 6, 1995: Craig Muni appears in his 100th game as a member of the Sabres, a 1-1 tie at Boston.

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Brian Gionta leads all Sabres with 27 points (10+17) in 36 career games against the Hurricanes.
• A win tonight would give Buffalo consecutive home wins against Carolina for the first time since it won five consective home contests from Oct. 20, 2006 to Jan. 17, 2009.
• Matt Moulson has 17 points (6+11) in his last 13 games against the Hurricanes, including 10 points (4+6) in his last six home games against Carolina.
• Phil Varone has three points (2+1) in two career games against Carolina.
• Brian Gionta has recorded 12 points (4+8) in his last 11 games.
• Nicolas Deslauriers ranked seventh in the league with 255 hits entering Sunday night’s games.

RED-HOT RISTO
With a career-high three points (0+3) on Friday vs. CHI, Rasmus Ristolainen has recorded seven points (3+4) in his last five games played.

CONSISTENT PRODUCTION
Matt Moulson has not gone consecutive games played without recording a point since Feb. 15 and 17. Since then, he has posted 17 points (5+12) in 20 games. Moulson has not gone consecutive home games without recording a point since Jan. 13 and 15. Since then, he has posted 12 points (3+9) in 14 home games.

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):

BUF-CAR CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:          

• Nathan Gerbe was a member of the Sabres for five seasons from 2008-2013. He was selected by Buffalo in the fifth round (142nd overall) of the 2005 NHL Draft and tallied 72 points (29+43) in 188 games with the club.

Andre Benoit:

• Played with Brad Malone for the Colorado Avalanche during the 2013-14 season.

Zach Bogosian:  

• Represented the United States alongside Ron Hainsey at the 2009 World Championship. They also played together from 2008-2011 for the Atlanta Thrashers and from 2011-2013 for the Winnipeg Jets.

Nicolas Deslauriers:

• Shares a birthday with Andrej Nestrasil. Both players were born on Feb. 22, 1991. The two were also drafted in the third round of the 2009 NHL Draft. Nestrasil went 75th overall, and Deslauriers was waken 84th overall.

Matt Hackett:

• Played with Brett Bellemore, Michal Jordan and Chris Terry for the Plymouth Whalers (OHL) from 2007-2009.

Cody Hodgson:

• He and Jeff Skinner were both born in Toronto, Ontario.

Cody Mccormick:

• Played with Patrick Dwyer in 2006-2007 for the Albany River Rats.          

Matt Moulson:

• Played with Jack Hillen for the New York Islanders from 2009-2011.

Tyson Strachan:

• Played with Patrick Dwyer in the 2006-2007 for the Albany River Rats.
• Played with Jay McClement for the St. Louis Blues from 2008-2011.
• Played with Jack Hillen for the Washington Capitals during the 2013-14 season.

2013 Draft:                  

• Matt Hackett, Nicolas Deslauriers and Andrej Nestrasil were all third-round picks in the 2009 NHL Draft. Nestrasil was taken 75th overall by Detroit, Hackett went 77th overall to Minnesota, and Deslauriers was selected 84th overall by Los Angeles.
• Johan Larsson (56th overall) and Justin Faulk (37th overall) were both second-round picks in the 2010 NHL Draft.
• Elias Lindholm (5th overall), Rasmus Ristolainen (8th overall), and Nikita Zadorov (16th overall) were all selected in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft.

SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (255), Foligno (181), Weber (172)
Blocked Shots: Weber (168), Gorges (148), Ristolainen (131)
Shots: Ennis (175), Moulson (151), Gionta (145)

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: 2-6-1 (5), 21/30, 7/32, 19/22

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