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LAST GAME
Thursday, October 8
Ottawa 3 at Buffalo 1
Goals: Eichel
Goalie: Lehner (11 saves/12 shots); Johnson (8 saves/9 shots); 1 ENG
PP: 1/3; PK: 0/0; Shots: Buffalo 27 – Ottawa 22
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 6)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Zach Bogosian (lower body, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 1 game
Brendan Guhle (upper body, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 1 game
Cody McCormick (blood clot, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 1 game
Bobby Sanguinetti (lower body, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 1 game
Linus Ullmark (lower body, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 1 game
Brian Gionta (lower body, Oct. 8) – 1 game
Robin Lehner (lower body, Oct. 10) – 0 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
10/4: Assigned F Cal O’Reilly to Rochester (AHL)
10/6: Placed F Cody McCormick, D Zach Bogosian, D Josh Gorges, D Brendan Guhle, D Bobby Sanguinetti and G Linus Ullmark on IR
10/8: Activated D Josh Gorges from IR
UPCOMING GAMES
Monday, Oct. 12: Columbus at Buffalo, 3:00 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 15: Buffalo at Florida, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 17: Buffalo at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Oct. 21: Toronto at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Friday, Oct. 23: Montreal at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
TODAY’S GAME
LIGHTNING at SABRES
- This is the first of four meetings between the Sabres and Lightning this season.
- Next meeting: Saturday, Oct. 17 in Tampa Bay
- The Sabres are 3-5-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Lightning; 4-4-2 at home
- This is the 87th game all-time between Buffalo and Tampa Bay; Buffalo has a 51-28-7 series record.
- The Sabres are 24-14-4 at home against the Lightning all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 10-8-1 all-time on October 10.
- October 10, 1970: The Sabres play their first game in franchise history, a 2-1 win at Pittsburgh. Jim Watson scores the first goal in franchise history and Gilbert Perreault scores the game-winner on the power play.
- October 10, 1974: Danny Gare scores 18 seconds into his first NHL game, kicking off a 9-5 Sabres win at Boston.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- Today’s game is the first of 10 afternoon games for the Sabres this season; the next will be Monday’s matchup with Columbus at 3 p.m. at First Niagara Center.
- The Sabres are opening the season with three consecutive home games for the second time in franchise history (1975-76).
- All four Sabres/Lightning games this year fall within the first 15 games for the Sabres, with the final matchup scheduled for Nov. 10 in Tampa Bay.
- The Sabres are looking to avoid losing five consecutive games to the Lightning for the first time in franchise history.
- Brian Gionta leads all Sabres with 26 points (13+13) in 41 career games against Tampa Bay.
TOPPING TAMPA
- Since the beginning of the 2005-06 season, Buffalo has compiled a record of 24-14-2 (.625) against Tampa Bay. The Sabres have scored seven or more goals in a single game against the Lightning six times during that stretch.
- Buffalo’s all-time record of 51-28-7 (.634) against Tampa Bay is the team’s second-best record against any Eastern Conference opponent, trailing only their 86-44-19 (.641) mark against Washington.
A NEW LOOK
- Nine players made their Sabres regular-season debuts in Thursday’s season-opener vs. OTT: Carlo Colaiacovo, Jack Eichel, Cody Franson, Chad Johnson, Evander Kane, David Legwand, Robin Lehner, Jamie McGinn and Ryan O’Reilly
- According to the Elias Sports Bureau, this was the most debuts the Sabres have ever had in a season-opener and the most since seven players did so in 1986-87 (Christian Ruuttu, Clark Gillies, Jim Korn, Ken Priestlay, Scott Arniel, Shawn Anderson and Wilf Paiement).
- Only 10 of the 20 Sabres players who dressed for the first game of the 2014-15 season appeared on the team’s 2015-16 opening day roster. Only five players on this year’s opening day roster suited up for the team in the season-opener two years ago: Tyler Ennis, Zemgus Girgensons, Mark Pysyk, Rasmus Ristolainen, Mike Weber
ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?
Entering the season, the 23 players on the Sabres’ opening day roster had combined to play 6,520 NHL games, 662 more than last year’s opening-day roster had between them. The average Sabres skater entering the 2015-16 season had played 28 more NHL games than his counterpart from last season and 60 more games than his 2013-14 counterpart.
2015 PRESEASON
- Buffalo finished the preseason with a 4-3-0 record; 1-2-0 at home and 3-1-0 on the road
- Jack Eichel led all Sabres and tied for ninth in the league with six points (2+4) in four preseason games, including a league-high two shorthanded goals.
- Sam Reinhart tied for fifth in the league with five assists in five games.
- The Sabres ranked fourth in the league with 26 goals, including a league-high five shorthanded goals.
2015-16 ROSTER NOTES
Of the 22 players on Buffalo’s opening night roster:
- Nine were originally drafted by the Sabres — six were first-round Buffalo selections (Ennis, 2008; Pysyk, 2010; Girgensons, 2012; Ristolainen, 2013; Reinhart, 2014; Eichel, 2015), two were second-round picks (Weber, 2006; McCabe, 2012) and one was a fourth-round pick (Foligno, 2009)
- Eight were acquired in trades: Deslauriers, Johnson, Kane, Larsson, Legwand, Lehner, McGinn, O’Reilly
- Five were signed as free agents: Colaiacovo, Donovan, Franson, Gionta, Moulson
- 12 played in Buffalo at some point last season
- Eight are new to the Sabres this season: Colaiacovo, Donovan, Eichel, Franson, Legwand, Lehner, McGinn, O’Reilly
- Two are opening the season on an NHL roster for the first time in their careers: Eichel, McCabe
BUF-TBL CONNECTIONS
Local Players:
- Ryan Callahan was born in Rochester, N.Y. and played for the Buffalo Lightning (OPJHL) during the 2001-02 season.
Carlo Colaiacovo:
- Played with Anton Stralman for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2007-2009.
- He and Ben Bishop were teammates for the St. Louis Blues during the 2008-09 and 2010-11 seasons.
Matt Donovan:
- He and Tyler Johnson both won the gold medal with the United States at the 2010 World Junior Championship.
- Played with Kevin Poulin for the New York Islanders from 2011-2015.
Josh Gorges:
- Represented Team Canada alongside Braydon Coburn at the 2004 World Junior Championship.
- Played with Matthew Carle for the San Jose Sharks from 2005-2007.
Chad Johnson:
- Played with Brian Boyle and Ryan Callahan for the New York Rangers from 2009-2011.
- Played with Kevin Poulin for the New York Islanders during the 2014-15 season.
Johan Larsson:
- Played at the 2012 World Championship for Team Sweden alongside Victor Hedman.
Matt Moulson:
- He and Brian Boyle were both members of the Los Angeles Kings from 2007-2009.
- Played with Kevin Poulin for the New York Islanders from 2010-2013.
Ryan O’Reilly:
- He was born on Feb. 7, 1991, exactly one year after Steven Stamkos.
Sam Reinhart:
- Represented Team Canada alongside Jonathan Drouin at the 2014 World Junior Championship.
World Championships:
- Multiple Sabres have played with Steven Stamkos for Team Canada at World Championships. Evander Kane and Chad Johnson both played with Stamkos in 2010, and Ryan O’Reilly represented Team Canada alongside Stamkos in 2013.
- Matt Donovan and Jake McCabe both played with Tyler Johnson for the United States at the 2014 World Championship.
NHL Draft:
- Cody Franson (79th overall by Nashville) and Ben Bishop (85th overall by St. Louis) were both third-round picks in the 2005 NHL Draft.
- The Sabres and Lightning each have a player who was drafted in the first round of the 2008 NHL Draft: Tyler Ennis (26th overall) and Steven Stamkos (1st overall).
- Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (19th overall) were both first-round picks in the 2012 NHL Draft.
- Rasmus Ristolainen (8th overall) and Jonathan Drouin (3rd overall) were both taken in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers/Girgensons/Kane (2)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (3), Pysyk (2)
Shots: Eichel/Ennis/Kane/Legwand/Ristolainen (3)
SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 0-1-0 (0), 1/3, 1/3, 0/0
OVERTIME RESULTS (0-0; 98-101 all-time)
N/A
SHOOTOUT RESULTS (0-0; 65-51 all-time)
N/A
MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Games Played
Marcus Foligno … 7 games … 200 career games played
Goals
Ryan O’Reilly … 10 goals … 100 career goals
Assists
Zach Bogosian … 6 assists … 100 career assists
Josh Gorges … 10 assists … 100 career assists
RECENT MILESTONES
Nicolas Deslauriers … 100th NHL game … Oct. 8 vs. OTT
