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LAST GAME
Monday, October 12
Columbus 2 at Buffalo 4
Goals: Ristolainen, O’Reilly, Eichel, Moulson
Goalie: Johnson (22 saves/24 shots)
PP: 3/7; PK: 1/3; Shots: Buffalo 33 – Columbus 24
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 18)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Zach Bogosian (lower body, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 3 games
Cody McCormick (blood clot, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 3 games
Bobby Sanguinetti (lower body, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 3 games
Brian Gionta (lower body, Oct. 8) – 3 games
Robin Lehner (high ankle sprain, Oct. 10) – 2 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
10/10: Recalled G Nathan Lieuwen from Rochester (AHL); Activated G Linus Ullmark from IR, assigned Ullmark and D Jake McCabe to Rochester; Placed G Robin Lehner on IR
10/12: Recalled D Jake McCabe from Rochester (AHL)
10/13: Activated D Brendan Guhle from IR; assigned Guhle to Prince Albert (WHL); Placed D Matt Donovan on waivers
10/14: Assigned D Matt Donovan to Rochester (AHL)
UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Saturday, Oct. 24: New Jersey at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Oct. 27: Buffalo at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
SABRES at PANTHERS
- This is the first of four meetings between the Sabres and Panthers this season.
- Last meeting: Florida defeated Buffalo, 5-3, in Florida on Feb. 28
- Next meeting: Thursday, Nov. 12 in Florida
- The Sabres are 2-6-2 in their last 10 games vs. the Panthers; 4-4-2 on the road.
- This is the 85th game all-time between Buffalo and Florida; Buffalo has a 45-32-7 series record.
- The Sabres are 20-18-3 on the road against the Panthers all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 7-8-2 all-time on October 15.
- October 15, 1970: The Sabres fall to Montreal, 3-0, in the first home game in franchise history.
- October 15, 2013: Thomas Vanek scores his 253rd goal as a Sabre, passing Danny Gare for fifth on the all-time franchise goal list.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- Chad Johnson is 2-0-0 in his career against Florida with a .935 save percentage and a 1.50 goals-against average. Johnson earned the wins in consecutive starts on March 4 and 9, 2014 as a member of the Boston Bruins.
- The Sabres are looking to avoid losing four consecutive road games to the Panthers for the first time since Nov. 11, 1995 to March 22, 1997.
HOT AGAINST FLORIDA
- David Legwand has nine points (4+5) in nine career road games against Florida.
- Ryan O’Reilly has nine points (4+5) in his last six games against the Panthers.
- Evander Kane has five points (4+1) in his last three games against the Panthers.
- Brian Gionta leads all Sabres with 30 points (20+10) in 43 career games against Florida.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Tonight’s game is Buffalo’s first road game of the 2015-16 season. The Sabres are 18-25-1 all-time in road openers. Apart from tonight’s game, the team has never opened its road schedule in Florida.
KEEPING IT CLOSE
The Sabres and Panthers have had 11 of their last 15 matchups decided by a single goal, including six overtime games. Neither team has defeated the other by three or more goals since Buffalo’s 3-0 win on Oct. 20, 2011.
SUNSHINE SUCCESS
The Sabres have swept nine of the 34 previous Florida/Tampa Bay road trips in franchise history. In the other 25 sets, the Sabres have earned: three points (3), two points (14), one point (2) and zero points (6). This gives them record of 35-28-5 (.551) in previous trips. This Florida trip concludes with a game in Tampa Bay on Saturday.
ROAD WARRIOR
Ryan O’Reilly has played each of his last six games on home ice. However, before that stretch, he had tallied 18 points (5+13) in his last 16 road games. O’Reilly hasn’t gone without a point in three consecutive road games since a pointless stretch from Jan. 6 to Jan. 13, 2015.
A NEW LOOK
- Nine players made their Sabres regular-season debuts in the season-opener on Oct. 8 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-FLA CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:
- Drafted by the Sabres in the sixth round of the 1997 NHL Draft, Brian Campbell played in Buffalo for parts of eight seasons (1999-00 to 2007-08). As a Sabre, Campbell tallied 176 points (32+144) in 391 games. Campbell was selected as an NHL All-Star in 2007 and 2008.
Carlo Colaiacovo:
- Colaiacovo, Brandon Pirri and Reilly Smith were all born in Toronto, Ontario.
Tyler Ennis:
- Played at the 2015 World Championship with Aaron Ekblad on Team Canada.
Marcus Foligno:
- Played with Erik Gudbranson, Quinton Howden and Dylan Olsen for Team Canada at the 2011 World Junior Championship held in Buffalo.
Cody Franson:
- Played with Dave Bolland for the Toronto Maple Leafs for part of the 2013-14 season.
Chad Johnson:
- Teammates with Reilly Smith and Shawn Thornton for the Boston Bruins during the 2013-14 season.
Evander Kane:
- Played with Al Montoya for the Winnipeg Jets from 2012-2014.
Jake McCabe:
- Represented the United States alongside Vincent Trochek at the 2013 World Junior Championship and the 2014 World Championship.
Matt Moulson:
- Played with Al Montoya for the New York Islanders from 2010-2013.
Ryan O’Reilly:
- He and Aaron Ekblad share a birthdate. O’Reilly was born on Feb. 7, 1991, and Ekblad was born on Feb. 7, 1996.
- Played with Erik Gudbranson and Dylan Olsen for Team Canada at the 2009 World U-18 Championship.
Mike Weber:
- He and Vincent Trocheck were both born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
NHL Draft:
- Ryan O’Reilly and Brandon Pirri were both second-round picks in the 2009 NHL Draft. O’Reilly was selected 33rd overall by Colorado and Pirri was taken 59th overall by Chicago.
- Nicolas Deslauriers (84th overall) and Reilly Smith (69th overall) were both taken in the third round of the 2009 NHL Draft.
- Mark Pysyk (23rd overall), Erik Gudbranson (3rd overall), Nick Bjugstad (19th overall) and Quinton Howden (25th overall) were all first-round draft picks in the 2010 NHL Draft.
- Tonight’s game features three players who were taken in the second round of the 2010 NHL Draft; Alex Petrovic (36th overall), Connor Brickley (50th overall) and Johan Larsson (56th overall by Minnesota).
- Rasmus Ristolainen (8th overall) and Alexander Barkov (2nd overall) were both selected in the first round of the 2013 NHL Draft.
- Sam Reinhart (2nd overall) and Aaron Ekblad (1st overall) were the top two picks in the 2014 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Kane (8), McGinn (6), Deslauriers/Girgensons (5)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (4), Colaiacovo/Pysyk/Ristolainen (3)
Shots: Ennis/Franson (10), Girgensons (9), Kane/O’Reilly (8)
SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 1-2-0 (2), 6/9, 4/12, 4/6
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 … 5 games … 200 career games played
Goals
Ryan O’Reilly … 9 goals … 100 career goals
Assists
Zach Bogosian … 6 assists … 100 career assists
Josh Gorges … 9 assists … 100 career assists
RECENT MILESTONES
N/A
