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LAST GAME
Thursday, October 29
Buffalo 3 at Pittsburgh 4
Goals: McGinn, Deslauriers, Moulson
Goalie: Johnson (25 saves/29 shots)
PP: 0/2; PK: 0/1; Shots: Buffalo 53 – Pittsburgh 29
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 45)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Zach Bogosian (lower body, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 10 games
Cody McCormick (blood clot, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 10 games
Robin Lehner (high ankle sprain, Oct. 10) – 9 games
Evander Kane (MCL, Oct. 27; injured reserve) – 2 games
Tyler Ennis (lower body, Oct. 29) – 1 game
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
10/26: Recalled F Tim Schaller from Rochester (AHL); placed F Evander Kane on IR
UPCOMING GAMES
Sunday, Nov. 1: Buffalo at NY Islanders, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 5: Tampa Bay at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 7: Vancouver at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 10: Buffalo at Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 12: Buffalo at Florida, 7:30 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
FLYERS at SABRES
- This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and Flyers this season.
- Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Philadelphia, 4-3 (OT), in Philadelphia on Oct. 27
- Next meeting: Thursday, Feb. 11 in Philadelphia
- The Sabres are 3-7-0 in their last 10 games vs. the Flyers; 4-5-1 at home.
- This is the 169th game all-time between Buffalo and Philadelphia; Buffalo has a 65-80-23 series record.
- The Sabres are 40-32-10 on the road against the Flyers all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 8-8-5 all-time on October 30.
- October 30, 1971: Rookie forward Rick Martin picks up his first career hat trick, including two goals in a span of 1:23, as the Canucks and Sabres play to a 4-4 tie in Vancouver.
- October 30, 1977: Ric Seiling scores his first Sabres goal in a 4-0 win at Montreal.
- October 30, 1992: The Sabres defeat the expansion Ottawa Senators, 12-3, in the first-ever meeting between the teams.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- The Sabres logged 53 shots in last night’s loss at Pittsburgh, the team’s highest total since Oct. 13, 2007.
- After winning their last two matchups, the Sabres are looking for three consecutive wins against the Flyers for the first time since Nov. 14, 2009 to March 5, 2010.
- The Sabres need a win to avoid their first four-game losing streak in home games against the Flyers since Feb. 25, 2008 to Nov. 6, 2009.
- Ryan O’Reilly (21:05) is currently third among NHL forwards in average ice time.
- After last night’s game, Rasmus Ristolainen (who turned 21 on Tuesday) ranks 18th in the NHL and leads all players ages 22 and younger in ice time per game (24:16).
OH, OH, OH, O’REILLY
- Ryan O’Reilly enters tonight’s game on a four-game point streak during which he has recorded seven points (2+5), an even-strength corsi for percentage of 62.9% and a 63.0% faceoff percentage on 100 total faceoffs while averaging 20:27 of ice time per game.
- Ryan O’Reilly is tied for second in the league with 235 faceoffs taken, accounting for 38.7% of Buffalo’s total faceoffs. O’Reilly’s faceoff percentage (59.6%) ranks him third in the league among players with at least 75 faceoffs taken.
NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN
The Sabres and Flyers are meeting for the second time in four days after Buffalo’s win in Philadelphia on Tuesday. For the Sabres, this is the first of eight sets of games this season in which they’ll face the same opponent both home and away in a three-game span; two of these are home-and-home series. The next such set will take place on Nov. 5 and 10 against Tampa Bay.
BACK-TO-BACK
Tonight’s game wraps up Buffalo’s second of 15 sets of back-to-back games this season, which began last night with a 4-3 loss at Pittsburgh. The Sabres are 0-2-0 in the first game of back-to-back sets and 0-1-0 in the second game so far this season. Buffalo’s point breakdown in back-to-back sets this season is: four points (0), three points (0), two points (0), one point (0) and zero points (1).
OUTSHOOTING OPPONENTS
The Sabres have outshot their opponents in eight of their first 10 games this season, posting a 3-5-0 record in those games. Last season, the Sabres hadn’t outshot their opponents eight times until their 76th game and finished the season 5-5-0 in 10 games when outshooting their opponent.
POSSESSION PROGRESSION
- The Sabres have led their opponent in even-strength shot attempts (corsi) in six of the team’s 10 games this season, going 3-3-0 in those games. Buffalo finished the 2014-15 season with a 3-5-0 record in the eight games in which they recorded more shot attempts than their opponent.
- Buffalo ranks sixth in the league with a corsi for percentage of 53.3%. Buffalo finished last season with a CF% of 37.5%. The Sabres last finished a season with a CF% of more than 50% in 2010-11 (50.4%).
READY TO MAKE HIS (ULL)MARK
If he earns a win before Dec. 6, Linus Ullmark (22 years, 92 days) would be the youngest goaltender to earn a win for the Sabres since Mika Noronen (21 years, 111 days) did so on Oct. 5, 2000 vs. Chicago.
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.
BUF-PHI CONNECTIONS
Former Sabres:
- Buffalo acquired Michal Neuvirth from the Washington Capitals on March 5, 2014 and the goalie went on to post a 6-19-3 record with a .921 save percentage and a 2.96 goals-against average in 29 games for the Sabres.
Former Flyers:
- Carlo Colaicovo spent the 2014-15 season with Philadelphia, registering eight points (2+6) in 33 games.
Carlo Colaiacovo:
- Teammates with Luke Schenn for Team Canada at the 2011 World Championship.
Tyler Ennis:
- Played with Claude Giroux and Brayden Schenn for Team Canada at the 2015 World Championship.
Marcus Foligno:
- Marcus and Sam Gagner were both born on Aug. 10. Gagner was born on Aug. 10, 1989 and Foligno was born two years later on Aug. 10, 1991.
- Played with Brayden Schenn and Sean Couturier for Team Canada in the 2011 World Junior Championship, which took place in Buffalo.
Cody Franson:
- Teammates with Nick Schultz for Team Canada at the 2002 World Junior Championship.
- Represented Team Canada alongside Sam Gagner at the 2007 World Junior Championship.
- Played with Luke Schenn for the Toronto Maple Leafs during the 2011-12 season.
Brian Gionta:
- He and Jason LaBarbera share a birthday. Gionta was born on Jan. 18, 1979 and LaBarbera was born one year later on Jan. 18, 1980.
- Played with Ryan White for the Montreal Canadiens from 2009-2014.
Josh Gorges:
- Played with Mark Streit for Montreal Canadiens during the 2007-08 season..
- Played with Ryan White for the Montreal Canadiens from 2009-2014.
Chad Johnson:
- He and the Schenn brothers (Brayden and Luke) were all born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
- Played with Michael Del Zotto for the New York Rangers from 2009-2011. They also represented Team Canada together at the 2010 World championship.
- He and Jason LaBarbera played together for the Phoenix Coyotes during the 2012-13 season.
Matt Moulson:
- Played with Mark Streit for the New York Islanders from 2009-2013.
- He and Jason LaBarbera played together for the Los Angeles Kings from 2007-2009. Wayne Simmonds was also on the team during the 2008-09 season.
Sam Reinhart:
- Played with Scott Laughton for Team Canada at the 2014 World Junior Championship
Mike Weber:
- Weber and R.J. Umberger were both born in Pittsburgh, Pa.
NHL Draft:
- Brian Gionta (82ns overall by New Jersey) and Jason LaBarbera (66th overall by the New York Rangers) were both third-round picks in the 1998 NHL Draft.
- Carlo Colaiacovo (17th overall by Toronto) was taken one pick after R.J. Umberger (16th overall by Vancouver) in the first round of the 2001 NHL Draft.
- Jamie McGinn (36th overall by San Jose) and Michal Neuvirth (34th overall by Washington) were both second-round picks in the 2006 NHL Draft.
- Tyler Ennis (26th overall), Luke Schenn (5th overall) and Michael Del Zotto (20th) overall were all first-round selections in the 2008 NHL Draft. Ennis, and Schenn were also teammates with Team Canada at the 2009 World Junior Championship.
- Zemgus Girgensons (14th overall) and Scott Laughton (20th overall) were both taken in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft.
SABRES REAL-TIME STATS LEADERS
Hits: Deslauriers (26), Kane (24), McGinn (20)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (23), Ristolainen (18), Pysyk (9)
Shots: Eichel (35), Ennis (33), Ristolainen (29)
SABRES’ RECORD IN 10 GAME SEGMENTS [W-L-OTL (PTS), GF/GA, PP, PK] 1-10: 3-7-0 (6), 23/32, 9/35, 19/27
OVERTIME RESULTS (1-0; 99-101 all-time)
Oct. 27 at PHI: W, 4-3 (GWG-Girgensons)
SHOOTOUT RESULTS (1-0; 66-51 all-time)
Oct. 21 vs. TOR: W, 2-1 (GDG-Moulson)
MILESTONES APPROACHING (Player … Needs … Milestone)
Goals
Ryan O’Reilly … 7 goals … 100 career goals
Assists
Josh Gorges … 9 assists … 100 career assists
RECENT MILESTONES
Linus Ullmark … 1st NHL game … Oct. 24 vs. NJD
Marcus Foligno … 200th NHL game … Oct. 27 at PHI
