GAME-DAY RESOURCES
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LAST GAME
Sunday, November 1
Buffalo 2 at NY Islanders 1
Goals: Moulson, Reinhart
Goalie: Ullmark (29 saves/30 shots)
PP: 0/0; PK: 0/0; Shots: NY Islanders 30 – Buffalo 22
CURRENT INJURIES – (Man Games Lost: 54)
Player (injury, first game missed) – total games missed
Zach Bogosian (lower body, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 12 games
Cody McCormick (blood clot, Oct. 8; injured reserve) – 12 games
Robin Lehner (high ankle sprain, Oct. 10) – 11 games
Evander Kane (MCL, Oct. 27; injured reserve) – 4 games
TRANSACTIONS IN PAST 7 DAYS
N/A
UPCOMING GAMES
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.
Saturday, Nov. 14: San Jose at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 17: Dallas at Buffalo, 7 p.m.
TONIGHT’S GAME
LIGHTNING at SABRES
- This is the third of four meetings between the Sabres and Lightning this season.
- Last meeting: Tampa Bay defeated Buffalo, 2-1, in Tampa Bay on Oct. 17
- Next meeting: Tuesday, Nov. 10 in Tampa Bay
- The Sabres are 2-7-1 in their last 10 games vs. the Lightning; 4-4-2 at home
- This is the 89th game all-time between Buffalo and Tampa Bay; Buffalo has a 51-30-7 series record.
- The Sabres are 24-15-4 at home against the Lightning all-time.
THIS DAY IN SABRES HISTORY
- The Sabres are 11-10-2 all-time on November 5.
- November 5, 1970: Paul Andrea is stopped by Vancouver goaltender Dunc Wilson on the first penalty shot in Sabres history.
- November 5, 2006: Drew Stafford makes his NHL debut against the New York Rangers and records an assist on Daniel Briere’s game-winning overtime goal, becoming just the second player in league history to pick up his first NHL point in the overtime period of his NHL debut.
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
- With wins in their last two games, the Sabres are seeking their first three-game winning streak since they won four in a row from Dec. 9 to Dec. 15, 2014.
- 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 seven consecutive games to the Lightning for the first time in franchise history.
- Two of Sam Reinhart’s six NHL points have come against the Lightning, including his first NHL goal, which he scored the last time the teams met.
- Linus Ullmark enters tonight’s game on a two-game winning streak after stopping 56 of 58 shots (.966 SV%) in Buffalo’s last two games, logging a 1.00 goals-against average.
LOGGING BIG MINUTES
- Entering Wednesday night’s action, Rasmus Ristolainen ranked 12th in the NHL and led all players ages 22 and younger in ice time per game (24:22).
- Three Sabres rank in the top 12 among all NHL forwards in average time on ice through Tuesday’s games: Ryan O’Reilly (1st, 21:29), Evander Kane (10th, 20:18) and Tyler Ennis (12th, 20:13)
SEE YOU SOON
The Sabres and Lightning will meet again in five days in Buffalo. For the Sabres, this is the second 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. 17 and 21 against Dallas.
TOPPING TAMPA
- Buffalo’s all-time record of 51-30-7 (.619) 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.
- Since the beginning of the 2005-06 season, Buffalo has compiled a record of 24-16-2 (.595) against Tampa Bay. The Sabres have scored seven or more goals in a single game against the Lightning six times during that stretch.
HOT AT HOME
- Entering Wednesday’s games, Ryan O’Reilly was tied for third in the league with nine points (4+5) in seven home games this season. O’Reilly enters tonight’s game on a three-game home point streak during which he has totaled seven points (3+4).
- Jack Eichel has scored all four of his NHL goals at First Niagara Center, including a goal in each of the team’s last two home games.
QUICK DRAW McGRAW
Entering Wednesday night’s games, Ryan O’Reilly was ranked fourth in the league with 290 faceoffs taken, accounting for 39.5% of Buffalo’s total faceoffs. O’Reilly’s faceoff percentage (60.9%) ranked him fourth in the league among players with at least 100 faceoffs taken.
OUTSHOOTING OPPONENTS
The Sabres have outshot their opponents in nine of their first 12 games this season, posting a 4-5-0 record in those games. Last season, the Sabres hadn’t outshot their opponents nine times until their 77th 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 12 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.
- Before Wednesday night’s games, the Sabres ranked sixth in the league with a corsi for percentage of 52.2%. 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%).
BUF-TBL CONNECTIONS
Family Ties:
- Buffalo’s Jamie McGinn is the older brother of Tampa Bay’s Tye McGinn.
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.
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.
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.
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. Chad Johnson played with Stamkos in 2010, and Ryan O’Reilly represented Team Canada alongside Stamkos in 2013.
- Jake McCabe 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.
- Tyler Ennis (26th overall) and Steven Stamkos (1st overall) were both taken in the first round of the 2008 NHL Draft.
- 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 (29), Foligno/McGinn (25), Kane (24)
Blocked Shots: Gorges (31), Ristolainen (21), Colaiacovo/Pysyk (11)
Shots: Eichel (42), Ennis (33), Ristolainen (31)
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
11-20: 2-0-0 (4), 5/2, 1/6, 4/4
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 … 6 goals … 100 career goals
Assists
Josh Gorges … 9 assists … 100 career assists
RECENT MILESTONES
N/A
